Alimta chemotherapy is a curative treatment for Non Small Cell Lung Cancers. It is also known by its salt name Pemetrexed. This treatment aims at killing the massively growing cancer cells thus reducing their size or shrinking them eventually.

How is Alimta Chemotherapy Given?

In Alimta chemotherapy, the drug is infused inside the patient’s vein. The dose or quantity of drug to be given varies for every patient depending on their age, weight, height and other physical traits. The doctor may give some corticosteroid to prevent skin rashes post chemotherapy. One’s healthcare practitioner could even prescribe folic acid and Vitamin B12, for these lower the side effects caused by therapy. Pemetrexed could interfere with steroid drugs or aspirin. Conclusively one must avoid taking such medicines few days before and after the treatment.

Possible side effects of Alimta Chemotherapy

Chemotherapeutic drugs damage cancerous and normal cells which tend to grow continuously like hair cells, intestinal cells, cells lining our skin and bone marrow cells which produce blood cells (RBC, WBC and Blood platelets). These unusual symptoms could be disturbing and painful during the course of medication but suppresses once the treatment is over.

Not all patients show strong side reactions to Alimta chemotherapy, as these side effects may be different in every case. Some common side effects are listed below:

• Nausea and vomiting: One must ask their doctor for medicine to suppress nausea and vomiting following chemotherapy
• Infections: People are more prone to catch minor infections as chemotherapy reduces WBC count in blood
• Alopecia: Alopecia or hair lose after chemotherapy is most common among patients receiving chemotherapy
• Diarrhea: Diarrhea or watery stools could be prevented by eating food rich in fiber
• Mouth sores: Mouth sores could be kept away by replacing solid food with liquid diets
• Anemia: Anemia occurs due to low RBC Count
• Bruising and bleeding: This is caused by damaged blood platelets

Points to be noted

One must inform their medical practitioner about any homeopathic, herbal, vitamins, nutritional supplements or over the counter drugs they are taking. Chemotherapy could be detrimental to the fetus hence women and men both must take necessary birth control measures. Women must keep away from breast feeding or nursing their children during the course of medication. No immunizations or vaccinations should be taken without a prior approval from one’s doctor.

Although Alimta chemotherapy is used for the  treatment of lung cancer, there are many other drugs that are used in the regimen of small cell lung cancer chemotherapy. If you have any questions related to chemotherapy, do not hesitate to ask your health care provider.