Taxotere side effect - very sore eyes

Urbie

Taxotere side effect - very sore eyes

Urbie

I am halfway done with my four treatments of Taxotere/Cytoxan and wanted to warn others of a painful side effect that I am experiencing because I think it could have been avoided. 

About ten days after tx #1 my eyes became very sore, red and teary.  I assumed that it was an infection and stopped wearing my contact lenses until it cleared up.  It was very painful and on one day I couldn't even go outside because the sun hurt my eyes too much.  It took about five days to go away and then I resumed wearing my contacts because I hate to wear my 8-year old glasses.   

Well, about ten days after tx #2 the same thing has happened to my eyes and my very smart 8-yr old told me that it was probably from the chemo!  It took her to figure it out for me...  Today I called the onc office to report the problem and they told me that it is a typical se of Taxotere.  I read on the internet that some people cannot wear contact lenses during chemo at all. 

I ordered new glasses yesterday and plan to wear them for the remainder of my chemo txs so I can hopefully avoid this very painful problem for my last two txs.   Just a heads up for those who will be doing TC.

sharebear

Urbie,

Watery sensitive eyes is a typical SE of taxotere. I had weekly taxotere and my eyes watered all the time. It looked like I was crying. What it does is blocks the tear ducts. Your eyes will water but the ducts are blocked and cannot receive the tears so they just spill out. The good news is it's temporary and a couple weeks after your treatment is over, it will stop and your eyes will go back to normal. I completed treatment just over a month ago and mine are now fine. i can actually put makeup on under my eyes again and have it stay there and not tear off.

I wore my glasses too. I have the transition lenses that get darker when you get in the sunlight and they work great.

Sharon

Anonymous

Sorry to say this but, I had my last chemo August 31 and I am still having eye issues. My eyes are burning, and I cannot focus well. I stopped my chemo so I could have surgery and will be restarting it this week. I hope my eyes don't get any worse.

Like you Urbie, I have stopped wearing my contacts. My glasses are about 3 years old and I cannot see well out of them. I wonder if it's the galsses or the TC. My glasses are also transiitional and I haven't noticed that helps much.