ENCORE #185! – NO Benadryl Redux!

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer in March of 2011, there was a deafening silence from the men I knew. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…That was four years ago – as time passed, people searching for answers stumbled across my blog and checked out what I had to say. The following entry first appeared in June of 2017…

When my wife began her chemotherapy in 2014, we knew she was going in for the most aggressive treatment. The first day, we checked in, and after the nurses “hooked her up”, they added a Benadryl drip.

We all know that Benadryl is supposed to dampen an allergic reaction, but what was it supposed to do during chemo? Here’s what I found: “Diphenhydramine works by blocking the action of histamine, a substance in the body that causes allergy-type symptoms. It has also been found to be slightly effective against the nausea and vomiting that can be caused by chemotherapy and/or help prevent side effects from other anti-nausea medications.”

So, in order to reduce nausea, they gave her Benadryl. Cool.

The effect in HER, however overshadowed any possible lessening of the nausea. Her legs began to wildly spasm – a sort of “SUPER-restless-leg-syndrome” (Which see here: http://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2017/03/encore-58-dealing-with-restless-limb.html).

So what does this (thankfully!) long-past reaction have to do with today?

Rashes. She’s discovered that she gets hives on her head and chest. It’s a reaction that actually has a name: Sun Allergy (http://www.health.harvard.edu/allergies/sun-allergy-photosensitivity)

Chemo drugs – in fact ANY drug – can cause some form of photosensitivity. “Photosensitivity is an enhanced skin response to ultraviolet radiation (sunlight). There are three types of photosensitivity reactions phototoxic, photoallergic and UV recall reaction. Phototoxic reactions are common photosensitivity reactions and can be produced in most individuals given a high enough dose of drug and sufficient light exposure. These photosensitivity reactions are usually evident within 5-20 hours of exposure and resembles an exaggerated sunburn (redness, swelling, blistering, weeping and peeling). The rash is confined to areas exposed to light. Drugs associated with these photosensitivity reactions are dacarbazine, fluorouracil, methotrexate and vinblastine. Photoallergic reactions are less common than phototoxic reactions. A photoallergic reaction is similar to a phototoxic reaction but the reaction may spread beyond area's exposed to light. A drug that may have this photosensitivity reaction is flutamide.”

Do we KNOW this is what happened? No. Does it seem possible? Yes. Maybe we can move forward from here, eh – that is, “Just one MORE thing to think about post-cancer!”

Image: https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5527/10893068965_1d328e8f71_b.jpg