Hodgkin's Lymphoma Support Group

Hey man. I am so sorry to hear that your disease returned. When they found mine for the first time in 2007 it was stage 3 and they put meon ABVD from beginning. Its actually not bad at all compared to what I got later. ABVD didnt make my hair fall out, it didn't make me feel too sick first cycles. Then I felt sick for the rest 4 cycles, but it went away in a couple of days. I wouldn't worry too much about its side effects.

One thing that I did hate is when they gave me this steroid drug called Prednisone. It affects adrenal glands and so it can cause withdrawal symptoms, it makes your appetite go up all the time and it can give you panic attacks, and thats a pill.

Hi, i am very sorry to hear that. I am 20 years old and was diagnosed with Hodgkins at stage 2. I was put on a 6 month cycle of ABVD. Honestly i found it a walk over. I know this sounds very big headed but i expected it to be awful and i had visions that i would be being sick, losing weight and basically not able to get off the couch. This was not the case at all. I continued with my studies at uni all the way through my treatment (never missed a day), i continued to dance weekly and kept up my part time job running weddings. My hair thinned but did not fall out completely. I decided myself to shave it off so that i could wear my wig. I was given quite a lot of steroids to help with any sickness side effects i would get, but i didnt get any really. I only took 2 days of steroids rather than 4 as i didnt feel i needed them. I had a few days when i felt a little odd but that is only to be expected.

Please keep your spirits up and i have been told that if you keep up your spirits you have a higher success at getting over this.

I wishyou all the bestand i have every faith that you will be okay. Please let me know if this is of any help and keep in touch to let me know you are okay.

All my love
Rebecca
xxxxxxxxxx

I just was diagnosed after my 27th birthday (heck of a present, really). I had my first course of ABVD last week. They spent a lot of time going over what this drug could do, and that drug could do, and had me a little more than on the nervous side. My mom's a nurse, and I've basically grown up around medical stuff all my life, but I've never had any interest in it (her area, not mine).
First round went great, no weird after tastes from drugs (beyond the slightly off taste from the saline they gave me, but that doesn't last long) no reaction to the Bleo (which is the one I was most concerned about, since thus far in my life all my allergies have been to medical stuff, talk about irony) on the test dose, no nausea, immediately afterward, great appetite, had a great first run. Only issue I had was the third day when my stomach started to feel like it was doing handstands and cartwheels (not sure if it was from the drugs, the Neulasta shot the day before, or a combo of the two), but the compazine cleared that up, and I haven't had issues since.
From everything I've read, if it knocks you back it's not for more than a few days and then you're back on your feet, which is great, since lying around staring at walls is no one's idea of a great time. I'm sure it'll work well for you.

i finished 14 treatments of abvd in nov. chemo is tolerable but tough. my mouth is still numb and my taste has been affected. i hope time will heal these small things. my breathing began to be a problem after chemo 7, attributed to bleomycin and that continued for a few months after chemo. keep showing up. all will be well.

ABVD, not as bad as I was led to believe also... Worked throughout my treatments. Hair thinned but did not completely fall out. After my Third cycle it started to make me feel a little sickly. The treatment actually reduced the tumor within days, it was incredible. My tumor was about 6cm's by 3cm's and went down to nothing within weeks.

Now just waiting to see if it returns, fingers crossed however...

Good luck with your treatments. Fight it all the way...

Kind Regards...

This is your second go around with HL? If so, did you have the ABVD the first time? My oncologist said you can not take the same chemo meds twice. The Adranmycin is very dangerous for your organs. I too have been rediagnosed with HL. I was first diagnosed in 2006 with stage I and went through ABVD and then radiation. I just got diagnsed with a relapse last week and not sure what will be next. Has your physician mentioned the prognosis after a relapse. I wold love to know what you have learned. Lisa Sweat

Hi Peter,

The good news is that ABVD is fairly well tolerated compared to many other treatment regimens out there. I'll try to be short and general, but nausea is definitely an issue with ABVD. Also hair loss, constipation and peripheral neuropathy. Finally, the bleomycin component can in some cases cause pulmonary fibrosis, so your doctor may be monitoring you for this. If you have further more specific questions, please feel free to email me.

cheers,

D.

I hope this doesn't freak anyone out who hasn't received ABVD yet. Everyone else had posted they didn't have too many problems but that hasn't been my experience.
I have had 4 treatments of ABVD. I was very weak after the first treatment, after the second I was in excruciating pain, After the third I had extreme nausea and vomiting and after the fourth I did okay because they gave me this new nausea med. My hair starting coming out in clumps after the second treatment. I am still exhausted for about 3 days after I get treatment.
The good news is that the doctor's can no longer feel any swelling in my neck and the mass that was causing shortness of breath must have shrunk because I can take deep breaths again.
I hope things go well for you and you do not have the kind of experience I have had so far.

Hi Peter,

I was DX with Hodgkins Lymphoma, Stage 2A in May of 2007. Went through 6 rounds of ABVD (12 treatments). I have to admit the chemo was not at all what I anticipated. I actually didn't think I was going to make it through my first treatment! My hair thinned quite a bit but I bought a wig ahead of time so I was very prepared for that. I received my treatments on Fridays and I would say Sunday and maybe part of Monday were my "worst" days. By worst I mean I had what I would call a disturbed stomach (not nauseous) and funny taste in my mouth. I only experienced 3 episodes of fatigue where I basically stayed on the couch. I was hospitalized for low blood counts after my second treatment and then started receiving Neulasta shots and never had a problem with my counts again. I worked full time during the course of my treatment but was very careful about being in too many crowds or around people that were sick. Although I did not experience nausea, I took Zofran, Compazine and Ativan faithfully during the 2-3 days following my treatment. I had lung function tests throughout treatment and my lung capacity did diminish toward the end, but not enough for the treatment to stop. I am happy to report that I am now 1 1/2 years in remission and hope to stay that way. Best of luck to you and please let me know if you need my help in any way.
Mary Ann

Hello, i was recently diagnosed with Hodgkins and have just finished my first two weeks on ABVD, and i was very surprised at how well it has gone so far (fingers crossed). Bit of a grumpy stomach and lost my appetite and taste for a couple if days but back to normal after those days and working pretty much full time.