Side Effects & Symptoms: Overview
Palliative Care: Addressing Symptoms at Any Stage of Disease
Palliative care, a specialized field of medical care, focuses on providing relief from the symptoms and stress of a serious illness. The goal is to improve quality of life for both the patient and the family.
While some patients, and even some healthcare providers, might think of palliative care as “end of life care”, relief from suffering and improvements in quality of life certainly do not need to be reserved for the end of life. Assistance with managing many unpleasant symptoms is available throughout the course of treatment and recovery. If your healthcare providers do not address symptom management care, consider asking for a referral to a palliative care specialist.
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What goes with cancer that causes suffering? Anxiety, fear, depression, fatigue, sleep problems, sexual problems, grief, pain, changes in appetite and the like.
It may be a big surprise how much complementary therapies have to offer in easing the side effects, symptoms, and mind-body states that often come with cancer.
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This BCCT section introduces you to some of the things that you can do to ease the burden of living with cancer. Remember this. In over 200 week-long Cancer Help Programs over the past three decades, we've seen hundreds of people living rich and full lives, even with very difficult cancers. They've used a lot of the methods described below. If it makes you feel better, it's probably good for you. We wish you well.
Michael Lerner
Many complementary approaches are effective in preventing and/or relieving cancer symptoms.
BCCT gives high priority to providing information about side effects and symptoms and their management. Managing the distress caused by symptoms from cancer or cancer treatments is key to improving a patient’s quality of life and may even affect longevity. Good management—from hospice and palliative care programs—of pain and symptoms in people with advanced cancer often leads to longer survival compared to those with unmanaged symptoms.
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Conversely, unmanaged symptoms from cancer treatment may lead patients to delay or stop treatment altogether. Patients should report symptoms to their care providers promptly, first because symptoms might be a sign of an underlying problem requiring action, and second because the longer a symptom continues unmanaged, the greater patient distress and harm to well-being.
Managing Side Effects and Symptoms
 Helpsy Health
Even when people are getting the best of cancer treatment, they often feel like they need more help with organizing their care and managing symptoms and side effects. Helpsy empowers members to take control of their health through a real-time virtual nurse support service. This service is available via mobile devices, a Helpsy website and automated phone calls.
Read more Based on a member’s health condition, Helpsy automatically creates a whole-health care plan. This plan considers the physical, emotional, social and socio-economic needs of each member. Members also have access to Helpsy’s community chat forum with other members and advocates to support and engage them throughout their journey.
Helpsy manages 500 unique symptoms and 20,000 remedy recommendations from more than 30 healthcare modalities (such as patient education or nutrition), all backed by evidence-based research and science.
Members can access Helpsy’s resources library for support services (including transportation, financial assistance, lodging and more) and self-care (emotional health, lifestyle changes, diet and nutritional counseling, fitness coaching, and support services).
In a clinical study, an intervention using many of Helpsy’s features led to significantly improved quality of life, less disruption to treatment, and cost savings.
Thanks to Helpsy, patients always have nursing support, right “in their pocket.”  
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Many complementary approaches are effective in preventing and/or relieving cancer symptoms. On this website, a searchable database allows our users to find therapies that address specific symptoms and the research regarding those therapies. Here we provide a brief overview of symptoms included on this site and links to therapies that have been shown to be effective.
Further Symptoms on the Helpsy Health App
Helpsy Health (see at right) provides guidance on managing many more symptoms, drawing from many modalities (conventional medicine, natural products, mind-body approaches and more).
In addition to the side effects listed above, these side effects and symptoms related to cancer are included in the Helpsy app:
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Blood test abnormalities
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- Electrolyte imbalance
- Elevated thyroid hormones (hyperthyroidism)
- Elevated triglyceride levels (hypertriglyceridemia)
- Elevated uric acid (hyperuricemia)
- Low blood albumin (hypoalbuminemia)
- Low blood calcium (hypocalcemia)
- Low blood chloride ion level (hypochloremia)
- Low blood magnesium (hypomagnesemia)
- Low blood phosphate (hypophosphatemia)
- Low blood potassium (hypokalemia)
- Low blood sodium (hyponatremia)
- Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia)
- Low pituitary hormones (hypopituitarism)
- Low thyroid hormones (hypothyroidism)
- Other blood test abnormalities
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Blood, immune and lymph-related symptoms
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- Anemia, iron-deficiency anemia
- Decreased granulocytes or neutrophils (granulocytopenia, neutropenia)
- Immune suppression
- Low blood platelets (thrombocytopenia)
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Digestive symptoms
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- Acid reflux
- Change in appetite
- Difficulty swallowing (dysphagia)
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Liver problems
- Peptic ulcer disease
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Emotional/mental symptoms
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- Drug addiction
- Learning difficulties
- Mental distress
- Overly emotional
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Heart and circulation-related symptoms
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- Arrhythmia
- Blockage in a lung artery (pulmonary embolus)
- Blood clots (deep vein thrombosis)
- Cardiomyopathy/heart disease
- Heart failure
- High blood pressure (hypertension)
- High blood pressure in the lung arteries (pulmonary hypertension)
- Inflamed heart muscle (myocarditis)
- Pericardial diseases
- Stroke
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Infections and inflammatory conditions
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- Bladder infection
- Chronic sores
- Dental and oral infections
- Frequent infections
- Gum disease
- Immune suppression
- Inflamed pancreas (pancreatitis)
- Inflamed sinuses (sinusitis)
- Mouth and throat sores
- Open sores
- Strep throat
- Ulceration of leg
- Upper respiratory infection
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Musculoskeletal symptoms, conditions and diseases
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- Amputation
- Bone fracture
- Foot (metatarsal) fracture
- Fracture
- Herniated disc
- Hip fracture
- Inflamed cervical nerve (cervical radiculopathy)
- Loss of quadricep strength
- Low back pain
- Neuromuscular diseases
- Osteoporosis
- Paget's disease (weakened or misshapen bones)
- Pinched nerve
- Rib pain
- Spinal cord injury
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Pain
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- Facial nerve pain
- Headache
- Increase pain with lying on affected side
- Kidney pain
- Low back pain
- Neuropathy, neuropathic pain
- Pain following shingles (postherpetic neuralgia)
- Painful swelling feet
- Pinched nerve
- Rib pain
- Sudden pain in abdomen
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Reproductive system symptoms
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- Changes in sexual function
- Erectile dysfunction
- Hot flashes
- Infertility
- Low sperm count (oligospermia)
- Menopause
- Perimenopause
- Premature menopause
- Premature ovarian failure
- Sperm absence (azoospermia)
- Vaginal bleeding
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Respiratory symptoms
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- Bronchial tube damage (bronchiectasis)
- Bronchitis
- Collapsed lung (atelectasis)
- Fluid in the lungs (pulmonary edema)
- Increase in deep breathing
- Pneumonia
- Shortness of breath
- Upper respiratory infection
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Skin symptoms
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- Dark skin patches (hyperpigmentation)
- Hand-foot syndrome (palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia)
- Hives
- Injection site skin reaction
- Skin allergy
- Skin burns from radiation
- Skin ulcer
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Swelling
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- Abdominal swelling (edema)
- Painful swelling feet
- Swelling (edema) in legs, ankles, and feet
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Urinary symptoms
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- Bladder infection
- Bladder problems
- Kidney damage
- Kidney pain
- Kidney problems
- Scarring in the urethra (uretheral stricture)
- Urinary retention
- Urinary tract infection
- Urinary tract obstruction
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Other symptoms, conditions or diseases
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- Dehydration
- Fever
- Hearing loss
- Hiccups
- Injury
- Tinnitus
- Vertigo
- Weight gain
- Yellowing eyes
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Laura Pole, RN, OCNS, October 18, 2018: Janie Brown is an oncology nurse and co-founder of a cancer retreat program and centre in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her BCCT story, The Power of the Integrative Approach in Breast Cancer Treatment (see in Personal Stories below), is a treasure trove of helpful information. She describes how her partner with breast cancer and her team made decisions about chemotherapy, wove in useful complementary therapies to prevent and minimize treatment side effects and created a caring community. The integrative plan staved off the usual chemotherapy side effects of peripheral neuropathy, mucositis, fatigue, nausea and neutropenia.
Ruth Hennig, a two-time breast cancer survivor and past member of the BCCT team, has written blog posts describing her experience using acupuncture and other complementary approaches to bolster her resilience during treatment and tame her anxiety upon learning the breast cancer had recurred. Her tips and insights for taking care of herself after a double mastectomy are simple and practical, and they may be incredibly valuable for others having a mastectomy. See her posts in the Our Blog box below.
- Get Palliative Care. What Is Palliative Care? Viewed March 9, 2018.
- Temel JS, Greer JA et al. Early palliative care for patients with metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer. New England Journal of Medicine. 2010 Aug 19;363(8):733-42; Connor SR, Pyenson B, Fitch K, Spence C, Iwasaki K. Comparing hospice and nonhospice patient survival among patients who die within a three-year window. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 2007 Mar;33(3):238-46; Pyenson B, Connor S, Fitch K, Kinzbrunner B. Medicare cost in matched hospice and non-hospice cohorts. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 2004 Sep;28(3):200-10; Smith TJ, Staats PS et al. Randomized clinical trial of an implantable drug delivery system compared with comprehensive medical management for refractory cancer pain: impact on pain, drug-related toxicity, and survival. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2002 Oct 1;20(19):4040-9.
- Lapedis M, Adler SR et al. Qualitative analyses from a prospective clinical study of a whole systems Ayurvedic intervention for breast cancer survivorship. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 2014 May; 20(5):A75.
View All References
More Information
- Helpsy Inc.: Helpsy Health
- Moss Reports: The Center For Better Bones Conversation
- Dawn Lemanne and Victoria Maizes: Advising Women Undergoing Treatment for Breast Cancer
- Martin L. Rossman: Preparing for Surgery
- Ralph Moss, PhD: The Ultimate Guide to Cancer: DIY Research
- Dwight McKee, MD, editor: Clinical Pearls
- Wayne Jonas, MD: Your Healing Journey: A Patient’s Guide to Integrative Breast Cancer Care
- University of Arizona: Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine Online Courses
- American Society of Clinical Oncology: Cancer.Net
- Donald I. Abrams, MD, and Andrew T. Weil, MD: Integrative Oncology, 2nd Edition
- Neil McKinney, BSc, ND: Naturopathic Oncology, 3rd Edition
- Michael Lerner: Choices In Healing: Integrating the Best of Conventional and Complementary Approaches to Cancer
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