Taxol side effects

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what side effects should I prep for with taxol? Is there a way to prevent neuropathy? Is the headaches, nausea As bad as with AC? How about fatigue? What's the average run time of the taxol using a port?

ElaineTherese

Hi

EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT, but

1. I get mild diarrhea on after Taxol, Day 3. But, I'm getting it with Herceptiin and sometimes Perjeta, So, it's hard to say which substance to blame. I manage it with Immodium AD.

2. Otherwise, the worst side effect with Taxol for me is that it makes everything taste bad except for sweet things (like fruit flavored Yoplait and various fruits like pineapple, blackberries, raspberries, etc.).

2. My doctor has put me on Dexamethsone, two pills the night before and two pills the morning of treatment. It is a steroid and is designed to help prevent reactions like neuropathy.

3. I didn't really get headaches or nausea on AC. AC made me feel very very spacey, though, and I felt much more unsteady on my feet. I have more energy on Taxol and feel much more mentally alert.

4. The first time you get Taxol, it will take a longer (maybe two hours), because they are checking for reactions. I never got a reaction, so now it takes me about an hour to go through my bag of Taxol. One thing: because so many people do get reactions to Taxol, one of the premeds is Benedryl which makes some people sleepy and they just doze through their Taxol infusion. If you get woozy on Benedryl, you may want to make sure that you have someone to drive you home after an infusion.

Kicks

There is no 'One Size Fits All' when it comes to TXs. We are each so unique and have different reactions.

For me, 4 DD A/C was not bad at all. it did not slow me down at all. I did lose head hair and about 1/2 of all other hair. Lost sense of taste (nothing tasted 'bad' - just no taste at all) and sense of smell. Also lost all appetite - Hubby had to call me several times a day to remind me to eat something (I'm a 'waterholic' - always having ice water within reach so habit took over and water was never a problem.). Never any nausea or pain issues.

The 12 weekly Taxol was another story! I was completely and utterly EXHAUSTED the entire time, I basically existed either in bed or on the couch in front of TV. (The exhaustion rapidly left starting a week after last infusion even though I started rads a week after last Taxol. The rest of all body hair left, taste, smell, and appetite stayed gone. My temperature dropped drastically (ran between 94 - 96F) so I was always COLD. For infusions; I had to have one of the glasses in cubicles with it's own thermostat with a bed instead of a recliner and lots of warmed blankets. I slept through all my Taxols - as soon as they would start the IV benadryl I'd go 'nighty night' waking up as abruptly 15 minutes before end. 1/2 way through Taxol, I started having problems with keeping my K (potassium) levels up close to 'normal', so went on mega doses of K (still have to take K to keep it up - Zn and Mg stay good). I did not have any pain or nausea. I even quit taking the 'at home' anti nausea meds with no problems. I was told that rather or not you had issues with morning sickness could indicated issues with chemo nausea - I had absolutely NO morning sickness with either Son and nonenat all with either chemos.

It's 5 years since I was on Taxol.

Nancy2581

I just finished Taxol #7 and so far so good. My blood work is taking a dive but that doesn't happen to everyone. I will probably have to take neupogen shots at some point. I definitely have lost my sense of taste as well. Just recently I developed some mouth sores - not too bad and probably because I didn't use the biotene mouthwash as diligently as I should. I admit I slacked off with it. I have some minor aches and pains, but so far no neuropathy. I do take l- glutamine though. I feel better than when I was on AC but I do get tired in the afternoons and usually go to bed pretty early.

Nancy

Oh winningsofar reminded me of the bloody stuffy nose - how can I forget that one? Sheesh must be used to it now.

WinningSoFar

I've been through two Abraxane (taxol) routines, one for 3 cycles and the other 5 cycles. The second routine was definitely easier. No nausea as long as I took Abraxane, no headaches, little change in taste buds. On the other side, fatigue sets in after a few cycles, hair loss of course, but the worst side effect was bloody stuffy nose and streaming eyes. Oh, and some mild neuropathy each time. All the side effects went away as I quit the drug.

Shayne36

hi how was your treatment a neebie

SelenaWolf

I had DD AC+T for four cycles each. I found the taxol portion much easier than the AC portion; no headaches, less tired. However, I found the Neulasta shots the hardest the all; the bone pain could be pretty sharp. I still have some, mild residual neuropathy in my feet that I rarely notice unless I've been hiking for hours.

Wilsie2

Sometimes I don't know if something is a se, or if it's just old age (i am70). I would say the worse se is fatigue, and secondly joint pain, which is bearable. I have had 6 treatments, am finishing a two week break, go back Monday. Also, things do have a funny taste, except for sweete, which I don't need to be eating a lot of. I will have scans early January, then we can see how it's working. I had good results with Abraxane, two years ago, with fewer se's. Good luck to you, let us know how it's going.

Nancy2581

yes what is it with the sweets and taxol lol. All the sweets taste great to me while everything else is blah.

Nancy

NurseShark

i just had first round of dd taxol Friday. Having a lot of muscle pain headaches and hand/feet tingling. I've been taking a vitamin b complex .have been reading about l glutamine think ill give it a try as long as oncologist is okay with it.

I hardly had any se with AC and was told this drug is "easier" for most ....feel like it's kicking my butt... also have a 3 week old baby now and don't sleep well during AC I was still pregnant and could sleep whenever...