Anyone on just Taxotere and Cytoxan?

Lashon, I hope you are feeling well, remember one day at a time.  Good thoughts are coming your way. 

On the fingernail issue, I wear clear hard as nails on my fingernails and a dark color on my toenails.  Had my 3rdtx yesterday, no problems so far.  My nails have actually grown.  I give myself a mani/pedi once a week now, it's my little spa tx since all of this has started!

That's great news about your neuropathy, swest.  You should be fine for your last Tx.  I know what you mean about wanting to get all of the Tx.  I don't want to give up one mg. of chemo, even tho it makes me feel like crap.

Hi, Ladies ~  I finished TC on 10/8, and I think I can clarify a little about nails.  When some of my nails started turning dark bluish-black two weeks into my first tx, I learned that some infusion centers actually supply ice mitts to keep your fingertips cold to avoid this problem, which is caused by Taxotere.  If your onc's facility doesn't have them (mine did not), you may want to seriously consider taking ice or ice packs or even a bag of frozen veggies (works fine and is easier to transport and use than melting ice cubes).  You only need to use the ice during the Taxotere infusion.

Along with the ice, quite a few women used tea tree oil, which we learned from another thread.  If you can find it in a paste form (comes in a little disk), the pine odor isn't quite so overwhelming as the oil itself is, and it's easier to use for this purpose.  Just massage it into your cuticles twice a week.  Dark polish, as babyc said, is also a good protectant.

The third thing you might want to do is take biotin, which is one of the B-complex vitamins.   I started taking that for my hair right when I finished chemo, but it's also made my nails stronger than they've ever been.  Knowing that now, I would suggest trying it proactively.  And, speaking of B vitamins, B6 definitely helps with neuropathy.

Taxotere can be extremely damaging to your nails.  Not to scare anyone, but there were two gals in my August chemo group who had to tape some of their nails on towards the end of their chemo because they were loose and coming off.  (They both had regimens that included Taxotere or Taxol, but were more complex than just TC.)  Anyway, if your nails should loosen, wig tape seems to be the most gentle kind to use.  But you certainly want to watch closely for any problems and do everything you can not to get to that point!

Hope this helps.  I am 15 weeks post my last TC tx -- still doing rads 'cause I started them late -- but can't believe how good I'm finally feeling.  There definitely is light at the end of the tunnel!

Just a word about tea tree oil - I used it twice and my nails and fingertips got incredibly dry. I switched to almond oil on the recommendation of my niece who does nails), I warm a bit and soak my fingertips and nails for awhile, then I just rub in as much as I can. So far, my nails have been great.

Lashon ~ Thinking of you with only good thoughts on your mastectomies!!! Will look for your post and how it is going. I had a single mastectomy in July.

Ladies, I have a question about immunity. I am two months from my last chemo and darn it caught some kind of inner ear thing - dizzy spell in the morning, just a lurch as I'm getting up out of bed, but intermittent queasiness two days this week, plus running to bathroom. My white counts were good all thru chemo so my immune system should be fine, right? Is there more to this than white counts?

You can use salt water to rinse your mouth.  Or baking soda and water to rinse.  You can use Biotine mouthwash or have your onc prescribe Prevent or something like that.  Brush your teeth several times a day and rinse, rinse, rinse. This will heal the sores up now and hopefully prevent them next time.  I use the Biotine and have not had mouth sores.  I've had a sore tongue that felt totally burned for a day or two but that's as bad as it got.  I hope you mouth gets better soon!!

Unique, I wonder if you just didn't pick up a bug.  It is that time of the year.  I think we get so centered around chemo and what it's doing to us that we can't imagine something just normal happening with our health.  You should be far enough out from chemo that it isn't affecting your immune system any more.  You have been sick a lot this fall and winter so maybe you are just more susceptible anyway.   

Firni and all ~

I think I did pick up a bug. I have an 11 y.o. and seem to catch a lot of things. You are right, I am more susceptible!!! Altho he did not get this one ... I will go to dr. Monday as it has been a week, and get on the train to the antibiotic station. I read however that inner ear things are usually viral. Fortunately I'm just unsteady, not things spinning around, altho two days of intermittent queasiness is kind of yukky.

I'm going to try and post my hair-coming-back photo in here, as I loooooove my hat pic and don't want to lose it on my avatar. Plus if I can do it I'll put more to show how the hair is growing back. I'm so happy with it altho it "might" be "half" an inch now max.

Annie,

It's just a thought, but you might consider taking an OTC decongestant, like pseudepinephrine (Sudafed), and see if that helps the dizziness. I think there's a real danger in turning to antibiotics for sinus and upper respiratory symptoms unless they clearly are caused by bacterial infections. Overuse of these weapons is why "super bugs" have evolved, and I think one's immune system gets undermined in some way also the more times you have to take them. They kill off all the good bugs in your body along with the bad ones. I know so many people with ear and sinus problems, and once they start with antibiotic therapy, there's just no end to it: every time the antibiotic is over with, the symptoms come right back and the microbial agent just keeps getting stronger. There's got to be a better way. Of course, decongestants can be addicting and should also be used with caution (and not at all if you have high blood pressure). Maybe you could try saline spray and see if that helps?????

Your hair is looking good. I think maybe you're just 1/4" behind me, but at the slow rate mine is growing you will have surpassed me in no time!!!

 Having a kiddo at home is definitely part of your problem. During my 40s and early 50s, when my son was school-age, I was sick all the time with one bug or another. Everything he drug home I got too, even if he didn't.  If it's any consolation, now that there are no kids left at home, I rarely catch colds or anything else. Just don't have the same rate of exposure--or maybe (and I think I read this somewhere), I've finally caught most of the rhinoviruses out there and so there isn't that much left that I haven't already had!!

 Hi Ladies, new to the group but I wanted to find out more about the TC combo, I had 1/4 on the 14th of Jan and bone/ muscle pain was a monster, I have never thought about suicide but if I lived on a secong floor I swear I would have jumped I was hurting just that bad for 5 days and all I was told to take was Aleve, it did not touch that pain. The pain stopped but I get tired so soon and my legs seem not to want to hold my body up and I get dizzy often. My questions ?

1. Will it hurt each time I get chemo.

2. Does everyone lose thier hair, day 12 and I still have hair.

3. Is anyone else as tired as me.

Misty - So sorry your first treatment got you down.  I can honestly say #2 was better for me, so I hope it is the same for you.  My bone pain after #1 was actually what made me feel like my legs were going to give out on me.  The tiredness was still a bummer after #2, but someone on this board once told me to listen to my body and just rest when I needed to rest.  I am now going to pass that advice on to you b/c it made a big difference for me when I started to put my well being first and let the chores around the house be put off for another day.  Your to-do list will still be there when you feel better!  As far as hair, mine didn't start coming out in clumps until day #16...I shaved it on day #17.

Good luck to you and do come to this board for support.  The women on here are incredible!

 hello, no hair loss yet, day 14 of first tx, itchy scalp only. oldest son in Norfolk in Navy and young one in the hospital sick, he needs a liver transplant. I will keep you posted on the hair loss the MD and nurses say it falls out on week two.

Misty 123--all of my sympathy.  I'm dreading tx#2 this week.  I  had such pain and weakness with tx 1, I wondered what was wrong with me reading all of these posts from everyone else talking about going back to work etc.  Advise to rest wouldn't help--walking was hard enough, I was already resting.  Found out part of the reason was my blood pressure was very low--despite being very hydrated.  I'm just hoping the 2nd round is better as some have reported.  I'm also trying to decrease steroids this next time I'm hoping the crash on day 5 isn't as bad.  I don't know what to tell you to help, other then letting you know if that works or not--because the only thing that helped last time was waiting 7 more days for time to pass--and that's no help at all when you're miserable.

kmmd - I haven't had nosebleed but do get dry and congested without having a cold.  I think the treatments just dry out the sinuses.  I use saline spray constantly to keep my sinuses moist(remember you lost your nose hair too)but others have tried different things if you read back on the thread.   Hope this helps.

Bobbi

Me too with the sinus stuff.  I'm real congested for a few days right after Tx and then the rest of the time my nose constantly drips.  Bleeds if I blow it too hard.  I really should buy stock in Kleenex.

Good to hear LASHON2008.  Keep us posted.

Renee