Tarceva and appetite - 1256674

Hi tonk,

Chemo often causes changes in taste (with cisplatin being a common cause), and so can Tarceva, which can also cause loss of appetite. You might want to review these posts, which indicate that the problem does tend to diminish, and that an appetite stimulant can help:

http://cancergrace.org/forums/index.php?topic=11387.0
http://cancergrace.org/forums/index.php?topic=5464.0

I hope these side effects fade soon.

JimC
Forum moderator

When my father was on Tarceva, loss of appetite was a major problem for him. He was 80 when he started taking it. His dr. advised him to drink Ensure (or something similar). It helped a lot. As he got sicker a few years later, his dr. added ritalin. It did help his appetite and he ate more.

Although I do have a cute story about his appetite. My father was absolutely convinced that the frozen meals he ate when he lived alone were what kept his weight on. He told the doctor I fed him "too much chicken and salad" and that's why he was losing weight. He couldn't be convinced by anyone that it had anything to do with his illness progressing. So, in his last few months he ate nothing but frozen meals. It was hard to cook for the family then hand him a frozen dinner, but that's what he wanted.

Welcome tonk,

My husband has maintained a diminished appetite since before diagnosis. First from the cancer itself and pain related to it but he's been off treatment for 10 months and has no evidence of disease (for which we feel we've won a lottery).

He was given magace, an appetite stimulant from the very beginning and it's helped tremendously including while taking tarceva. There are side effects that cause a certain population to steer clear of this med not sure what but can find it in the post Jim provided and of course doc and pharm would note also.

Not sure why he continues to have such a lack of appetite except he's always eaten very little and been very thin so I can imagine the emotional trauma easily makes him adverse to eating.

For whatever reason he cant' eat, we are still working with magace, off and on and it's still working well for him.
Let me second what Sherry said about Ensure. D started drinking them right after dx and I still buy them for times when his appetite turns off. And frozen lasagna has a place in our house too. :)
I hope your mom continues to do well on tarceva.

Janine
forum moderator

I will add to the applause for Ensure. I tried the other brands and they all taste like vitamins. Ensure is the only one I like. They have several flavors, and now there is a Clear Ensure that is like fruit juice. I've tried the apple and it's not bad. Sometimes you just don't want a shake.

My appetite has been turned on by some meds, off by others, and when it is pretty normal I have that heightened sense of smell/taste too.

I stick to mostly fruits and veggies, some grains like kinoa and bulgar wheat, and I need more protein but I'm a little turned off by meats, beans and eggs. Used to love them all but having trouble digesting them now.

I also find that the most simply prepared foods are the best for me. The more fussy, the less I seem to like it.

Also, you might consider a protein powder in smoothies or juices. It does have a flavor all its own so you probably either like it or you don't, but I have lived on smoothies at times. My favorite, ginger peach!

Good luck, and I wouldn't worry too much. Let him eat what he likes as much as he likes. That's pretty much the best we can do with cancer and the treatments we go through to treat it.

Debra

I just wanted to add to Debra's note about eating whatever is wanted or palatable, everything is so turned on its head when one is dealing with cancer.
Another note about ensure options. D found the vanilla to his liking. For protein, vitamins, and calories I buy ensure "plus" because it has more calories, 350 as opposed to 250, i think. I had a difficult time putting together a smoothie that came close which is when we changed from homemade to ensure.

Tonk, thanks for the slippery elm bark suggestion, since menopause I've had a heck of a time with heartburn.

My Mom really really lost her appetite while on Tarceva. . .and when she did eat, she mostly craved healthy stuff (fruits, salads with fresh lemon juice dressing, etc.). Her portion sizes also changed (became a lot smaller - - and she was not a big eater to begin with). So, like others here have reported, she also lost weight while on Tarceva. But, after trying many different things (Megace, etc.), we eventually gave in to it and just made sure that she had at least one ensure a day on top of the things that she was eating.

Good luck!

Laya

I was on tarceva for about 18 months as part of a clinical trial, and then a further 6 months solo. I lost over 20ks during that time, going from 63k to 42k. I also had the associated troubles of low energy and fainting. The thought of food was horrible and what I did eat tasted like dust. Eventually I just accepted I wasn't going to eat much and added a milk shake a day to my diet. Some days that was all I had. I found being told to eat was just annoying - I wasn't not eating to be difficult, I just couldn't face it. Luckily my husband knows me well, and just let me sort it out in my own way and time, whilst being supportive throughout.

I am now on alimta maintenance and am 48k. I actually don't want to go back to my old weight as I threw all those clothes out!

I got a really good run with tarceva, despite the occasionally devasting side effects, and I hope your mum also gets great benefit from it

Gail