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drinking alcohol
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drinking alcohol

› Forums › General Melanoma Community › drinking alcohol

  • Post
    • April 10, 2018 at 12:34 am
    gmschmidt
    Participant

      Hi, my husband is currently getting nivo treatments for stage IV. 

      We have asked his Dr. if he should stay away from alcohol and have never really gotten an answer.  We are not big drinkers by any means but would like to know one way or the other if this is an issue.  A few months ago he had four beers at our daughters wedding.  He told his Dr. and he just said "oh, that's fine, special occasion".  That comment sounds like it's something he shouldn't do on a regular basis.  It seems to me, when fighting cancer you would want to stay as healthy as possible, so why risk doing anything unhealthy.  On the other hand, his Dr has never said anything about any restrictions, or about nutrition either for that matter.  I understand some things are common sense but I think if eating a healthy diet for example was essential to recovery, someone would of mentioned it to him. 

      I'm just wondering others opinion on both drinking and eating healthy, for someone with cancer, as opposed to someone whithout. 

      Thank you!

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    • Replies
        • April 10, 2018 at 1:16 am
        jennunicorn
        Participant

          My opinion: life doesn't have to stop just because cancer showed up. During the two years I was on treatment I still had my usual few glasses of wine on the weekend and at social occasions. The only time I was ever told not to drink was when my liver enzymes were high. As long as his lab work is normal and he feels good, no reason he can't have a beer if he feels like havin a beer 🙂

            • April 10, 2018 at 9:15 pm
            Lucas
            Participant

              Just to provide an easy answer. The Nivolumab drug fact handout advises to drink limited alcohol or none at all. frown

              • April 11, 2018 at 3:07 am
              jennunicorn
              Participant

                Majority of drugs like these are going to say that in a handout. I know one of the scientists who created Nivo and she was not worried at all that I indulged in my much needed weekend glass or two of wine. If someone has a history of liver problems or is having major side effects from treatment I would certainly advise against alcohol. If someone is doing great on them like I did, other than the one month it kicked my butt, then no worries living life as usual.

              • April 10, 2018 at 1:17 am
              kcmtnbiker
              Participant

                First, I will say I am not a frequent drinker. I have recieved over 50 treatments with nivolumab (Opdivo) and have not seen any literature indicating that an occasional drink is a problem. In my first round of treatments, 35 biweekly treatments, an occasional drink did not seem to have any impact on the effectiveness of the treatment. My oncologist said, at the time, that the drug was so new that there was not a lot of information reguarding drinking. But, his opinion was, drink in moderation. I would say keep a close eye on his blood work and if you see any anomilies that might concide with consumption of alcohol, lay off the stuff for a while and see what happens. My approach has been to continue to enjoy life. So an occasional drink or a frequent bowl of ice cream are my self prescribed therapies. Healthy eating and excercise are very important. But, so is quality of life.

                • April 10, 2018 at 1:17 am
                His work in progress…
                Participant

                  When my wife and I first heard that my Melanoma returned with a vengence, we received much advice from our friends on diet and lifestyle. We always ate healthy, but decided to we were going to be all in on diet. After several weeks of hard dieting, we discussed the current diet with my Onc and his recommendation was just eat healthy. Nothing fancy, cut out the junk, limit preprocesses food, keep sugar limited. I've never used much alcohol, but since this journey, I've cut it out completely. And this was probably a good thing. After the third Yervoy/Opdivo combo treatment, I had a major setback with my liver. Had my liver been damaged by a history with alcohol, I'm not sure I would have been able to spring back with prednisone as well as I did and continue my treatment. Now I'm finished with the combo treatment and on #14 with Opdivo only. Last scan was completely clear!

                  Ken

                  • April 10, 2018 at 2:19 am
                  gopher38
                  Participant

                    My doctor hasn't given me any guidance on this, so I established my own policy to not drink one hour before or during my infusions.  Necessary or not, I'm sticking to this policy. 

                      • April 10, 2018 at 6:11 pm
                      Raco
                      Participant

                        SMILE smiley

                        • April 10, 2018 at 8:01 pm
                        dbJoe
                        Participant

                          I gave up alcohol for good in 2011. Two years later I was dx'd stage IV. Is there a correlation? If I stop using cocaine will my plane crash? After $120K+ worth of good stuff, I now expect to be hit by a bus.

                          The above is entirely satirical, however:

                          My friend, who is in the late stages of bladder cancer, asked his doctor if he could have some brownies, as his wife was afraid that sugar would 'feed the cancer'. The doctor said 'of course'. It breaks my heart that a dying man would be advised to avoid pleasure. I tend to eat a couple pans of brownies a week myself, which seems to be the only way to keep my weight above 140lbs.

                          My melanoma was not caused by sugar, nicotine, alcohol, or rock & roll.

                        • April 11, 2018 at 9:16 pm
                        gmschmidt
                        Participant

                          All very good perspectives!  Thanks everyone.

                          • April 13, 2018 at 1:54 pm
                          cancersnewnormal
                          Participant

                            I know a patient who had a large portion of his liver removed, when taking out the attached melanoma. Loves his white wine and continues to drink and enjoy. I have never been a drinker… I'm talking maybe 2 beers per year, or one glass of wine (and I live in wine country… blasphemy at its highest level! HA!). Soooo… when I developed pancreatitis while on Keytruda… I was thinking how "unfair" that seemed. As with anything, our bodies all process medications and drugs (things) differently. If it makes him happy, I'd say let it fly until liver or pancreatic enzymes tell him otherwise. 🙂

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