Hi Terry.....my experience was very much like njnj up above.....hair gone right after the first round.....the first infusion I had allergic reaction to rutuxin and had to start and stop but got through and the next time my body recognized that drug and was OK.....I had a ton of "pre-meds" hung before they started the R/CHOP drugs and they made me sleep through the 5-6 hours.....they would stick a NEULASTA auto inject that would go off the next day.....from that point on I was weak and like I had the flu....that stuff causes a cytokine storm in your body trying to push your bone marrow into producing blood cells.....take antihistamines before the shot goes off and for the next week....that helped me a lot.....the chronic fatigue and muscle weakness was bad....i pretty much lived in my recliner....the last week before time to go again I was just beginning to feel better.....it is doable....I was NEVER nauseous and for that I was SO grateful......I did have to give up my retirement job (it was just for my 'fun' money) I am two years down the road and still have regular chronic fatigue....but, NO SIGN OF DISEASE!!!!......Praying for you on your journey for good results and speedy recovery.....my oncologist told me that "if you have to have cancer.....DLCBL is the best kind to have as it can be cured!!!

I had a fairly easy time. No nausea. No tiredness. Some skin problems. Urinated on the floor once- it just came out. Deficated twice without warning, once during a walk. Not fun. Overall, I am happily in remission. I did have swollen ankles during the whole thing from before diagnoses, during but not afterward. After my hair fell out which was immediate, I no longer had sebhorrea in my scalp, my ears no longer produced any wax in them and my body did not have any odors.
The hospital and staff at Perelman wer superb.

I agree--it's no walk in the park and take the nausea meds and the anti-constipation early and prophylactically. The treatment itself is long, but not bad in itself. I had an allergic reaction the first time, and that adjustment made the treatment last about 7 hours, start to finish. But after that, it was closer to 4-5 hours. I always got a headache the first night but got a prescription which took care of it. The first few days weren't terrible, as long as I took the meds, but days 5-12 were exhausting, and it got worse with each treatment. My hair fell out around the time of the 2nd treatment. I felt ok on the last 5 days of each cycle. One side effect which no one told me about was the muscle weakness, which, along with the fatigue, made me almost incontinent. It's been 6 months since my treatment, and I'm finally feeling more or less like myself again. Hope this helps. Good luck!

Terry5,
Hi! I have/had DLBCL stage IV and had 6 treatments of RCHOP chemo. As they went on they got tougher. I had nausea but made sure I took my nausea medicine on time. I even set an alarm in the middle of the night to take my pill. Make sure you drink plenty of water. Rest when your body tells you to and try to eat protein. It was no walk in the park but between RCHOP and God it saved my life. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. Good luck. Kelly

A big thank you for everyone that answered. That will certainly help to know of all the things that I may Or may not encounter on my journey.