Was the first AC chemo harder than the rest?

hray1993

I had my first AC infusion on the 21st. Since then it’s been wearing on me bad. Every few days is a new pain. Once I get one chemo symptoms under control a new one takes its place. I’ve attached a picture of what I’ve been dealing with since infusion. I have 3 more infusions to go and I really don’t know how I’m going to get through them. All these new pains every few days are killing me. I’ve already completed 12 taxol and two study drugs. I thought those were rough but this is so much worse. Did anyone who has had AC think the other 3 were easier than the first? Give me your AC stories please.

hnsquared

Hello...I can’t answer your question because I’m on #10 taxol and then I’ll do AC. I am curious to hear the responses and any tips to get through this last stretch. I hope you are starting to feel better but then I know it’s just time to do it again. Sending positive vibes

ange743

I did 4 dose dense AC treatments followed by 4 Paclitaxel in September 2019. Please talk to your medical team about any side effects you're having, as they should have suggestions and possibly other medications to help you. My first AC treatment I had horrible side effects, but they changed up some of my medications and that helped get me through the remaining treatments. Though it doesn't seem like it right now, remember that this is all temporary and better days will come. Good luck. 😊

hray1993

thank you! I’ve talked to them about the biggest side effects so far and they have helped with them. I ended up getting sent to the ER yesterday because I’ve had a fever for 2 days that kept going up and down. They did all kinds of test and didn’t find anything wrong no infections or anything. White blood cells hemaglobin were both low but to be expected. They gave me fluids and IV antibiotic and my fever broke so they released me. I’m dealing with mouth sores since the fever started so my oncologist prescribed me magic mouthwash to get today. I’m feeling better this morning. I also have a 5 day antibiotic they want me to continue taking so hopefully my levels will be back up by chemo thur

hray1993

hnsquared, I did taxol first as well. I thought I had a hard time with it but I was so wrong. This AC is no joke. Don’t be stupid like me and think you don’t Need to eat ice chips to keep the mouth sores away because "that won't happen to you" that's what I thought and I'm kicking myself for it. Mouth sores are no joke!! And it says 80% of people on dose dense chemo get them. So eat ice chips during infusion. They say it kind of freezes the blood vessels in your mouth so the chemo can't get to them as well so hopefully preventing mouth sores. Make sure you take the Claritin for the bone pain. I've now talked to many past chemo patients and they all say the leg pain is excruciating. It really is. If you start to get it call your oncologist ASAP so they can tell you how to get ahead of it. I now have it under control after I talked to my oncologist about it after suffering for 4 days first.I'm not saying all this to try to scare you but I want you to be prepared so you don't go through all this pain I am. I'm hopin knowing all I know now I can stay ahead of all these pains with the next infusion. I'm hoping the magic mouthwash helps with the mouth sores I'm dealing with. I hope you're doing well on taxol and I hope AC isn't hard on you.

dizzywombat

AC is rough, and I hope it gets more manageable for you. I had my 4 cycles before I did Taxol, and I’m glad for that. For me, the order in which they gave me the drugs mattered. My hardest cycle of AC was my second, and it was because the nurses gave me Adriamycin first. The red devil is an appropriate nickname. I was so nauseous before I even got home. Thankfully the take home meds I had been given were able to control it fairly quickly. My MO gave me more steroids before the next infusion and I got the drip of Cytoxan first, which helped all the pre-meds get into my system enough to handle the red devil better. Of course then I couldn’t sleep, but I preferred that to the nausea.

The fatigue with AC took a long time for me to recover from. I did have a lot of pain in my hips at first, but it got better instead of worse for me.

Keep track of your side effects and tell your MO about all of them. They always told me now isn’t the time to suffer through it because there are a lot of things they can give you to help.

Hoping it gets better for you!!

dysonsphere

i did the 4 AC first and now i've done 9 of the 12 Taxol. Definitely, the first round of AC was the worst for me. I could barely move from the couch and felt very nauseous and tired. I also had bad diarrhea. Basically my whole body hurt. Thinking back, it was probably due to dehydration. If you are feeling bad, ask for IV fluids and more steroids. They always did the trick for me.

hray1993

dizzy, I didn’t know you could choose to get the cytoxan first! I will ask about that!

Dysonsphere, I got fluids and antibiotics when I went to the ER last night and they seemed to help a lot. How is the taxol going for you