Help!! Velcade Symptoms

Hey all.....

I'm kind of at wits end.  My Mom justed finished her 2nd week of Velcade and is having some horrible reactions.  I need your help, if for nothing else- piece of mind.

Long story short, she's 72 y/o and going through this chemo. alone in Missouri.  She's severely nauseous, some vomiting and states she's experiencing a greenish, foamy substance coming out of her rectum (sorry for the graphic detail, but I'm desperate for answers here).  Has anyone on this board had this experience with Velcade and this reaction??

My nurse sister thinks that this is C-diff as a result of infection in her bowels d/t no ammune system.

Please, any thoughts?

clammy

Hi Clammy ~~ I went through several rounds of Velcade treatment until the side effects became too much and I had to stop.  One of the main problems was the nausea and vomiting, lack of appitite and the loss of 50kg.  The other problem was a horrible headache - I called it the 'mother of all headaches' which hospitalised me for a week while they tried to figure out what was wrong. I never had the bowel problem, however I did become extremely constipated and needed professional help to clear that up!!

On the positive side, my paraprotein level dropped dramatically while I was on the Velcade so that was really good.  Unfortunately the side effects became more and more serious and I had to stop - being hospitalised for a month and spending another month in hospice because most people thought I was going to die.  I was taken off of everything for 3 months, then I started on Revlimid.  Revlimid has been my saviour for the past 18months.  No side effects and the paraprotein is lower than it has ever been since my initial diagnosis!!

I guess my message is, hang in there.  If Velcade causes too many problems for your mom, there are other things that she can try.  Because myeloma is such an individual disease it may take a while to find the medication that works best for each person.  From what I've read here on this site, she is in a State where there are good myeloma facilities.  Best wishes to you both, Cath

Thanks Poppy.....

She actually was on Revlimed first, which put her into a partial remission.  Handled that drug with little to no side effects.  This Velcade tx. is to get her back, hopefully, to a point where she can have a stem cell transplant.

She is moving to FL the end of the month to recieve the transplant at Moffitt. 

Thanks for your insight.

I was on Velcade for several months prior to my stem cell transplant.  Velcade caused severe constipation, requiring some "roto-rooter" style  therapy to resolve.  It also caused permanent numbness in two of my fingertips (so-called "peripheral neuropathy").  The good news is that the Velcade gave me a nearly complete remission.

 When I was in the hospital for my transplant, I had a C-DIFF infection,  and that led to diarrhea.  That's very likely what your Mom had.

 Cheers,

Tom in Maine