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Cancer Treatment with ME/CFS

Matthew_2

Matthew_2

Messages
92
Location
North Carolina
Has anyone gone through chemotherapy for a cancer while suffering from ME/CFS?

I went through chemotherapy 4 years ago. A biopsy of a recent inflamed lymph node is showing troubling signs that may indicate the cancer has returned. Given how beaten down I am from ME/CFS (which I did not have when I first went through chemotherapy), I am very concerned about how my body will react if I have to do it again.

If anyone has been through this, I would love to hear from you.

Thanks,
Matt
 
Juanita Vee

Juanita Vee

Senior Member
Messages
914
Location
Edmonton, AB
So sorry to hear! Honestly, I would say give it a try if you feel your ME/CFS will allow you take it on (e.g., you feel beaten but do have a little reserve vs. absolutely no reserve). You have experience with chemo and can always stop if it gets too much, but it could also really help. I used to transcribe medical reports for a cancer center and both my parents have had cancer (Dad, CML; mom, thyroid). In my experience, it is impossible to say which way it will go. I would, however, err on the side of stopping early if you do decided to do it. pushing with chemo or even just pushing to do something extra with ME/CMF is not worth it. Just my 2-cents worth! Do what you feel is best for you and your body, and don't push to do chemo if you don't feel up to it.
 
Judee

Judee

Psalm 46:1-3
Messages
4,506
Location
Great Lakes
It took me a while to find it but I remembered we had a member on PR a while back who had breast cancer in previous years. Here's something she said about her treatment:

AngelM said:
During the course of my years of ME/CFS, I was diagnosed with breast cancer, and my chemo cocktail included Rituximab, Methtrexate, and Prednizone, among other drugs. That was 33 years ago, and the one thing I thought remarkable, besides surviving, of course, was that between the chemo treatments I felt very well. For the next 18 years, I had no symptoms of CFS, and my life returned to normal.
Click to expand...

It was a thread where they were talking about the Rituximab trial in this thread and she said they wondered if the trials were negative because of the small doses of Rituximab they used but she hasn't come on the site for a long time. I tried to PM her hoping it would send a message to her email but she didn't respond so I don't know.

Anyway, perhaps the treatment they give you will help you with the ME/CFS as others are saying. Maybe particularly if they include Rituximab. IDK?? Maybe something to talk to your doctors about.

Hope things improve for you very soon.
 
A

andyguitar

Senior Member
Messages
6,623
Location
South east England
Judee said:
Anyway, perhaps the treatment they give you will help you with the ME/CFS as others are saying.
Click to expand...
I expect the drugs that help some who have had cancer treatment are the steroids and the Methtrexate. Rituximab is a possible but the results of the last clinical trial were pretty strange when considering some previous results with it.
 
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