EC Side Effects

Hi Rebecca32

i haven’t experienced diarrhoea but I noticed that you haven’t had any replies yet. It’s probably because this is such a busy forum I thought I’d reply to you to get your query moved up to the top. Hopefully others on the same chemo drug will answer your question. If not I would ring your oncology ward to get advice from the nurses there, they will only be too happy to help.

Best of luck with the rest of your treatment.

Best wishes

Daisy53

Hi just had my first cycle and ended up back at the cancer hospital diarrhoea sickness high temp infection the works  hopefully it settles soon and I get home . Hopefully you fell better soon x

Hello Rebecca, when I started chemo I was given the contact details for a 24hr advice line and also the details of what symptoms/side effects I should report to them and when. Have you been given any similar information? I had a short bout of diarrhoea and the advice I got was to call the 24hr advice line immediately if 4 or more loose bowel movements in 24hrs. In the case of  2-4 loose bowel movements in 24hrs I was still advised to call them to let them know. Probably best to give your chemo/medical team a call just in case as it can lead to dehydration as well as effecting your bloods, and being unwell on top of the 'usual' chemo side effects is not pleasant!  Hope the problem is soon sorted x

HI Rebecca I am also half way through EC chemotherapy ( 4 of 8) and my  side effects were worst after my 3rd cycle . I have experienced bouts of diorhea around day 5 of each cycle that has lasted a couple of days and has been quite unpleasant to deal with . This coupled with horrible nausea has meant I have had no appetitie and have lost weight. I spoke with my GP who prescribed some suppositories and cream to help with the discomfort and also mentioned it to my chemo nurse who reminded me to keep an eye on my temperature regularly to make sure that this was not coupled with signs of infection. 

Hi Sara,

thanks for replying! Sorry to hear this I know how horrible it feels, you feel crap enough but the dioreha just makes you feel 100x worse! Did you have any problems with your mouth? They think I have thrush but my mouth has been uncomfortable and sore since day 5 too. Feeling better now, things cleared up and back on Wednesday for 3/4 xx

Morning Rebeecca,  my moutg has been fine, but I am given a bottle of Difflam  mouthwash at every chemo and I do use this a number of times each day as a preventitive measure . . it tastes nice too!

Hi Rebecca, I’ve also suffered from diarrhoea starting day 4-6 on EC, I took loperamide that the hospital gave me which helped, it really is unpleasant, after 5 days you really should contact your nurses for help, mine told me not to delay in asking for help after 1 day, also I was sent home from my cycles with the loperamide just in case, for me it started cycle 1 so I empathise 

Thanks Anna! I’m back this week for 3/4 of EC so will speak to them, it’s cleared up now thankfully but maybe get something for this cycle! Hope your well, not a nice experience but hopefully be over soon xx

Really hope so x good luck x

Hi Rebecca32

I have finished my EC now but had a really sore mouth throat & tongue. I wasnt sure it was thrush however my oncology nurse got me a weeks worth of Fluconazole which i took for each EC cycle. i also used nystatin & Diflam mouth wash... it all really helped.

I was given diet advice & advised to boil all my tap water & i keep my own water jug in the fridge ...also not to drink bottled water. These can both contain Cryptosporidium which our gut can normally cope with but not when on Chemo. This has really sorted my tummy out & no more upset. 

Hope this helps! Im now getting my head round my surgery for next week!! Scarry stuff. 

Best wishes

Dcs1