Taxol and pain

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kjohnson65
kjohnson65 Member Posts: 3
edited June 2014 in Managing Side Effects of Breast Cancer and Its Treatment

I was originally  diagnosed with bc April 2006 and had a recurrence in my lymph nodes November of 2008.  I finished four rounds of AC and will be completing my 4th treatment of Taxol on Tuesday.  I am receiving 12 weekly treatments of the Taxol.  Since my third treatment with Taxol my pain has gotten increasingly worse.  I have excruciating pain in my upper back, scapular area, lower back and in my pelvis. My oncologist said I should only experience pain for 3-4 days, but my pain is not going away.  I have tried Motrin and Aleve but with minimal relief.  The only thing that really helps is Percocet.   Has anyone else had this problem?

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  • smithlme
    smithlme Member Posts: 1,322
    edited May 2009

    I had 4 dose dense treatments of Taxol. The shooting pains in my legs and hips were terrible from day 2-4. I took my pain meds and hot showers helped a little.

    Linda

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  • konakat
    konakat Member Posts: 6,085
    edited May 2009

    I too had horrible pain with taxol -- every single bone ached -- shooting pain.  It was so unbearable that I ended up getting on oxycontin -- took that for a couple of days and then lots of tylenol once it let up a bit.  

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  • kjohnson65
    kjohnson65 Member Posts: 3
    edited May 2009

    konakat--Thank you.  My oncologist has made me feel that my pain should not be that severe.  We all react differently to medications!

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  • kjohnson65
    kjohnson65 Member Posts: 3
    edited May 2009

    smtihime-I find the hot showers make my hands and feet feel like they are on fire.

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  • henney
    henney Member Posts: 8
    edited May 2009

    My sister is doing dense doses as well of ACT..she is in so much pain they increased her percocet from 2 pills to 3 every I think 4 hours...and she is still in extreme pain..she can't stand it and is crying so much.

    I am afraid at this point she may give up..when does the pain go away?

    She has to do 8 total cycles of this and only has done one last Monday!!

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  • fightinhrd123
    fightinhrd123 Member Posts: 633
    edited May 2009

    I'm only on herceptin now and i have back pain and leg pain.  Some people just have pain as a side effect from it.  When i was doing the taxol i had terrible leg pain, so i think i'm just sensitive to the drugs, you may be too.

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  • NanaOfTen
    NanaOfTen Member Posts: 191
    edited May 2009

    Henny,

    How often are your sister's treatments? Weekly? Every two weeks?

    I just finished 4 treatments of DD Taxol three weeks apart. Since I didn't get it weekly, I got triple the amount at once; the pain did increase after each tx but the longest it lasted was a week - that left about a week of little aches, like a flu feeling then a week of almost normal then the chemo again. I tried 3 different meds until I found one that at least eased the pain a bit so that it wasn't a burning pain.

    WE CAN DO IT!!!

    My doc also had me taking motrin. We each react different to meds and that is why it took a few to find one that helped a bit.

    I start my A/C tomorrow, 4 treatments threes weeks apart. Did mine backwards. 

    Gentle thoughts for your sister,

    C

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  • Chris444
    Chris444 Member Posts: 10
    edited May 2009

    I too had a terrible time with taxol. AC was so much easier. I was supposed to recieve 4 rounds of taxol last December and January. I only received 3 and my last dose was reduced. My cancer area had shrunk quite a bit at that point. I had terrible pain. All over my body. It would start literally at my head and by the end of the day the pain would be at my feet. I was like that for about a week.  I thought nothing rivaled the cancer pain I had had before surgery. Taxol certainly did.  Then I would have random shooting pain thorugh my legs. I also had a lot of numbness in my hands and feet. Then it affected my lungs. I couldn't breathe in very deep without wanting to cough. The inflamation it caused in my lungs showed up on an x-ray. My onc decided it best to not continue and I agreed. I'm glad I did do the treatment however because it did help for sure.  Aside from sore joints and still numb feet, I'm doing quite well and everything improved very soon after treatment stopped.

    You are not alone. It is very hard to get through but you can do it. For me it was all worth it. Best of luck to you.

    Hugs,  Christine

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  • LJMorris
    LJMorris Member Posts: 7
    edited May 2009

    I have had two taxol treatments  One last wednesday; I get the body ache, but I try to do normal things and work through it. The thing I hate is I get so tired three days after treatment and I have to naps or I can't make it through the day.  Also,  I feel like I have the flu and I have a nagging cough. 

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