It is now 19 months from my original diagnosis of Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), I am on a 5 weekly cycle of Asa injections & Venetoclax. I find I have low mood swings around 2/3 days after my cycle of treatment, (10 days of Venetoclax) .
Additionally the skin of my stomach is very sore & bruised for the injections. I would like to know if these experiences are common. Evening Primrose oil was recommended but doesn’t help, I’m about to start on Arnica to see if that relieves the bruising, any suggestions/recomendations please.
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Oh @Faceache it is good to hear from you again, but it sounds as if you are having a miserable time at the moment.
Have you spoken to your specialist nurse or medical team about both issues?
I hope others will be able to share their experiences for you.
I will also copy your post to the Blood Cancer Support nurses for you @BloodCancerUK_Nurses
You can also ring them on 0808 2080 888
Please do let us know how you get on and really look after and be kind to yourself.
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Hello @Faceache
I’m sorry to read you’re having both low moods and skin problems after your Aza injections.
I hope you don’t mind me replying to you, whilst I don’t have personal experience of but I wanted to suggest a couple of things.
As Erica has said, it’s definitely worth getting in touch with your Haematology team and letting them know about your mood swings, if you can give a timeline of things, it can be helpful for them to work out what’s going on, so they can best support and advise you.
In regards to your very sore and bruised skin, where you have the Aza injections, you could try aloe vera gel or calamine lotion to soothe the skin or some people get prescribed a steroid cream by their team instead. Another suggestion is, if you aren’t already, maybe wear loose fitting clothes around your middle. Again, let your team know how sore your skin so they can advise what’s best for you to do.
Hopefully others will also really with their tips or advice, if they have experienced similar to you.
If you’d like to speak to one of us in the support services team, you’d be welcome to call: 0808 2080 888
Take care, Heidi.
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Hello @Faceache
I hope it is okay to message you, I just wanted to ask how you are.
Did you manage to speak to one of your nurses or Doctors about your low mood and also your sore skin?
I wondered if they had provided any advice and ways to help these side effects, and if things were improving for you.
Please know you can call our support line if you ever wanted to talk things through.
Take care,
Heidi.
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Hallo Heidi,
I am seeing a therapist and think that the low moods are pretty ’normal’, I think they are heightened at the unconscious level by appreciating my initial prognosis of 18-24 months was 19 moths ago. I always have been a very active person and finding I am limited so drastically in my abilities is going to lead me to the sadness of loss.
On my last round of Aza, a very experienced nurse said she had never seen another patient whose skin was responding in the way mine does, so I will be talking with my consultant next week. Meantime Arnica cream seems to have helped a little.
Thanks
John
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