I had chemotherapy and immunotherapy 9 days ago. Yesterday I started having cold like symptoms, cough runny nose. On the weekend I had an awful sore throat, nobody around me has a cold and I haven’t been anywhere! Has anyone else had this
Hi Lindyloo
I did not have immunotherapy so can not advise on the side effects. However I did have chemo.
During chemo I was given a Sepsis alert card and told that at the first sign of any infection I needed to call the hospital 24 hour helpline straightaway. There may well be some side effects that are affecting how you feel but you have the symptoms that could mean an infection. During chemo your immunity is affected and it can become easier to pick things up and one reason they do your bloods so regularly is to check on the level of neutrophils/white blood cells etc. When these are low- and mine usually were the second week after chemo it is possible to become neutropenic. I did several times and was told it would be harder for my body to cope with infections.
Please call them. There is a potential for any infection to become serious quickly. You may need to go in to be checked and to be given antibiotics.
I rang the helpline myself during my chemo because I felt a bit off colour and was told to immediately come in.
I had routine tests done- chest x ray, bloods, ECG etc and given immediate IV antibiotics. The infection I had was caught at an early stage so I was lucky.
Please get checked.
Jane
