Chemo For Brain Tumors Side Effects

Chemo brain is a mental cloudiness some people notice before during and after cancer treatment.

Chemo for brain tumors side effects. Learn more about how it works what to expect during treatment common side effects and other faqs. For example drugs can often help prevent or reduce nausea and vomiting. The long term side effects of chemo. It s likely that there are multiple causes.

When looking at how best to combine chemo drugs doctors must look at interactions. Changes in libido and sexual function. There are often ways to lessen these side effects. In some cases thin circular wafers containing chemotherapy medicine may be placed in your brain during surgery.

No matter the cause chemo brain can be a frustrating and debilitating side effect of cancer and its treatment. Though chemo brain is a widely used term the causes of concentration and memory problems aren t well understood. Your nurses doctor and pharmacist will look after you during treatment and afterwards. After surgery the chemotherapy drug temozolomide temodar taken as a pill is often used during and after radiation therapy.

Some people only have mild side effects but others might have severe side effects. Chemotherapy chemo uses drugs to destroy cancer cells. Radiation to the brain can also have side effects that show up later usually from 6 months to many years after treatment ends. Most side effects usually go away after treatment is finished.

It s sometimes called cancer treatment related cognitive impairment cancer related cognitive change or post chemotherapy cognitive impairment. The wafers dissolve slowly releasing the medicine and killing cancer cells. These delayed effects can include serious problems such as memory loss stroke like symptoms and poor brain function. Learn more about these and other problems in managing cancer related side effects.

It s common for you to have a cloudy mind called chemo brain during and after treatment. A study published in breast cancer research found that chemotherapy causes long term immune system damage reducing levels of key immune cells in breast cancer patients for at least nine months after treatment leaving them vulnerable to potentially life threatening viral and bacterial infections. Side effects of chemotherapy. It is difficult to predict how you will feel and what side effects you will have.

Chemo brain which can affect concentration and focus. Some of the most effective drugs against brain tumors tend to have fewer of these side effects than other common chemo drugs.