Diarrhoea can be an unpleasant side effects of any type of chemotherapy. Try these suggestions below to help you cope with this side effect.

• Inform your doctor or nurse immediately if you suddenly experience a significant increase in the number of stools you pass per day, night-time diarrhoea, or a change to more loose or bloody stools (severe diarrhoea). They might advise you on changes in your chemotherapy treatment plan and/or give you additional medication that helps reduce diarrhoea
• Drink plenty of water to replace lost fluids
• Eat foods that contain sodium and potassium, as these can also be lost from the body. Try bananas, peach and apricot nectar, boiled or mashed potatoes, and broth
• Reduce your intake of fibre (e.g. cereals, raw fruit and vegetables)
• Eat small, frequent meals
• Avoid spicy or fatty food
• Limit the amount of caffeine in your diet. As well as coffee, some fizzy drinks (e.g. cola or energy drinks) contain caffeine
• Do not consume a lot of milk or milk products, as this may make your diarrhoea worse
• Eat starchy foods, like rice and potatoes

If you are worried about diarrhoea, or if it becomes more severe, you should contact your doctor for advice. Often, stopping your oral chemotherapy for a while is enough to get rid of diarrhoea. The frequent administration (often daily) of oral chemotherapy means that it’s easy to adjust the dose if you experience side effects. If you are receiving i.v. chemotherapy it can be much harder to control. Doctors often prescribe loperamide for diarrhoea – you should only use this if your doctor advises it.