Ovarian Cancer and bevacizumab

HI, I am stage 4 Ovarian had 6 cycles pre op then a further 2 followed by Bevacizumab.  So far I have had 2 rounds of Bevacizumab third one due this Friday.  I monitor by BP at home and luckily its all fine.    I do get headaches but more in my neck which I have put down to issues I had with a port which had to be removed and positioned on the other side, but this could be due to the drug which I am monitoring.   I know headaches and rising BP are some of the side effects.

I do hope you Mother gets some relief soon, its bad enough dealing with the cancer.  I assume she will speak with her oncology team on this as there may be other drugs they can give if the headaches are severe.  I am sorry this probably doesn’t help much but wanted to respond as the treatment is similar.

Wishing you and your family all the best.

Bevacizumab side effects are notorious but, as with most drug treatments, they can be experienced quite differently  from person to person. Elevated BP is very common though.  I believe 150/100 is the cut off for treatment and if this is where your mum is at, they will/should monitor her and prescribe medication to lower it if necessary so that treatment can continue. Pick up a monitor and check once a day at the same time, keep notes of the readings to show the nurses as often our BP is higher than normal when we're in the hospital setting. The headaches might be related to the high BP or the drug, so important  to sort the BP out first. But, as the previous poster says, if the headaches are bad and paracetamol doesn't touch them, then ask for stronger painkillers from the team.

Hi Champika 

I’m also stage3 and have had the same as your mum, 4 chemos debulking followed by another 3 chemos. I am BRACA1 so my treatment is slightly different, bev was added to my last chemotherapy and I have received it every 3 weeks (I’m also on oral medication called Olaparib) . All was going fine and then in July my blood pressure started to rise and I had protein in my urine. The only “good” thing is that this is the most common side effect and can be dealt with , with me treatment was stopped a 24 urine collection done and home monitoring of blood pressure, everything was fine and I have now resumed treatment, if it’s starts again blood pressure medication will be given to continue my treatment. I would suggest a good home blood pressure machine and write down readings to keep an eye on it and report back to your team . I have headache too and paracetamol and plenty of water helps with this x 

may I ask what you mean for  " we stopped a 24...urine collection ' Thank you

When my blood pressure was high and I had protein in my urine the treatment was stopped and I needed to do a 24 hour urine collection to be analysed for how much protein my kidneys were producing, as this was not too high and my blood pressure then came down I resumed treatment , I have had no problems since and continue to have treatment