What Are The Most Common Side Effects Of Bladder Cancer Medications
As with all medicines, those used for bladder cancer will have some side effects, depending on the class you are taking:
- Chemotherapy medications can cause you to have low white blood cell counts which increases your risk of infections. Some other common side effects include nausea, vomiting, hair loss, anemia, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, and joint pain.
- Immunotherapy drugs can commonly cause joint and muscle pain, fatigue, rash, diarrhea, cough, nausea, vomiting, constipation, and itching.
- Targeted therapy medications can cause fatigue, nausea, joint and muscle pain, diarrhea, headache, high blood sugar, and decreased levels of electrolytes.
- Intravesical medications such as Mutamycin commonly causes increased urinary frequency and urgency, bladder pain, incontinence, and urinary tract infections.
Physical Emotional And Social Effects Of Cancer
Cancer and its treatment cause physical symptoms and side effects, as well as emotional, social, and financial effects. Managing all of these effects is called palliative care or supportive care. It is an important part of your care that is included along with treatments intended to slow, stop, or eliminate the cancer.
Palliative care focuses on improving how you feel during treatment by managing symptoms and supporting patients and their families with other, non-medical needs. Any person, regardless of age or type and stage of cancer, may receive this type of care. And it often works best when it is started right after an advanced cancer diagnosis. People who receive palliative care along with treatment for the cancer often have less severe symptoms, better quality of life, and report that they are more satisfied with treatment.
Palliative treatments vary widely and often include medication, nutritional changes, relaxation techniques, emotional and spiritual support, and other therapies. You may also receive palliative treatments similar to those meant to get rid of the cancer, such as chemotherapy, surgery, or radiation therapy.
Learn more about the importance of tracking side effects in another part of this guide. Learn more about palliative care in a separate section of this website.
Signs And Symptoms Of Bladder Cancer
Sometimes bladder cancer doesnt have many symptoms. Signs or symptoms can include:
- blood in your urine
- pain or burning when passing urine
- not being able to pass urine when you need to.
Not everyone with these symptoms has bladder cancer. If you have any of these symptoms or are worried, always see your doctor.
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What Are Some Home Remedies For Bladder Cancer
There are no home remedies or natural ways to treat lung cancer. Medications, surgery, and radiation are the treatments you will need to treat this condition. After completing treatment, itâs very important to go to all of your follow-up appointments.
There are some lifestyle changes and self-care measures you can take to reduce your risk of bladder cancer, including:
- Stop smoking. Smoking increases your chance of developing bladder cancer.
- Maintain a healthy weight. Research has shown that you have an increased risk of non-invasive bladder cancer if you are overweight or obese.
- Stay hydrated. Drinking plenty of fluids may decrease your risk of bladder cancer. It empties your bladder more often, which may help your kidneys get rid of any harmful chemicals.
- Avoid harmful chemicals and dyes.
- Contact your doctor if you have any signs and symptoms of bladder cancer such as blood in your urine, pain when you urinate, and back pain with no known cause.
For An Active Bladder Cancer You Need The Knock Out The Cancer Protocol Below
The most important supplements for fighting bladder cancer are the following. These supplements will have a synergy with chemotherapies, helping the chemo produce better results while also reducing side effects. Of course, you can use these to fight cancer without being on chemo, or use them with other treatments you may be doing.
When cancer is in the bladder, you may see, when you are using some of these suggestions, and especially the Zeolite Enhanced with DHQ, bits of tumors, dead cancer cells, small amounts of blood, coming out in the urine. This can happen fast, within a week, or take a month or two. But at some point you will see it, and it is a sign the cancer is being killed.
Be sure and continue with a prevention protocol to correct the issues that caused the cancer in the first place.
The majority of these suggestions are frequency enhanced energy which work by stimulating the body to safely and successfully heal itself. These elixirs do not suppress the symptoms of cancer, but rather stimulate the body’s own healing mechanism to deal with cancer and to reverse it.
These elixirs are a safe, natural therapy using a base of purified structured spring water with a very small amount of organic Orange and Rosemary essential oils. This base holds and transmits the various energetic frequencies that trigger the body’s healing response.
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Natural Ways To Treat An Overactive Bladder
About a year ago, I began noticing I was getting up several times a night to pee. Once I thought about it, I realized I was peeing a lot during the day, too. The problem escalated and escalated until I was getting up three to five times a night, leading to severe sleep deprivation. Desperate for a solution, I got tested for interstitial cystitis, ovarian cysts, diabetes, kidney stones, you name it. But with all the results negative, I instead got the frustrating diagnosis of overactive bladder .
I describe an OAB diagnosis as frustrating because it doesnât have a simple cure. Your options are to go on medication, to see a physical therapist who can teach you helpful exercises or an osteopath who can manipulate your nerves, to try a more drastic treatment like Bladder Botox injections or electrical bladder stimulation, or to make a bunch of small changes to your lifestyle that can gradually alleviate the problem. âEven though treatment options exist, many patients opt for natural and homeopathic remedies, since no single treatment has been proven to be most effective,â Caleb Backe, Health and Wellness Expert for Maple Holistics, tells Bustle.
There are two main symptoms of OAB,Los Angeles-based urologist S. Adam Ramin, MD tells Bustle: urgency frequency and urgency incontinence . Some people with OAB only have the first symptom, while others have both.
Uti Cure Without Antibiotics
Use the following UTI Cure Without Antibiotics to heal your Urinary Tract and prevent UTI infections from reoccurring. You can prevent chronic Urinary Tract Infections by restoring your natural healthy gut, colon and intestinal flora Then follow up by eating and drinking alkaline foods and beverages after your initial flush with distilled water Here are the best UTI remedies natural relief supplements:
- Urinary Tract Support the best natural herbs and extracts and probiotics to stop your UTI pain and infection
- Nano Colloidal Silver is a powerful natural antibiotic, antiviral and antifungal mineral
- Ellagic Acid is a natural antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal yeast infection remedy. It also is a cancer preventative and tumor reducer. It is safe for your immune cells but causes apoptosis for cancer cells. It also is lethal for parasites.
- Best Black Seed Oil Organic black cumin seed oil is a powerful natural anti-inflammatory and immunity booster. It helps refresh your liver and kidneys and is helpful for UTIs. It has potent cancer healing benefits
- Probioticsthese help fill your urinary tract with helpful bacteria that prevent harmful stains from taking over and giving you an infection
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Overactive Bladder In Women
Women are more likely to report symptoms of OAB to their doctor. In fact, at least 40 percent of American women experience symptoms of overactive bladder. Many more may not report the experiences to their doctor at all.
Overactive bladder consists of a series of symptoms that cause you to need to urinate more frequently. These symptoms include
- feeling a sudden need to urinate
- not being able to control urination
- urinating at least two times every night
- urinating at least eight times every day
Its not clear what causes overactive bladder, but OAB becomes more common in women after menopause. That may be the result of estrogen deficiency. However, overactive bladder can occur at any age.
Overactive bladder is a common childhood condition, but not every accident or soiled bed is the result of OAB. Children frequently grow out of overactive bladder symptoms, but treatment can help prevent frequent urination or complications.
Symptoms of OAB in children include:
- an urgent or frequent need to urinate
- accidents or leaking urine
- urinating more than eight times in a day
- not feeling as if theyve emptied their bladder despite urinating
Symptoms of OAB become less common as children get older. With age, kids learn to properly control their bladder and recognize signals that they need to urinate. If symptoms of overactive bladder dont seem to be resolving or are getting worse, talk with your childs doctor.
Causes of OAB in children include:
- urinary tract infection
How Long Will You Live If You Have Bladder Cancer
Bladder cancer survival depends on the stage of cancer before treatment begins. The prognosis for earliest-stage bladder cancer is excellent, with a five-year survival rate of roughly 96%. However, as the cancer spreads locally and then to other organs, the survival rate decreases significantly. The five-year survival rate for stage IV bladder cancer is only 5%.
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What Are The Stages Of Bladder Cancer
Bladder cancer can be either early stage or invasive .
The stages range from TA to IV . In the earliest stages , the cancer is confined to the lining of the bladder or in the connective tissue just below the lining, but has not invaded into the main muscle wall of the bladder.
Stages II to IV denote invasive cancer:
- In Stage II, cancer has spread to the muscle wall of the bladder.
- In Stage III, the cancer has spread to the fatty tissue outside the bladder muscle.
- In Stage IV, the cancer has metastasized from the bladder to the lymph nodes or to other organs or bones.
A more sophisticated and preferred staging system is known as TNM, which stands for tumor, node involvement and metastases. In this system:
- Invasive bladder tumors can range from T2 all the way to T4 .
- Lymph node involvement ranges from N0 to N3 .
- M0 means that there is no metastasis outside of the pelvis. M1 means that it has metastasized outside of the pelvis.
Myth : Artificial Sweeteners Can Lead To Cancer
Artificial sweeteners are sugar-free substitutes you add to food to make it sweeter without added calories. Back in the ’70s, studies showed cyclamate, an additive that has since been removed from the U.S. market, combined with saccharin led to bladder cancer in lab animals. Bladder cancer incidences in rats that received high saccharin doses also rose.
But this doesn’t seem to occur with humans. Rats make sodium salts that contribute to the formation of tumors in their bladders, but mice, humans and monkeys don’t do this, so consuming these compounds didn’t cause bladder cancer in these cases.
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Is There A Recommended Diet For Bladder Cancer
There are many factors in determining the right eating pattern for you. If youre feeling fatigued or experiencing other symptoms, it can be hard to eat well. You may not be able to eat the way you used to. The goal is to eat a variety of nutritious foods to support your health.
Theres no one specific diet recommended for the treatment or prevention of bladder cancer. However, some research suggests that certain dietary patterns may help reduce the risk of bladder cancer and cancer in general.
An Italian case-control study showed some advantages of a Mediterranean diet for reducing bladder cancer risk. The Mediterranean diet is a nutrient-dense diet rich in foods like vegetables, fruits, legumes, and whole grains. It also includes healthy fats from fish, nuts, seeds, and olive oil.
The Mediterranean way of eating has other health benefits, such as lowering inflammation and risk of heart disease.
Summary
Theres no one recommended diet for people with bladder cancer, but the Mediterranean diet may have some benefits.
New Improvements In Targeted Therapies
Despite the excitement and advancements involving immunotherapies, chemotherapy remains the first-line treatment for advanced bladder cancers. There, too, medical researchers are making progress.
The cells of bladder-cancer tumors contain a high number of surface antigens, which are molecules capable of triggering an immune response. These antigens are the reason immunotherapies can be effective for the treatment of bladder cancer, and these antigens also assist the action of newer chemotherapy medicines known as antibody-drug conjugates. These drugs use these quite clever molecules that have an antibody on one endsomething that will hopefully bind onto the antigens on cancer cells in a selective mannerand a chemotherapy agent on the other, Crabb says.
The big problem with conventional chemotherapy, he explains, is that it struggles to differentiate between normal cells and cancer cells. Fast-growing cells that resemble cancer cellssuch as those of the bone marrow, digestive tract, mouth, and scalptypically draw friendly fire. This is why people on chemo often experience multiple severe side-effects, including hair loss, fatigue, nausea, and sores. Antibody-drug conjugates, by selectively binding to antigens on bladder cancer cells, can reduce this kind of collateral damage. What it does is lock the chemotherapy onto this molecule that exists on top of the cancer cells, which hopefully spares the normal cells the direct exposure to chemotherapy, Crabb says.
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Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer
Advanced bladder cancer is treated by surgically removing the entire bladder followed by a course of chemotherapy to prevent the cancers return.
The surgical removal of the bladder, a procedure called a radical cystectomy, will also involve removing the prostate gland in men and the uterus, cervix, ovaries, and upper vagina in a woman. Lymph nodes around the region of the urinary tract will also be removed.
If possible, the surgeon will create a new bladder from part of the small intestine called a neobladder, that will allow for near-normal urination. If a neobladder is not possible, the surgeon will create a urinary diversion. One option is for the surgeon to create an ileal conduit, a tube from a segment of intestinal tissue that directs urine from the ureters through a hole out of the abdomen to collect in a bag outside the body. The other option is to create a pouch in the body made from large intestine tissue. The urine collects in the pouch and is drained several times a day out of a hole in the abdomen using a catheter.
Surgery will be followed by intravenous chemotherapy for several months to prevent a recurrence.
Home Remedy Treatments For Incontinence
Now that you know a little bit about the different types of incontinence, as well as what typically causes them, youâre ready to learn home remedies that can help you deal with this bladder control problem.
Keep a diary. Maintaining a voiding diary, or uro-log, will create a record of when you urinated and the circumstances surrounding it. The diary should include the time of day of urination or leakage the type and amount of fluid intake that preceded it the amount voided in ounces the amount of leakage the activity engaged in when leakage occurred and whether or not an urge to urinate was present. Keeping such a diary for at least four days, if not a full week, before you see a doctor can help him or her determine what type of incontinence you have and the course of treatment. When you see a doctor, take along a list or the actual bottles of any prescription or over-the-counter medicines you have been taking, because some medications can cause incontinence.
Lose weight. Carrying extra fat in the abdominal region puts pressure on the bladder and stresses the pelvic muscles.
Do not smoke. Hereâs another reason to give up the habit. Nicotine can irritate the bladder, and for heavy smokers, coughing can contribute to stress incontinence.
Go before you go. Try to empty your bladder before you take a trip of an hour or more, whether you feel the urge to go or not.
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Herbal Remedies For Utis: Demulcents
Cornsilk , Marshmallow root and Couch grass rhizome are all cooling and decrease irritation in the bladders mucus membranes.
Think of the mucous membranes like the inside of your mouth. UTIs, especially frequent ones, cause a lot of damage to this sensitive layer of the bladder and its important to restore and heal it.
Cornsilk
Cornsilk is also a diuretic, antiseptic and increases your natural immune response to fight the infection.
Couch grass
Couch grass may also be a mild diuretic as well. These herbs are helpful in treating the acute symptoms, especially pain and urgency, of a UTI.
Other natural demulcents
Chondroitin sulfate, aloe vera, and hyaluronic acid also help to protect your bladders mucosa. This group specifically heals the glycosaminoglycans layer of the bladder mucosa, which protects, lubricates and produces mucus .
Most of the studies on hyaluronic acid and chondroitin sulfate look at intravesical therapies . This makes it a good option for people with chronic bladder pain syndrome or interstitial cystitis .
If you want a less invasive option, Freeze dried aloe vera is a pill you can take twice a day. Many people, especially with CBPS/IS, say it helps their symptoms, where other medications did not. Be aware that this is a long-term treatment and dont expect the results in less than a month.