Taxotere, Carboplatin and Herceptin

cgesq

Hi. I would love to hear from those on this regimen whether the side effects follow a pattern. I am having my second TCH infusion this week. My onc said to expect a pattern, and the SEs shouldn't be worse, but I would like to hear first hand from those who have actually gone through this!

Basically, I'm wondering whether what I experienced with the first cycle will repeat, change or get better/more severe.

Thanks,

Cheryl

Moonflwr912

I had TCH, and um, they mostly repeat, but you never know. If they get worse let your onc know. like, I usually got diarrhea on day 5 and it continued till day 10. Lost my taste buds on day two recovered them on the Monday before next tx. Bit I got dehydrated after my 2nd tx, cause of the D and couldn't drink enough and ended up in the hospital. They had to change my meds. So drink,.drink, drink. LOL Just remember everyone is different.

lago

They do follow a pattern and most likely will get a little bit worse each time. The first one is tough because you don't now the pattern. The second time you can medicate before/as soon as you know. I had really bad constipation with the first one. Tried several things till finally Metamucil worked. After that I started the Metamucil the night of infusion and continued as directed on the package till I moved properly. With the Metamucil I moved but still a bit slow.

cgesq

Thanks, Moonflwr.

I see from your dates that you should be finished with the TCH. Congrats!!

How are you feeling? Are you still on herceptin? I will need to do herceptin every 3 weeks for a year, after my 6 cycles of TCH, H, H.

Thankfully, I haven't really had bad SEs from the herceptin alone. In fact, I'm feeling pretty good for about the last week and a half. (As you can tell from my above post, I'm not looking forward to my second TCH infusion.) Was that your experience as well? I hope so. We seem to share a common diagnosis.

So much of this is not knowing what is coming down the pike so thanks to you and everyone else here for sharing your experiences.

Cheryl

Moonflwr912

Cgesq, sent you a pm.

Jinkala

Chocolate milk - definitely one of the things on the 'yes' list during my bad week.  Another good one (at least for me) is chocolate soy milk.  I also discovered that green salad (lettuce and dressing basically) actually was tasting good to me during my bad week.  I have decent results from most vegetables as well.  Meats are hit and miss.  Anything starchy was tasting just awful to me.

I'm feeling much better today.  This cycle (3) was probably the best so far because my nausea was almost a non-issue as long as I kept up with the compazine and zofram.  The blurred vision was annoying but did clear up a few days ago.

Sucky part about feeling better is that I will have to go to work tomorrow.

Moonflwr912

Jinkala, I am glad it went better. And you are just the.opposite of me, during tx, startches were about all I could eat. Some meat was barely ok, but salads, veggies, vinegar was horrible tasting. We really are all different.

laprofessoressa

My SE stayed pretty steady though there were changes each time (ex. i got really bad mouth sores the second time and then not again)

BUT I had my last (yay!) of 6 TCH two days ago and this time has been the worse round .... Sometimes I can't tell if it's because I'm just tired of it all, have resigned myself to feeling crummy for a week or if it's really because the drugs now have accumulated so much and have worn me out



I start the herceptin only in 3 weeks and radiation about then too--am hopeful that it will be easier than these last months have been ...

kidsandlabs

Anyone have nose bleeds? I have had them since Monday of and on.

laprofessoressa

Yes -- I had minor nose bleeds and bloody mucus (!) after almost all my rounds.... Dryness, I suspect

lago

Yes I had major nose bleeds when I was on both chemo and herceptin. Got better once the chemo stopped.

BTW I started sucking on ice chips through taxotere per my oncs recommendation to stop the mouth sores. It worked for me. My chemo nurse said it rarely works but as much as I loved her I trusted my onc more. At times the nurses do things that make it easier for them. They are so busy I understand but I wasn't going to have to deal with mouth sores if I didn't have to.

damiana9

Nosebleeds here too :-(

SpecialK

Nosebleeds are very common during chemo for a couple of reasons - chemo is irritating the soft tissues all over your body, and simultaneously lowering your platelet counts, which means your blood is having some difficulty clotting.  It is a temporary situation and should improve fairly rapidly when you are done with chemo.  If you have one that you can't control, or lasts longer than you think it should, contact your onc because this may be a signal of a precipitous drop in platelets.  Platelets are reproduced rapidly in the body so you may find that the nosebleeds are sporadic and don't follow a pattern.

Tomboy

{4}  I get labs drawn before infusion, and then again about 10 days later. Just for them to know. I do take my temp everday, to see if my body might be fighting something. Here comes cold and flu and social season! I really just try to drink as may fluids as i can, it seems to really help. and rest, and walk walk walk. Good luck to you!  10*5*12

lago

Herceptin is also know to give nose bleeds. My onc confirmed that. She said she had no idea why.

cvmarilyn

I've had nose bleed too and thrush each time. So suck ice while you get the Taxotere helps with that - who knew? My 5th chemo was postponed a week because I had low white blood count - I so just want to get this over with and onto Radiation - I guess... so glad you all are here to vent with and support each other.

christina0001

Can anyone answer this? I was trying to use the cancermath website (see below) and it asks what type of chemotherapy I had. TCH is not listed, not even TC. I had six rounds. Which option listed is close to this, or are none of them similar?

http://www.lifemath.net/cancer/breastcancer/therapy/index.php

Thanks for looking ladies.

lago

3rd generation. you don't have to choose something specific. Cancermath doesn't work for me. My tumor is too big If you have to many nodes it doesn't work either. Or shall I say they give you a disclaimer that the results may not be accurate.

Moonflwr912

Yep and I believe there is no way to enter zero nodes. So its not accurate for me either.

Omaz

moon - Click '# of positive nodes' select 'known' and type '0' in the little box to the right.

Moonflwr912

Omaz, when I tried that it kept kicking me out and telling me I needed a number in the box. Might just be me. I broke the calculator! LOL

Omaz

moon - are you using the 'therapy' calculator?

christina0001

thanks ladies. and ditto omaz, you can put in zero nodes, I have zero nodes too. I guess it does not factor in radiation or herceptin use which is a downer, but it's still helpful.

ashla

Here it is. The latest extremely comprehensive "

Nutrition and physical activity guidelines for cancer survivors"

from the American Cancer Society..Just packed with valuable information

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10...

There is info for those still in treatment  as well....

Omaz

Thanks Ashla!

rickysgirl

Hello, all.  Went in for #4 today and was turned away since my platelet count was too low.  68.  I am scheduled for next week, again.  I was so looking forwad to getting #4 under my belt, but we'll have to wait now.  That would have officially put me over the halfway mark.  Oh well.  I didn't have nearly the side effects I have previously had, so I thought maybe I was over that hump.  My counts never entered my mind, since they have all been pretty good.......until now.  Til next time.

LoriBach

It must be the timing.  My platelets were low for the first time this week (110).  I am due for chemo Wednesday, hopefully they do not drop any further.

not

Yes, Thank You Ashla for the post on diet/health. Nice to hear they approve soy again. I hope you ladies get your platelets up! ;-)

I'm done with chemo! Yay! Now Herceptin every 3 weeks for a year. I don't know when to scan, but I'm going to ask to wait 3 months for scans and radiation if needed. I had a PET/CT before chemo that showed one node under arm that wasn't there after mastectomy. I'm hoping the chemo got rid of it. Anyone else have something similar?

"Soy foods and flaxseed are both rich sources of phytoestrogens, biologically active compounds called isoflavones that can exhibit both antiestrogenic and estrogen-like properties. High circulating estrogen levels are a documented risk factor for breast cancer recurrence.207Because soy isoflavones have been shown to promote in vitro growth of breast cancer cells and mammary tumor growth in laboratory animals, there has been some concern about the potential adverse effect of soy consumption on prognosis in women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. However, 3 large epidemiological studies in the recent past have found no adverse effects of soy food intake on breast cancer recurrence or total mortality either alone or in combination with tamoxifen, and there is the potential for these foods to exert a positive synergistic effect with tamoxifen.208-210 Two of these studies were focused on US samples and included isoflavone supplements in the data collection and analysis. Current evidence does not suggest that consuming soy foods is likely to have adverse effects on risk of recurrence or survival. Isoflavone supplement use was uncommon in the populations in these recent cohort studies, and therefore the evidence relating to the effects of these supplements is more limited.? 

SpecialK

For the ladies with low platelets - platelets need to be satisfactory to receive chemo because they control the clotting of your blood.  Chemo causes soft tissue damage.  Low platelets with irritated soft tissue = bad.  The good news is that platelets regenerate rapidly - they have a very short lifespan in the body, so while they may be low one day, they can greatly improve a day or two later.

cgesq

Not,

Congrats on being finished with the chemo portion!!

I love reading about ladies who have completed the process.  I am 5 weeks into the 18 week cycle (or, 1/3 done with the biggies) and I find it very inspirational to read about others who have emerged victorious from this regimen.

Can't wait to be there myself.

Enjoy the weekend!! 

PS  Almost forgot...thanks for the article on soy.  I have been avoiding my favorite veggie restaurant since I started chemo, but now I can go there again.