What to Expect After Chemothe... Health Article
Print
Email
Save
The side effects from chemotherapy usually go away when the treatment ends. The extent of these side effects varies. It depends on the drugs you receive, how you receive them, and how your body reacts to them. Talk with your doctor or nurse about how to ease these side effects.
Here are some of the more common temporary side effects from chemotherapy, listed from the most to least common.
-
Mouth sores
-
Constipation or diarrhea
-
Infections from low white-blood-cell counts
-
Easy bruising or bleeding from low blood platelets
-
Fatigue from low red-blood-cell counts
-
Loss of appetite
-
Difficulty swallowing
-
Skin changes, such as dryness, rash, blistering, or darkening skin
-
Tingling, numbness, or swelling in hands or feet
It’s likely that you will have blood tests while you’re getting chemotherapy to make sure you aren’t having harmful reactions. Make sure you ask which signs, if any, require calling your doctor or nurse right away. For instance, chemotherapy can make you more likely to get infections. So you should call your doctor or nurse if you have any of these symptoms.
-
Fever
-
Redness, swelling, and warmth at the site of an injury
-
New cough or shortness of breath
-
Burning during urination