Drinking alcohol while having chemotherapy treatments

What can happen? I've read all types of stories but what is the truth? Will he have seizures and die? Chemicals and alcohol -- do they mix? If anyone knows of someone who is going through this, please let me know and let me know what we can do to help. Thank you in advance.

My girlfriend just turned 21. She likes to go out and drink a lot. She takes Chemo every couple of weeks. I'm just wondering if this has any negative impacts on the way her treatment affects the cancer. Please respond

killerinfection@hotmail.com

My 50 yr old sister has just had a mastectomy and is getting ready to have Chemo and Radiation. She smokes and drinks hard liquor. I am so upset that I could scream. How do you love someone through cancer treatment that doesn't love themselves. I am horrified at the thought of what the chemicals that the chemo will introduce to her body and the effects of the alcohol being poured in as well.
I really need to know what the mix will cause or hinder.

http://www.cancerhelp.org.uk/help/default.asp...

Read this link. It seems to think alcohol in moderation is ok.

My sister is 62, had colon and breast cancer. She smokes and drinks hard liquor and beer. I have the same question. How do you love them through it all. I some times get so mad, I take time from work for her,and time from my family only to see her kill herself anyway.

Maeve wrote:

My 50 yr old sister has just had a mastectomy and is getting ready to have Chemo and Radiation. She smokes and drinks hard liquor. I am so upset that I could scream. How do you love someone through cancer treatment that doesn't love themselves. I am horrified at the thought of what the chemicals that the chemo will introduce to her body and the effects of the alcohol being poured in as well.
I really need to know what the mix will cause or hinder.

My stepdad is a heavy drinker. He is on chemotherapy for lymphoma B Non-hodgekins disease. He has already tried two types of chemotherapy, neither of which have worked to completely get rid of his cancer. Could the Alcohol be to blame for this?
Also, he has been put onto another type of chemotherapy (tablet form this time) and due to the rugby being on he has decided he wants to hold off starting this course of treatment until after the match on the 9th of Feb. 2008, as he wants to go out to watch the match. Is this wise?

All of the fact sheets for the different types of chemo caution that you are not to drink alcohol while going through chemo and it isn't recommended during radiation, either. That being said, I am a breast cancer survivor. I am going through chemo for the second time. I do not smoke, drink, do drugs, etc. and I haven't. I have tried to maintain a healthy lifestyle from a very young age, but I love people that have gone through treatment that did some of those things. The answer is that you love people through and support them just because you do. There are a lot of people in my life with addictions and I love them still. If you love someone you just do and you accept them flaws and all knowing that the only person you can change in life is you. Accepting that and letting go of what you think someone else should do to change their life will set you free.

mary-california i love what you wrote i think that is an awesome way to think and apprediate it.
thanks, missy

Here's a crazy idea: CHECK WITH YOUR DOCTOR!!!!!

Here's a crazy idea: CHECK WITH YOR DOCTOR!!!!

patient's rights! I have a sister in a similar circumstance, bi-polar, having chemo for breast cancer and she claims I'm only drinking a little but I see bottles and can evidence. I spend three-four nights taking a four hour drive both ways to get to her. The doctors are not completely open. Her home visiting nurse also have difficulty getting info from the doctors. The whole circumstance has me on the verge of going 5150. The next big issue is the cost, she has no insurance and don't qualify now that she has cancer.

Maeve wrote:

My 50 yr old sister has just had a mastectomy and is getting ready to have Chemo and Radiation. She smokes and drinks hard liquor. I am so upset that I could scream. How do you love someone through cancer treatment that doesn't love themselves. I am horrified at the thought of what the chemicals that the chemo will introduce to her body and the effects of the alcohol being poured in as well.
I really need to know what the mix will cause or hinder.

My boyfriend has stage IV bladder cancer and has one kidney removed and is still drinking. He had a serious drinking problem before this diagnosis. He has slowed down somewhat but not enough to me. I was hoping he would get sober but he has a prognosis of two years at the most with chemo and 6 months without it. I guess he figures I am going to die anyway might as well enjoy it I guess. It saddens me but it has come down to detaching and taking care of me now. The doctor's know about his drinking issues and told him he could have one beer a day which an alcoholic hears the doctor said I could still drink. Just make sure you take care of you!
Good luck and God bless!

Can you have an ocassional drink during radiation treaments?

Beckey Anderson wrote:

Can you have an ocassional drink during radiation treaments?

Becky: Ask the Radiation Oncologist. They will tell you if it is o.k. In my boyfriend's case he is an alcoholic so he drank during radiation & chemo. However as of Monday of this week we got the news from his latest scan and it has metastisized to the liver in two months while he has been having chemo.Now the Doctor is telling him not to drink any alcohol! I could scream!I guess it is a personal choice. Good luck and God Bless!

Annette wrote:

<quoted text>Becky: Ask the Radiation Oncologist. They will tell you if it is o.k. In my boyfriend's case he is an alcoholic so he drank during radiation & chemo. However as of Monday of this week we got the news from his latest scan and it has metastisized to the liver in two months while he has been having chemo.Now the Doctor is telling him not to drink any alcohol! I could scream!I guess it is a personal choice. Good luck and God Bless!

My is with you. It is so difficult to watch a person we care about destroy themselves for the sake of booze.

My friend has started drinking again after almost 2 years of sobriety and just found out she has breast cancer. Would the doctors allow her to start chemotherapy and/or radiation if she had alcohol in her system or just tell her to come back when she was sober?

Jill wrote:

My friend has started drinking again after almost 2 years of sobriety and just found out she has breast cancer. Would the doctors allow her to start chemotherapy and/or radiation if she had alcohol in her system or just tell her to come back when she was sober?

The Doctor's knew about his drinking problem before the radiation and chemo because of a previous hospital stay and me telling them constantly he was still drinking. One of his Doctor's said chemo~no drinking,drinking~no chemo. His partner told him one beer a day until his blood counts were so low he couldn't have his treatment and had to get a blood transfusion. He then told him no alcohol!It's crazy for the loved ones watching all this. The Doctor's can warn them but if a person has a drinking problem they haven't dealt with they will drink even with chemo. I am happy to report even though mine is not in a program for alcoholics he is starting to enjoy what time he has left and only have a beer every 2 wks.Good Luck~God Bless

If someone is a straight up alcoholic/addict, then that is a terrible lifestyle regardless of whatever other problems they might have. But as long as you can stay in control, then it is small pleasures like that that can keep life worth living. I abstained from all substances during my first bout with cancer because I simply didn't care for them then. But now that my cancer has come back, I sometimes enjoy a couple drinks to break things up. Not knowing how much time you have left, you owe it to yourself to enjoy yourself now, whatever that may entail.

I have a friend that got a DWI while going through chemo on a weekly basis for 14 months. I was with her the entire nite and saw her alcohol intake of 6 beers from 5:30-12:30am she was pulled over for failure to signal a lane change. In our county a law has passed if u refuse to blow they now demand a blood test after recieveing a search warrant. So at 5:30am 5 hours later they draw blood from her....... Several months later it comes back .22 way above the legal limit. She passed all sobriety test I'm lost at why this level was so high. She's scared to have her lawyer fight it and to embarrassed to ask her Dr if chemo could have an effect on how your kidneys and liver metabolize. I've heard they function very slow. I can't seem to get my hands on any info that's proves this but I've heard from to many ppl in the medical field. Please help if you know where I can get a good reference I feel like she could beat this.

My mother recently lost her husband of 40 years. More than half of those years together they were alcoholics. Now she has been diagnosed with nonhodgkins lymphoma. She has started chemo and other treatments. She continues to drink. While my father was ill, I always told the doctors how much he drank because my parents down played how much they consumed. I wrote letters to my mothers doctors informing them of her drinking. This is what my two siblings agreed and supported. I am mostly concerned about her drinking the night before chemo. She has a power port that has to be drained before every treatment.The doctors are stumped why her port had a hematoma. Now my mom has found out about the letters to her doctors and is full of angry and hate to us her children. I wish there was a rehab for cancer patients to recieve cancer treatments and to learn how to live a sober life. Her illness is so advanced and that has left me wondering if causing a rift between our relationship due to the letters were worth it, but then did I do everything I could have done to let her have more time with her children and grandchildren. I will have to see....