life with Tarceva ( erlotonib)

[landerson]

I started on Tarceva in December of last year. I found the hardest side effect to control was not the rash but diarrhoea. Banana's, no diary(apart from cheese)and reduced fibre low fat has become my diet of choice. recently I have tried porridge with rice milk and this has also helped control what I can only describe as an irritable bowel. Any one else have any other ideas?

[Jules2]

Hi landerson I had to look up Tarceva and see that it is another drug that attacks the egfr's ... i didnt have the problem with cetux that you are having with this one so cant really help. Have you looked up on the internet regarding the drug? I had to find and read a few sites with cetux to gain a good understanding of it and how best to deal with it. My onco was great also as he just prescribed antibiotics for the rash. Good thing you arent getting too bad with the rash as that can be a nightmare. Hope you manage to find some good info to help you out. Julie

[benlisecca]

Hi landerson, I have no experience of your drug but during treatment the doctors prescribed lomitol (sp?) and that helped a lot to control the diarrhoea. Maybe that could help???? I have IBS now due to radiation and it is a real trial and error process with food but I too have found that porridge and bananas are wonderful and very "soothing". There is an IBS diet that my dietitian has recommended and there are so many foods that can trigger the IBS and many of them I would never have thought of. If you can't get access to a dietitian maybe even google IBS diet and see what comes up, I think from memory its called a FODMAP diet and it's meant to relieve the symptoms of IBS. Good luck and let us know how you get on. Thinking of you. Sharon