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Abbreviations on french prescriptions.


Jo

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Does anyone know what QSP on a french prescription stands for?

As in " 1 cp par jour - QSP 3 mois" these are on tablets my other half has to take before during and after (total 3 days) having a stent fitted to administer chemo. Just thought it would save me a trip back to the pharmacie?
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Quantity sufficient for 3 months..i.e can be renewed with out going back to the Doctor.

I hope every thing goes well. There are a number of us who have had chemo, and if you have any other questions don't hesitate to ask or send a pm.

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Many thanks NormanH and mogs no doubt there will be many more questions!! Just couldn't understand why they had given me 3 months supply when he's only supposed to take them for 3 days! Of course he might need another dose later.

Definitely must be done, they seem confident of a good result!!!!
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As there is a 50 centime charge on each box of tablets, my Doctor prescribes the 90 tablet box (enough for 3 months) rather than 30 days worth, which I would pay 50 centimes  each month. I know that this is an ongoing medicine so it makes sense.

This saves me money, but does him out of consultation fees, since I don't need to go back for a new prescription.

On the other hand marking 3 months worth for 3 days treatment does seem a bit excessive

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Hello Jo

I can only comment on my recent/current experience: I had no medication before the op for inserting the portacath which was done under local anaesthetic; I had "before" medication before my tumourectomy (general anaesthetic) to supress potential allergies.

The only "before, during and after" medication that I had to take was for my second chemo 'protocol' and for which I had a prescription which was 'renouvelable' rather than QSP (maybe because my chemo was 3-weekly?).

Are you sure the medication is for the procedure and not for the chemo sessions?

Whatever the case, best wishes to you and your other half during this challenging time.
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He's having the stent fitted on the 1st August and this is for folic acid to be taken on the 31st 1st and 2nd?? along with some steroids. He has had an op to remove a tumour which has proved to be a secondary cancer, he has radiotherapy booked for that and the chemo which he is having the stent fitted for is for the primary tumour which they have now found.
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[quote user="NormanH"]I hope every thing goes well. There are a number of us who have had chemo, and if you have any other questions don't hesitate to ask or send a pm.

[/quote]

He had his first session of chemo on Wednesday, and fatigue seems to have hit him like a sledgehammer today. He has tablets for the sickness but is there anything he can do about the fatigue? Having been very active he is finding this very difficult to cope with.
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I agree with Norman, the best cure for fatigue is rest.  It's cr*p but it will be over.  I was only really tired for a few days after each chemo'.  I took the opportunity to watch all the programmes I keep recording and never getting round to waching.

This has probably been done, but if your o/h had any pain when the needle was first injected into the pac (stent) then get a patch prescribed.  If he already  does this, then make sure he put it in place 2 hours before the jab, not the 1 that they tell you - it works much better and the effect lasts a long time if the drugs are late arriving.  A tip from my neighbour that worked a treat for me and her!

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One other thing that you probably know but is worth repeating is that Chemo often lowers the level of white blood cells dramatically, and they are the ones that fight infection, so keep anybody with the slightest hint of a cough or sniffle well away.

If mine had gone down any further I would have been on barrier nursing...

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Thanks for that cooperlola, he had the chemo at the same time they fitted the stent so they haven't had to access it again yet, will ask the nurse if it's possible to have a patch for next time. (22nd August) They did mention about the white blood cells NormanH so we have declared purdah for a while!!
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Make sure they are giving you everything they can to combat any sickness, I was given anti nausea tablets called Kytril (you need a special prescription for them) as well as suppositories and normal anti sickness tablets (Biperidys).  I have quite a bad phobia about being sick and thankfully this never happened, just nausea.

I agree with the others, the tiredness is a problem with every cycle of chemo, but it always just got better and then the next cycle began.   Rest, rest and more rest.

As it is a secondary cancer, have they suggested ongoing chemo?   They can lower the dose each time so the side effects are minimal.

Good luck to you both

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Thanks for all the suggestions, luckily at the moment he is coping with the nausea which isn't too bad, the secondary cancer, which is the one they removed, was in the brain mogs, so they are treating that with radiotherapy, the chemo is for the primary cancer.
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  • 2 weeks later...
Just a quick question for NormanH, OH had his chemo on a wednesday, poorly by friday, but much better by the following wednesday and for the two weeks since then. Assuming they keep to the same dosage, ( scan due after every second dose ) is the 'recovery' likely to be the same? Or does it have a cumulative effect and get worse each time, and take longer to recover? Many thanks for any help!
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Everybody is different as the 'cocktail' of drugs is tailored to the specific cancer and different people  react differently to the same drug, but in my experience the side effects get a little more each time, but tend to keep to the same pattern as the first time. So if you tolerate it well and recover quickly the first time is is reason to hope that it will be like that the other times.

My main problem was the fall in white blood cells: I had to have a blood test just before the session each time, and in fact on one occasion I  was sent home because the count was too low, and they didn't want to lower it further, so I had an extra week in between session, and they gave me injections of Human Growth Hormone to stimulate the bone marrow to produce more white cells.

http://www.nature.com/bmt/journal/v39/n2/full/1705545a.html

I don't think that cooperlola had that problem but she can confirm or deny what I found. As I say it is very personal.

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I had the same white blood cell problem, Norman.  Marginal on the third go-round so I got jabs for all the subequent doses (4 days a week before).  I don't remember exactly what they injected me with but I do remember that it was over 450€ each time!!![:-))]

Otherwise I tolerated my chemo reasonably well but it did get a bit worse each time.  All in all I got off pretty lightly though.

Say bon courage to Mr Jo.[:)]

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Thanks for that NormanH, have noticed from the weekly blood tests the count has fallen, they have said they will phone the day before if it's too low for treatment. Nice to know it's temporary! Cooperlola, I'm assuming the patch goes over the stent itself?
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