Because I have just started the next phase of my chemotherapy regime– four doses of Accelerated Taxol every two weeks – it’s impossible to compare it with my experiences during EC chemotherapy. But my approach to fasting remains the same and this week I discuss my emerging three principles of Fasting for Chemo.
Muscle and Joint Pain Presents Challenges
Receiving the Accelerated Taxol infusion (this word makes it sound like a nice cup of tea, which I can assure you it was not!) was harder for me than receiving the dose of EC chemotherapy, but the two days afterwards were much easier and required almost no prescription drugs to mitigate the side effects. This meant no rollercoaster ride of drug-induced ‘wild weasel’ highs (as my partner affectionately calls them), followed by crashing ‘sea cucumber on the bottom of the Mariana Trench’ lows. This was very welcome.
The main challenge for me this time has been muscle and joint pain and numbness (peripheral neuropathy), which started about 36 hours after treatment. This pain occurs when the chemotherapy agent damages the fast growing lining of the blood vessels and capillaries that feed your nervous system. They then become ‘leaky’ which puts pressure on the nerves and causes pain, especially in the joints. This pain was described to me beforehand as being like ‘flu like’ aches and pains. I personally experienced quite severe pain on days 2, 3 and 4. If you are facing Taxol treatment, do make sure you are sent away with some strong painkillers in the event you experience this unpleasant side effect.
Digestive System Relatively Robust
With the exception of a six hour episode of digestive system disturbance and a random vomiting episode yesterday (likely caused by inflammation of the digestive system), I have experienced little or no nausea and at the present time my digestive system is holding up well. I am still taking omeprazole to control acid production in the digestive system, and was prescribed domperidone to take as required. I also find Silicol Gel is helpful.
Emerging Fasting for Chemo Principles
My emerging Fasting for Chemo Principles, which I have developed whilst writing this blog, and will continue to test over the coming weeks, are:
- 350 calories-a-day for six days
- Break fast by eating little and often
- Watch for warning signs
Principle 1: 350 calories-a-day for six days
For my latest chemo session, I stuck rigidly to 350 calories-a-day for two days prior to treatment and four days after. I ate high quality protein at every meal along with low calorie but high fibre vegetables. I didn’t eat anything sweet (including fruit and sweet vegetables), nor did I eat any form of bread, potato, pasta, or other carbohydrate that ultimately breaks down into sugar.
I’ve included a few days’ menus here to give an idea of what I ate, including some ideas of what to eat when out and about.
| Day -1 (day before treatment) |
| Mealtime |
Menu |
| Breakfast |
1 organic free-range egg and mushroom omelette with fresh parsley |
| Lunch |
Smoked salmon and egg protein pot |
| Evening Meal |
50g chicken with Bob Granleese’s Pot-Roast Cauliflower from the Royal Marsden Cancer Cookbook and 50g green beans |
| Day 0 (day of treatment) |
| Mealtime |
Menu |
| Breakfast |
Vegetable and pea protein Nutribullet smoothie |
| Lunch |
– |
| Evening Meal |
150ml Cauliflower soup using leftovers from yesterday’s Pot-Roast Cauliflower from the Royal Marsden Cancer Cookbook |
| Day 1 |
| Mealtime |
Menu |
| Breakfast |
1 organic free-range egg and mushroom omelette with fresh parsley |
| Lunch |
150ml Celeriac Soup, with Coconut, Lemongrass and Ginger from the Royal Marsden Cancer Cookbook |
| Evening Meal |
20g smoked mackerel, 30g carrot salad, 20g Parsons Pickles Laverbread |
| Day 2 |
| Mealtime |
Menu |
| Breakfast |
100g plain yogurt |
| Lunch |
150ml mushroom and thyme soup |
| Evening Meal |
100g turkey breast baked with smoked paprika, ratatouille (50g), grated carrot salad |
Drinks:
To support my digestive system, I try to avoid acid-generating caffeinated drinks such as tea and coffee and replacing them with redbush tea and other herbal teas (my favourites are Eleven O’Clock and Yogi Teas), and coffee substitutes like Barleycup. Avoid fruit juices and replace with water. On the one occasion water became unpalatable, I tried weak no sugar added squash to keep me hydrated. I avoid carbonated drinks as these are too aggressive on the digestive tract.
Principle 2: Break fast by eating little and often
In a way, the six days of strict fasting are straight forward – I carefully measure my calories and eat them at the appropriate time. But, in my experience, breaking fast is the tricky bit. You see, the chemotherapy agents are all gradually excreted from the body and the length of time this takes varies between individuals. As an example, 50% of the drug Taxol will be excreted between 3 and 51 hours after treatment. 3 and 51!! This is quite a variation… The more drug you have in your body, the more side effects you might experience because, as you eat food, the cells are stimulated to divide and grow, which triggers the chemotherapy to destroy them, and this in turn causes side effects such as nausea and general illness.
So whilst it’s tempting to FEAST when I break my fast, personal experience now tells me that eating little and often really is the key to ensuring I don’t overload my system and trigger nausea and general feelings of illness. I can still eat tasty and rewarding things, I just have to somehow avoid diving into that bowl of mashed potato!
Principle 3: Watch for warning signs
After I have eaten a little meal, I find it’s best to wait 1-1.5 hours after eating to see how my body responds. If I feel sick, or develop the unmistakable sensation of chemotherapy at work (for me this is a tingly, acidic, unpleasant sensation all over the body accompanied by fatigue), I know I may have eaten too much and might want to consider waiting a while before trying again. I gradually build my diet up from full fast in this way, and try not to be disappointed if I have to take 1 step back to take 2 forward.
Next Time…
I’m really glad I can break fast now because, as you can see from the picture, my pears are about ready– it’s been a bumper harvest this year – so I will be enjoying those over the next few days…
Next week I will be in fasting mode again! Following on from my short piece on mindfulness last week, and in the spirit of sharing other aspects of my holistic approach to beating breast cancer, I’m also going to discuss my approach to Alexander Technique as a way of managing stress during illness (and health!).
Thank you for reading and I hope you’re well. If you have any information or stories relating to fasting for chemo, please do get in touch. I will be adding a ‘further reading’ page so look out for that!
Have a good week.
Della x
Disclaimer:
The information contained in this post or any other post on this blog is based on personal experience and should not be viewed in any way as medical or other advice. If you are considering fasting for chemo, please consult your healthcare provider.
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