Hi All. Again, thinking ahead to when my treatment starts in July, was wondering, if anyone could give me any tips on how they survived the 5 weeks on a very limited diet?! My oncologist said, it was the one time, I could have permission to eat an unhealthy diet! Have had a brief search online, but might need to delve deeper. Was also wondering, if, during the 2 day reprieve every weekend, I could have a glass of wine or is that a definite no? Did any of you eat out during the treatment? Also did your family eat alternative meals to you? I noticed someone said they had ice cream after the sessions, so what's the situation with dairy? Apologies for so many questions!! If anyone can refer me to an useful website, that'd be great or it might just be a case of trial an error with each individual. Thank you in anticipation. Hope everyone is able to enjoy this perfect weather.x
Hello Love to walk,
I think it is good to think ahead. My oncologist said similar to me- I could eat what I wanted and when I wanted and it was normal to eat a less healthy diet during treatment. I tended to go with the flow and eat things that I fancied, smaller meals and it wasn't always the things I thought would upset my tummy that did. People seem to have varying experiences but these are mine.............
I stopped anything with much caffeine in. My radiotherapist said too much caffeine could irritate my bladder. I still had a couple of cups of tea a day. No fizzy drinks- but don't tend to anyway. I drank weak lemon squash a fair bit- don't know why but it worked for me.
Anything with fibre seemed to set off symptoms diarrhoea, gas, cramping etc. I couldn't cope with my normal wholemeal bread and stuck to sliced white. I ate a lot of white toast and crumpets. Lighter meals seemed to work better. I used complan meal replacements with dairy free milk (On doctors advice)
On the days I didn't have treatment I tried to have a few more vegetables and could cope with new potatoes, carrots etc. Broccoli, onions, leeks etc were out. Tomatoes led to tummy problems. I did not eat much fruit at all which is unusual for me. I did try to make some smoothies with banana and other fruit but led to cramps.
Dairy set off symptoms. Since my treatment finished I can cope with dairy but need everything to be lactose free.
I found soft scrambled eggs ok, plain white rice. Pasta was not great. Any anything salty, processed or with sweeteners affected me.
On toast I could cope with flora, a small amount of jam or peanut butter. Anything that smelt too strong would make me feel nauseous. I could eat jelly.
To be honest looking back it was a lot of white toast and crumpets and complan supported by little bits of what I fancied. I could manage thin slices of cheddar and crackers. Looking back it wasn't a great diet but it was short term and now am back to a balanced diet, although with some restrictions.
I was given medication during my treatment and in the end had to take loperamide, buscopan and an anti nausea tablet about 30 minutes before I ate. This helped. With the amount of diarrhoea my doctor was concerned with keeping up with fluids so used to constantly be sipping at squash/water.
Hope this helps and remember everyone is an individual and you may find that you don't have to alter your normal diet a lot. With regard to alcohol I didn't have any during my treatment because I was taking pain relief still from the chemo I had before and the nausea from the radiotherapy put me off a bit.
Good luck
Jane
I think some of my side effects were carried over from the chemo and I did have a few blood tests that didn't come back quite as they should. I also had a blood transfusion. I definitely found I didn't want normal size meals- it was more picky food. Nothing too fatty either and I went off most meat- however I believe as it was harder to digest. You will soon work out what you fancy and what keeps your tummy calmest. I think also to try and have a piece of toast or something an hour before treatment to keep your blood sugar up- helped me anyway
