Medical Oncologist
Before you start
Medicines you take already: what continues?
Most of them continue. Tablets for blood pressure, sugar, thyroid and heart conditions are usually kept on, because stopping them causes more trouble than chemotherapy would. A few need adjusting and a small number need pausing. The one thing that must happen is that your oncologist sees the whole list, as actual strips rather than from memory.
NG
Medically reviewed by Dr. Naresh GunduConsultant Medical Oncologist · MBBS, DNB (Internal Medicine), DM (Medical Oncology, AIIMS) · last reviewed September 2026, next review due September 2027
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The short answer
Do my usual medicines continue during chemotherapy?
Most of them do. Tablets for blood pressure, sugar, thyroid and heart conditions are usually continued, because stopping them causes more trouble than chemotherapy ever would. A few need adjusting, a few need watching more closely, and a small number need pausing.
The one thing that must happen is that your oncologist sees the whole list. Not a summary from memory — the actual strips and boxes, including anything another doctor started and anything you buy yourself.
Bring the boxes, not the names
People reliably forget one or two, mix up similar-sounding names, and omit the ones they think do not count. A carry bag with every strip in it takes ten seconds to hand over and removes all of that guesswork at once.
Never stop anything on your own
This is the most common and most dangerous mistake families make. Stopping a blood pressure or heart tablet because "too many medicines cannot be good" causes real harm. Every change should come from the doctor who is looking at the whole picture.
Ask for a single written list at the end of the planning appointment: what continues, what changes, what stops.By category
What usually happens to each kind of medicine
- Blood pressure and heart tablets
- Almost always continued, and sometimes watched more closely because chemotherapy can affect blood pressure and fluid balance. Some plans add a heart medicine rather than removing one.
- Diabetes medicines and insulin
- Continued, but the steroids given with many chemotherapy plans push sugar up sharply for a few days each cycle. Expect the doses to need adjusting, and expect to test more often than you used to.
- Thyroid tablets
- Continued without change in most cases. They are taken on an empty stomach, so the main question is how to fit them around a treatment morning. Ask specifically about that.
- Blood thinners
- These need a proper conversation. Platelets fall during chemotherapy, which changes the bleeding risk, so the medicine may be switched, the dose changed, or monitoring increased. Never adjust one yourself.
- Tuberculosis and long-term infection treatment
- Generally continued, and the two teams need to speak to each other, because several of these medicines and several chemotherapy drugs are handled by the same liver pathways.
- Painkillers and acidity tablets
- The ones bought over a counter are the ones most often not mentioned and most often a problem. Some are hard on the kidneys, some on the stomach lining, some on platelets. Ask which you may use.
Not sure whether this applies to you?
Ask an oncologistBefore the planning appointment
How to get the list right
Half an hour at home makes this appointment far more useful than any amount of explaining in the room.
Empty every drawer
Bedside table, kitchen shelf, handbag, the box kept for emergencies. Put every strip, bottle and inhaler into one bag. Include things you take only occasionally, and things someone else in the house takes that you borrow.
Easily forgotten
- Eye drops, inhalers, skin creams
- Injections given at a clinic, not at home
Write one list, and photograph it
Name as printed on the strip, how many times a day, and roughly how long you have been on it. Keep a photograph on two phones so it is available at an emergency department at midnight.
Include the ones you do not think count
Ayurvedic and herbal preparations, vitamin and protein powders, liver tonics, sleeping tablets, anything a relative recommended. These are the items most often left out and among the most likely to interact.
Say it plainly
- Nobody will scold you for taking them
- Not saying is what causes the harm
Name the other doctors
Your physician, cardiologist, diabetologist or chest specialist, with contact details if you have them. Some decisions need the two teams to agree, and that happens much faster when the names are already written down.
!
Do not do these without asking your oncology team
Stop, restart or change the dose of any regular medicine · take a painkiller other than the one you have been told is safe · start an antibiotic left over at home · take a herbal or ayurvedic preparation during a cycle · accept a new prescription from another doctor without telling them you are on chemotherapy. If you develop a fever, do not treat it at home with anything at all — go to the nearest emergency department the same day and say the person is on chemotherapy.
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Who decides what
Getting your doctors to agree with each other
Your oncologist decides anything to do with the chemotherapy and any medicine that touches it. Your physician or specialist keeps running the long-term condition. The trouble arises in the middle, where each assumes the other is handling it.
Ask who is holding the whole picture
One doctor should be. Ask directly at the planning appointment who that is and how to reach them with a medicines question, because otherwise you end up relaying messages between two clinics yourself.
Tell every doctor you are on chemotherapy
Every time, including at a dentist, an eye clinic, a small local practice or a chemist counter. It changes what should be prescribed. Carry a card or a note in your wallet saying so, with your hospital's number on it.
Expect changes as the course goes on
Sugar rising for a few days after each cycle, blood pressure drifting, a tablet stopped and restarted around a low count. This is normal management, not a sign that things are going badly. Keep a note of each change with its date.
Use one chemist if you can
They see everything you are dispensed and are well placed to notice a duplication or a clash. It is a free second check that most families never think to use.
Take the medicines bag to every hospital visit for the first two cycles. After that, the photographed list is usually enough.Commonly believed
Four beliefs that cause real harm here
"Too many medicines together must be bad, so I will stop some."
Stopping a blood pressure, heart, thyroid or diabetes medicine without advice causes far more harm during a course than continuing it. If the number of tablets worries you, say that to the doctor and let them do the pruning.
"The oncologist only needs to know about cancer medicines."
They need the whole list, because interactions do not respect specialty boundaries. A common acidity tablet, a tuberculosis medicine or a blood thinner can all change how a chemotherapy drug behaves. Hand over the bag.
"An over-the-counter painkiller is not really a medicine."
Several are hard on the kidneys, several affect platelets, and one can mask the fever that is the single most important warning sign during a cycle. Ask which painkiller is safe for you and use only that one.
"My sugar has always been well controlled, so it will stay that way."
The steroids given with many plans push sugar up sharply for a few days after each cycle, even in people whose control has been excellent for years. Expect to test more often and expect the doses to be adjusted.
Questions we are asked
Common questions about your existing medicines
Should I stop my blood pressure tablets before treatment?
No, not on your own. They are almost always continued, and stopping them abruptly is genuinely risky. Bring the strips to the planning appointment and let the oncologist decide what, if anything, changes.
Can I take my medicines on the morning of treatment?
Usually yes, with a little water, and this is worth confirming for each one. Thyroid tablets need an empty stomach and diabetes medicines depend on whether you will be eating, so ask about those two specifically.
What if another doctor prescribes something new?
Tell them you are on chemotherapy before they write it, then tell your oncology team before you start it. A quick call avoids a clash. Carry a note in your wallet saying you are on treatment, with the hospital number.
I take tuberculosis medicines. Does that matter?
Yes, considerably, and it must be disclosed. Some of these medicines and some chemotherapy drugs are handled by the same liver pathways. The two teams need to speak to each other, so give each the other's details.
Can I take paracetamol for a headache?
Ask your team which painkiller is safe for you and use only that one. The important rule is never to take anything for a fever before being seen, because bringing a temperature down hides the warning sign the team needs.
My relative takes many tablets and gets confused. What helps?
A weekly pill box filled by one person, alarms on a phone, and a written chart on the wall with times rather than names. Give one family member the job. Shared responsibility for medicines reliably produces missed doses.
Do I need to stop my vitamin tablets?
Ask before continuing them. Some are fine, some interfere, and high-dose antioxidant preparations are a particular question during a course. Bring the bottles so the actual contents can be read rather than described.
Who do I call with a medicines question mid-cycle?
Your oncology team first, because they know what you have been given and when. Get that number written down at the planning appointment along with the out-of-hours one, and keep both on the fridge.
Meet the Specialists
17+ senior cancer specialists. One panel for your case.
Trained at AIIMS, Tata Memorial, and leading international centres. Combined 150+ years of experience. Every complex case is reviewed by 3+ of them — together.
Medical Oncologist
Dr. C. Raghavendra Reddy
MBBS(Gold Medal), DNB(General Medicine), DM(Medical Oncology)(Gold Medal)
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Dr. Bharati Devi Gorantla
MBBS, MD(General Medicine), DM(Medical Oncology)(Adyar,Chennai), ECMO, MRCP SCE(UK)
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Dr. Owais Mohammed
MBBS, MD (General Medicine), DrNB (Medical Oncology), ECMO, MRCP SCE (Medical Oncology) (UK)
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Dr. Muralidhar Muddusetty
MBBS (AIIMS), MS (Surgery) (AIIMS), DNB (Surgical Oncology), MRCS (Edinburgh)
Surgical Oncologist
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Surgical Oncologist
Dr. Vinay Mamidala
MBBS, MS(General Surgery), M.Ch(Surgical Oncology), FMAS, FARIS(Ongoing)
Surgical Oncologist
Radiation Oncologist
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Hematologist
Surgical Oncologist
Dr. Vajja Sandeep Kumar
MBBS, MS (General Surgery), DrNB (Surgical Oncology), FALS Oncology
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Sources
- Cancer Research UK — Cancer drugs and other medicines
- Macmillan Cancer Support — Having chemotherapy
- National Cancer Institute — Chemotherapy to Treat Cancer
This page is general information, not a prescription. Do not change or stop any treatment based on what you read here. If anything is worrying you, contact your own treating team — or call our helpline and we will help you reach the right specialist.
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