People with cancer are often concerned with whatchemotherapyside effects are going to occur during their treatment. They often hear about how terriblechemotherapy side effectsare and how sick you can feel. What many people don’t realize is that these days, many people do not suffer as many side effects.Medications can prevent some of the more unpleasant complications.
How your medication affects you depends on many factors, such as how aggressive treatment is, overall general health, and what type of cancer.
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Side Effects
Chemotherapy can produce many side effects, including:
There is a wide range of side effects from chemotherapy. Remember that not everyone will experience side effects. One person may experience many effects, while someone else may only suffer from one or two side effects.
Why Are There so Many Side Effects?
Hair loss is one of the most emotionally devastating side effects of chemotherapy. Chemotherapy can affect the hair on your head, facial hair,pubic hair, and body, including eyelashes and eyebrows.
Hair Loss
Hair lossoccurs because chemotherapy can sometimes damage healthy cells. It is so common because hair follicle cells multiply very quickly like cancer cells and chemotherapy drugs have difficulty in discerning the difference.
Will You Lose All of Your Hair?
There is no way to tell if someone willlose their hairduring chemotherapy. Some people do not lose any at all. Some only suffer from thinning of the hair. However, there are many people who do lose all of their hair.
Hair loss depends on your medications, dosage frequency, and how aggressive your treatment is.
Can You Do Anything to Prevent It?
Unfortunately, there is no guaranteed way to prevent hair loss during chemotherapy treatment. Scalp hypothermia, in which ice packs or cooling caps are placed on the scalp before a chemotherapy treatment, can be effective at preventing hair loss in some people with certain types of cancers.
Many people try to use over-the-counter hair growth shampoos, like Rogaine. Research has not proven this to be effective at reducing hair loss for chemo patients.
The National Cancer Institute says, that hair usually starts to grow back two to three months after chemotherapy ends.
Coping With Hair Loss
Hair loss can be devastating. Many patients feel like they can’t go out in public, or that they will embarrass their family members. It’s completely normal to feel this way. But, you can do many things to make your hair loss more acceptable and easier to cope with.
Hair maybe differentwhen it begins to grow back. Some people find their hair a different color or texture.
Hair Care Tips During Chemotherapy
Tips for maintaining hair during chemotherapy, whether you have very thin hair, or haven’t lost any at all.
Coping with hair loss can be difficult. We often associate our hair with physical beauty. Without it, it’s hard to feel attractive.
Wigs and hairpieces can make a big difference. Many look so natural, no one will recognize you are wearing a wig. Have fun exploring different looks with wigs.
Have comfort in knowing that your hair will grow back. Many times, it will grow back in better condition than what it was prior to treatment. Call it “Chemotherapy’s Compensation Policy.”
Prevent and Manage Diarrhea
Diarrheais the passage of loose or runny stools. Frequent diarrhea can irritate the skin around the anus, making sitting or lying down very uncomfortable. It can also result in weight loss.
If diarrhea persists, talk to your healthcare provider about using an over-the-counter anti-diarrheal medication, like Pepto Bismol, Immodium, or Kaopectate.
If symptoms persist, your practitioner can prescribe a medication such as Lomotil, to combat diarrhea.
Nausea and Vomiting
Nausea and vomiting during chemotherapycan cause severe loss of appetite, which in turn, causes nutrient deficiencies.
Odors and certain smells can cause nausea as well. Usually, this is from the smell of food cooking or laundry detergents, and sometimes even shampoos or perfumes.
Tips to Prevent and Manage Nausea and Vomiting
Healthcare providers usually prescribe an antinausea medication if it is likely you will suffer from nausea or vomiting from the medications.Common medications to fight nausea and vomiting are:
You can still continue to experience nausea and vomiting after taking these medications. There are several medications for your healthcare provider to prescribe. You might need to try a few different ones before you find the right one for you.
15 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.CancerCare.Understanding and managing chemotherapy side effects.Aapro MS, Schmoll HJ, Jahn F, Carides AD, Webb RT.Review of the efficacy of aprepitant for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in a range of tumor types.Cancer Treat Rev. 2013;39(1):113-117. doi:10.1016/j.ctrv.2012.09.002HealthDay.Chemotherapy and Side Effects.Lundqvist EÅ, Fujiwara K, Seoud M.Principles of chemotherapy.Int J Gynaecol Obstet.2015;131 Suppl 2:S146-9. doi:10.1016/j.ijgo.2015.06.011American Cancer Society.Chemotherapy side effects.American Cancer Society.How is Chemotherapy Used to Treat Cancer.American Cancer Society.Hair loss (alopecia).Breastcancer.org.Hair loss.Young A, Arif A.The use of scalp cooling for chemotherapy-induced hair loss.Br J Nurs. 2016;25(10):S22-S27. doi:10.12968/bjon.2016.25.10.S22Suchonwanit P, Thammarucha S, Leerunyakul K.Minoxidil and its use in hair disorders: a review.Drug Des Devel Ther. 2019;13:2777-2786. doi:10.2147/DDDT.S214907National Cancer Institute.Hair loss (alopecia) and cancer treatment.National Cancer Institute.Nausea and vomiting related to cancer treatment (PDQ)—patient version.OncoLink.Preventing dehydration during cancer treatment.Moffitt Cancer Center.Nausea related to cancer treatment.Lundqvist EÅ, Fujiwara K, Seoud M.Principles of chemotherapy.Int J Gynaecol Obstet.2015;131 Suppl 2:S146-9. doi:10.1016/j.ijgo.2015.06.011
15 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.CancerCare.Understanding and managing chemotherapy side effects.Aapro MS, Schmoll HJ, Jahn F, Carides AD, Webb RT.Review of the efficacy of aprepitant for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in a range of tumor types.Cancer Treat Rev. 2013;39(1):113-117. doi:10.1016/j.ctrv.2012.09.002HealthDay.Chemotherapy and Side Effects.Lundqvist EÅ, Fujiwara K, Seoud M.Principles of chemotherapy.Int J Gynaecol Obstet.2015;131 Suppl 2:S146-9. doi:10.1016/j.ijgo.2015.06.011American Cancer Society.Chemotherapy side effects.American Cancer Society.How is Chemotherapy Used to Treat Cancer.American Cancer Society.Hair loss (alopecia).Breastcancer.org.Hair loss.Young A, Arif A.The use of scalp cooling for chemotherapy-induced hair loss.Br J Nurs. 2016;25(10):S22-S27. doi:10.12968/bjon.2016.25.10.S22Suchonwanit P, Thammarucha S, Leerunyakul K.Minoxidil and its use in hair disorders: a review.Drug Des Devel Ther. 2019;13:2777-2786. doi:10.2147/DDDT.S214907National Cancer Institute.Hair loss (alopecia) and cancer treatment.National Cancer Institute.Nausea and vomiting related to cancer treatment (PDQ)—patient version.OncoLink.Preventing dehydration during cancer treatment.Moffitt Cancer Center.Nausea related to cancer treatment.Lundqvist EÅ, Fujiwara K, Seoud M.Principles of chemotherapy.Int J Gynaecol Obstet.2015;131 Suppl 2:S146-9. doi:10.1016/j.ijgo.2015.06.011
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
CancerCare.Understanding and managing chemotherapy side effects.Aapro MS, Schmoll HJ, Jahn F, Carides AD, Webb RT.Review of the efficacy of aprepitant for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in a range of tumor types.Cancer Treat Rev. 2013;39(1):113-117. doi:10.1016/j.ctrv.2012.09.002HealthDay.Chemotherapy and Side Effects.Lundqvist EÅ, Fujiwara K, Seoud M.Principles of chemotherapy.Int J Gynaecol Obstet.2015;131 Suppl 2:S146-9. doi:10.1016/j.ijgo.2015.06.011American Cancer Society.Chemotherapy side effects.American Cancer Society.How is Chemotherapy Used to Treat Cancer.American Cancer Society.Hair loss (alopecia).Breastcancer.org.Hair loss.Young A, Arif A.The use of scalp cooling for chemotherapy-induced hair loss.Br J Nurs. 2016;25(10):S22-S27. doi:10.12968/bjon.2016.25.10.S22Suchonwanit P, Thammarucha S, Leerunyakul K.Minoxidil and its use in hair disorders: a review.Drug Des Devel Ther. 2019;13:2777-2786. doi:10.2147/DDDT.S214907National Cancer Institute.Hair loss (alopecia) and cancer treatment.National Cancer Institute.Nausea and vomiting related to cancer treatment (PDQ)—patient version.OncoLink.Preventing dehydration during cancer treatment.Moffitt Cancer Center.Nausea related to cancer treatment.Lundqvist EÅ, Fujiwara K, Seoud M.Principles of chemotherapy.Int J Gynaecol Obstet.2015;131 Suppl 2:S146-9. doi:10.1016/j.ijgo.2015.06.011
CancerCare.Understanding and managing chemotherapy side effects.
Aapro MS, Schmoll HJ, Jahn F, Carides AD, Webb RT.Review of the efficacy of aprepitant for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in a range of tumor types.Cancer Treat Rev. 2013;39(1):113-117. doi:10.1016/j.ctrv.2012.09.002
HealthDay.Chemotherapy and Side Effects.
Lundqvist EÅ, Fujiwara K, Seoud M.Principles of chemotherapy.Int J Gynaecol Obstet.2015;131 Suppl 2:S146-9. doi:10.1016/j.ijgo.2015.06.011
American Cancer Society.Chemotherapy side effects.
American Cancer Society.How is Chemotherapy Used to Treat Cancer.
American Cancer Society.Hair loss (alopecia).
Breastcancer.org.Hair loss.
Young A, Arif A.The use of scalp cooling for chemotherapy-induced hair loss.Br J Nurs. 2016;25(10):S22-S27. doi:10.12968/bjon.2016.25.10.S22
Suchonwanit P, Thammarucha S, Leerunyakul K.Minoxidil and its use in hair disorders: a review.Drug Des Devel Ther. 2019;13:2777-2786. doi:10.2147/DDDT.S214907
National Cancer Institute.Hair loss (alopecia) and cancer treatment.
National Cancer Institute.Nausea and vomiting related to cancer treatment (PDQ)—patient version.
OncoLink.Preventing dehydration during cancer treatment.
Moffitt Cancer Center.Nausea related to cancer treatment.
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