How do you get chemo chills to stop?
1 answer
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Last updated: Sep 17, 2009
Q
Has anyone had chills during chemo? If so, any suggestions to have them stop? How long after treatment do chemo chills last?
A
Bonnie Bajorek Daneker is author and creator of the The Compassionate Caregiver's Series, which includes "The Compassionate Caregiver's Guide to Caring for Someone...
83% helpful
Symptoms like chills, shaking and fever are the body’s way of trying to increase temperature through muscular activity. These are seen during chemotherapy and may continue for hours or even days afterwards. Chills are particularly common with certain cancer drugs such as interferon, interleukin-2, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF), but they can occur after treatment with most chemotherapy agents.
Unless your doctor has advised against it, you should be able to keep the chills under control with ibuprofen, acetaminophen, or aspirin. However, if the chills persist or don't respond to treatment with common painkillers, talk to your doctor about other medications. There's no need to suffer chills while undergoing chemotherapy.
