Taxol

Hi Sharon....I had a much better experience than A/C. With Taxol I felt like a rock was sitting in my stomach but didn't feel sick. I did 4x Taxol.

I hope you do well also.

Sheila

I tolerated Taxol much better.  AC wasnt awful, a few bad days each treatmen and a week of feeling vaguely unwell.  Taxol was easier though I had bone pain days 3-5 or so.  No nausea and not as tired.

I had every SE imaginable for both AC and Taxol, but found that Taxol was much easier to tolerate.  I did weekly Taxol and found days 2-4 the hardest with bone pain, but still easier than AC.   I was able to do a little more during Taxol and my hair even started to grow back. 

Sharon ~  I did AC throughout most of the summer and then did Taxol.  My own experience was that I felt much worse with the Taxol.  I'll explain why.  The AC, though it causes nausea,  I never got it because my on had me take meds to prevent it during infusion and 2 days afterward.  The only side effect I got was a little tenderness in my mouth from sores starting but they never lasted more than a day because I always rinsed with baking soda.  The one side effect I had with the  AC was the extreme tiredness and feeling very flu like and achy from the combined Neulasta shot 24 hours later. My appetite was good and I was able to eat well but still lost 5 lb on the AC.  Then Taxol,  I felt much worse, because of extreme weakness and breathlessness and bone pain.  I also gained 7 lb on it and didn't have much of an appetite.  The sweats were horrible and it took a good 3 weeks off the Taxol to start to feel a little stronger each day.  Everyone is different, but I hated being on the Taxol also because it caused numbness in my fingers and feet.

Barb

I also had alot of pain with Taxol.  However, my brain fog was gone.  I had dose dense and I think the new weekly schedule is much easier in regards to se's.

I like that, Leah, Taxol taxes all. So true.

Taxol made me feel SO OLD because of the bone pain. I had 4 treatments using dose dense method. After my 2nd treatment my oncologist gave me Vicodin.

Also my heels peeled like nothing I had ever seen before. For some women it's their palms that peel. I used a special ointment that is used on cows udders.

A little humor: while going thru rads, my rad. onco. suggested that I used  the cream Udderly Smooth to rub on my chest. I would tell people I thought an udder was going to start growing where my breast had been because of all the cow creams I was using!

Jen - lots of people don't get any pain at all - my Onc said it was about 50/50, so you are probably one of the lucky ones!! If I remember from others on my Chemo group,  the 12 weekly schedule is much better tolerated. Each dose is much lower, so you do get a cumulative effect, just not that "hit by a bus' feeling!

I am glad this topic came up. I just compled 4 rounds of AC and began my first 1/4 taxol treatments this past Tuesday 1/26. The next day I felt fine but Thursday I was not able to walk on my own w/o assistance from my bed to the bathroom, etc. I was in extreme bone/muscle pain. I also had and still have pain/tingling/numbness in my toes/feet, fingers/hands, and mouth (lips/tongue). I was in bed for 4 days (Thursday-Sunday). Although I took tynol 3's this still did NOT help with the pain. I was up every hour of the hour at night due to the pain. I was not able to have a good night's sleep. I plan to discuss these SE's with my onc as I still have 3x left. I have never cried so much with the pain that I experienced. I am very worried that the pain/tingling/numbness in my feet/hands/mouth may be perm. SE as a result of this drug. I can only imagine the SE's may increase over the next course of treatments.

Edit to add: Treatment schedule. I do dense dose of Taxol every 14 days.

When on AC I had very little SE's. Some fatigue and food tasting "off".

Hope your experience is different from mine.

Frankie,

I found the first treatment was the hardest pain wise.  I think mainly because I did not expect the amount of pain.  Vicadin did nothing for it.  I remember using alot of pillows around my hips and legs (where most of the pain was).  Came close to using the offer of special brownies from a friend of mine

Talk to your onc. and get good pain meds.  For me, the pain did not increase in intensity each treatment...but I noticed a gradual increase in length of time before it would start decreasing.  For nerve issues, my onc wanted me to take Vit B-6.  I could even get that at the pharmacy in the cancer center.

How come in Canada they do Taxotere and here we do taxol?

Anyway-I had nothing. Infact I went in having post partum and thanks to the decatron I felt pretty racey and happy. Go figure. 

I will give my exp. with Taxol I am Canadian and had 4 dose dense AC then 4 dose dense Taxol..my treatment was in Hamilton ,Ontario..so not sure about other hosp. protocols but that was my treatment centers choice for me.

AC no picnic...never physically sick, just some gaggy moments...only had to take the back up puke pills 2x maybe 3.

Taxol I had 1 bad night I think it was my second round ...but much more tolerable...it was Christmas and I was out shopping and no probs...I had a friend who actually worked through AC & Taxol ..god bless her !!! As far as bone pain yes did have some seemed to kick in day 3 leg cramps hard to get upstairs to go to bed but got through it.I was under the steroid regime with Taxol of 10 dex the nite before infusion I know not all docs presrcibe that...other girls at my treatment center had their dex spaced out like I did on AC...not sure why my doc did that...but the roid high was wonderful...untill the crash...day 3 was the day to relax.

I was never bedridden with either ..I know some girls have been knocked down, but I was fine.

Thats all I can think of for now.

ml

Cheryl

Sharon - Are you doing 4 DD or 12 weekly?  Like Pure, I'm doing 12 weekly.  I got the second one today.  So far it has been SO much easier than AC (fingers crossed for luck!).  I am having some pain - mainly my feet, hands and hips.  I had a little tingling in my toes last time, but no lasting numbness.  This time more of the same with my toes, plus the tips of all of my fingers were numb immediately after, but it's almost all gone.  I had asked my onc about working through this round, as I've managed to work through AC (mostly from home - thank God for the wonderful people I work for!) and he said I would probably easily work except for treatment days in the beginning, by about the 4th dose it would start getting tougher, and he didn't know if I would be able to toward the end or not.  So I'm expecting it to progressively get tougher, but I'm hoping to keep exercising and working through all of it.