Recent start on Adriamycin and Cytoxan for chemo

Jenn, chemo can do strange things to your senses.  If you are having a metallic taste in your mouth, try eating with plastic utensils - it may help.  With regard to your hair, most people lose the bulk of it around the 14th day.  When mine started coming out to the point that it was becoming an irritant I had my head shaved.  It made me feel more in control of the situation. There is a thread called "Hair, Hair, Hair" that you may find helpful.  I agree with Reesie that it does help to communicate with others going through the process at the same time as you are.  However, there are also tons of women that have gone through the experience who are here to share information, tips, and advice that can be invaluable so I encourage you to continue to tap into the "veterans" wisdom as well.  So glad to hear you're feeling a bit better.  Stay strong - PEACE!

Tara

Hi all. I'll be starting AC dense dose next week sometime. Not looking forward to it, but the sooner its over, the better. Hopefully I'll be able to work some. Also, I thought you felt crappier right after a dose, but someone mentioned it didn't hit till day 7? Any more info on that? Or does it just come down to individual experience? thanks for sharing everyone

Hi Jenn. MD stands for Maryland

Thanks for the tips. I can't believe the fatigue! I was hoping to try to go to work some. Maybe I need to plan different. Hopefully its temporary. A very good friend of mine is a Reiki practitioner, so I will put her to work!

calamtykel- thanks for the words of encouragement.

Hi Jenn,



I'm six days out from my first dose and each day has been different. Days 2-5 I felt as if I had a hangover without benefit of the party to bring one on. I had several hot flashes yesterday that scared me a bit. (It's in the triple digits here in Texas, but this happened indoors.) Now I have back pain and a sore throat which could be due to the Neulasta shot I received day 2. I find I do best if I stay hydrated (ginger ale and cranberry icy drinks have been most appealing to me) and just eat a little bit when I feel hungry.



Good luck to you. I know we can do it and it's great to see positive like calamtykel's.

I had 4AC (one every three weeks) from 12/06 - 2/07.

I found the effects to be cumulative.  The first one, I was OK after 3 days.  By the last one, I was dragging my rear end for two weeks afterwards.

I also had increasing problems with nausea after each dose (spent the night after dose two heaving all night) so I was given increasingly stronger doses of anti-emetics.

The AC  also killed my appetite (as did the herceptin) and I had to force myself to eat. Since I wasn't hungry, I ate nutritious meals, but am one of those  people that lost weight (30 lbs) while on chemo and herceptin.

Edyem, the hot flashes are from the steroids you are given in the premedication.  Although I was going through menopause while on chemo, I never suffered from hot flashes.  The steroid let me know what I was (not) missing.

HI

I have just finished round 2 of DD AC.  After my first round on 5 JUL, I experienced the return of the severe, constant chest/incisional pain that was just as if I had come out of the original anesthesia.from the MRM back on 26 MAY 2011.  (I had been feeling pretty good, could move my arm fairly well.)   After 3 days, they discovered I had a PE, and I kind of figured that was the end of this return of pain.  But I had the exact same unbelieveable return of the chest pain again on day 4 post chemo with this second round (my original second round was delayed due to elevated LFTs), which lasted now 72 hours and is finally easing back to where I can actually think about something else.   I have to say, knowing or suspecting that I am going to find myself back in this vicious chest/incisional pain for 3 days or more after each round is very discouraging.  I am scheming of ways to delay the next chemo until I can forget this past dose.

Anyone else experience this incisional pain return???

Thanks, Linda

Diagnosis:left  MRM 26 MAY with expander placement, 6/11 +nodes, 7 cm mass ILC, mets to lung and supraclavicular, HERs2-, est/prog +, not found on any mammo or US, I noted a slight dimpling of my nipple, asked for a biopsy..were THEY all surprised?...   Oh, wound infection, PE after 1st round DD AC, elevated LFTs, neutropenia, now parallytic illieus post chemo.

Just wanted to say that I had 6 rounds of DD  A/C and did quite well.  Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a picnic, but I was expecting far worse.      

I had AC and each time day 4,5,6 made me feel like I was hit by a truck and then I would rebound. Drink lots, rest lots . I rinsed my mouth numerous times a day with club soda ( recommended by the cancer center) and didn't get any mouth sores. My taste buds were way off and I ate alot of mashed potatoes, oatmeal...bland stuff which helped keep my stomach settled. Good luck and this will be behind you before you know it.

Hugs

Beth