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Posted

Good morning all,

I have seen a lot of posts on Alimta and SOB. I am going on my 4th round of alimta and am having worsening SOB. Though I am not sure it is the chemo or the cancer progressing as I recall it starting before I began the alimta. My doctor has been reccomending oxygen but so far I haven't considered it but may need to soon. Has anyone else found oxygen to be of help? It is sometime so hard to figure out what is causing your symptoms; the cancer, the chemo, stress, etc!!

Posted

Hopeful-

I am on Alimta and I can tell you that it does cause SOB. Mine has gotten somewhat worse which each infusion altho not to the point where it hinders me TOO much (stairs are a pain). They did just recently give me an inhaler to help.

You will see that SOB (along with fatigue) are the biggest side effects of Alimta.

As far as whether or not it is from the cancer, I asked that question of my doc and he told me "when you have lung cancer, there will be times when you are SOB and cough a lot". I think it may be (at least for me) a combination of the Alimta and "the nature of the beast".

If it gets too bad, you might want to ask your doc for a break in chemo to see if it helps.

Wishing you well and sending you prayers - Patti B.

Posted

Hopeful,

Alimta is well known for the SOB side-effect. Some people get it very bad and other's fly through the treatment. Go figure.

I'm sorry this is happening for you, but hope it is working and worth the effort. Oxygen may not make much difference unless your blood-oxygen levels are low, then you should be doing oxygen. Too much oxygen is not a good thing either. I hope they are testing your levels.

They really didn't change my husband's meds during this time, but he was already on Advair 250/50 2x per day and oxygen 24/7. He ended up in a wheel chair following Alimta treatment because of his SOB, but had many lung complications by that time and the location of his tumors were a factor also.

I wish you good success and talk to the Doc about a break. I've known others who took time off to recuperate from the side-effects of Alimta.

Welthy

Posted

My husband is one who had severe sob with Alimta. His ended up being pneumonitis ( inflamation of the lung which can be detected on CT Scan), like the kind people get with radiation. It is so hard to say what is causing sob when someone has lung cancer , but yes Alimta can be a cause. I can only tell you that if you have rapid progression in the sob to contact your doctor. My husband did have to be put on oxygen and given high doses of prednisone. I say this not to scare you , but to make you aware. You have my thoughts and prayers.

Sue

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