Hi Kerri

Probably a bit late for your headache but you raise an important question about the use of NSAIDS during treatment. Alex was also told to avoid NSAIDS and at the time we just accepted it and didn't question why (lot of other stuff going on at the time).

As Alex was not scheduled for surgery, one wouldn't expect that bleeding time / platelet aggregation would be an issue (unless they expected him to gush when they stuck him with so many needles ). At the time, I assumed it was a precautionary step to give him nothing that might interfere with potential heroic measures should things go pear-shaped (which they did).

But now I wonder if there is an interaction with the chemo drugs or even radiation that might preclude them for some reason. Or it might just be that adding more pressure to the kidney when one is taking cisplatin is not a good idea.

This question has been asked a few times on the forum and I haven't seen an explanation - just recommendations not to do it.
Get advice from a proper doctor - there might be a really important factor that none of us know about.

Karen

PS Ibuprofen is one of the shorter acting NSAIDS and your platelets should start going back to normal within 24 hours. Aspirin is at the other end of the scale requires generation of brand new platelets and can take a week to normalise.