Taxol Chemotherapy

I had my 1st Taxol tx on friday Dec 30th. Saturday I was fine. But on sunday at noon my nightmare began. Every joint in my body hurt unbelieveable...hips, knees, ankles, wrists. Horrific pain. I also had muscle pain as well...stabbing, throbbing.squeezing, aching, burning, throughout my entire body. I never saw this coming at all. I almost went to the emergency room because it was that bad.

I went and had my neulasta shot on tuesday, and it felt like i was being stung by 100 bees. and when they drew blood that hurt just as bad. I think I had finally hit my pain threshold, and I was crying and the tears were flowing. The nurse held my hand until I could regroup, she was nice.

Here it is now wednesday and i am finally getting alittle relief. I have been taking ibuprofen, and norco (vicodin). It is like nothing could stop the pain. I have been using heating pads, and my sister gave me pain patches for my joints. So 3 1/2 days of pure hell. I also managed to soak in the tub with espom salts. That gave me a little relief, but it didnt last long.I just wonder when the pain will stop ??

I suffer from fibro/cfs. So I bet the taxol made things 100 times worst.  Gonna talk to my onco next week, and let him know how severe this is. Good luck to anyone on this drug. And please reply especially if you suffer from fibro/cfs. Thank you all....and keep talking, that is how we learn from each other.

Let me know how the support group thing goes...I am going to go on Tuesday.

I am sure I will cry if I have to tell my story...but hoping to meet some friends who can relate.  I have never done a support group so I am not sure how it will work or if it is just fellowship.

Bone pain is better today, but the fatigue is getting me

Qaatsi--I'm finding that I have more energy too. And nice not to be queasy and nauseous all the time as with the AC I did first.

I hate the steroids though. I've had NO reaction to taxol and and wish I could stop taking them orally the night before since they give them to me again in my IV anyway.

Claireinaz:   I would talk to your onc about stopping the steroids.  I get the IV steroids and benadryl the day of chemo (I'm on weekly taxol) but other than that, no oral steroids.  It doesn't hurt to ask...  I have been through 6 treatments with now reaction.  I anticipated my steroid crash today but the lil man actually slept in with me until 8:20 this morning, so I'm feeling pretty good actually!

Forestgirl, you may already know this, but taking claritin with the neulasta shots can really help. I don't know if all of your aches are caused by the taxol or neulasta, but I took a claritin the day before, day of & day after each neulasta which I only got during AC. Now, im done with 8 of 12 weekly taxol/herceptin. Minimal to no side effects. I take a vitamin b complex and 30g of gluramine a day too & so far no aches or neuropathy. Maybe you can ask your nurse about giving claritin a try. Hope you feel better soon.

Claireinaz I only do the steroids in my IV during treatment. The onc left it to me to decide if I need more so I have a bottle of dexamethasone to use as needed. I go for #11 tomorrow and I haven't used it yet. My sleep is better than during AC when I took more steroids. I bet you could do it with less.



Funny how the SE's can differ from person to person. During AC I lost several toenails, but during weekly Taxol my fingernails are completely healthy. They seem to be growing like crazy! I wish I could say the same for my poor brows and lashes. Without them, I really have what I call "cancer face". I just look sick.

Hi all,  I finished Taxol last Friday (yay!) and took this week off to rest after 5 months of chemo (4 AC + 12 Taxol).  Feeling ok, even went to a faculty meeting last night! Still having odd side effects here and there including a rash on my left elbow and I'm breaking out on my face (that hasn't happened in a long time!).  Still going for my daily walks with my dogs; exercise has been the lifesaver throughout the chemo!!

My main issue now are my nails.  My toenails seemed to have calmed down but my fingernails continue to lift and 4 of them have fluid and an odd smell. Yuck! My oncologist says they are ok - no infection - but I'm grossed out! Others on this board recommended lavender oil and I looked into that. It evidently has anti-fungal effects, so I mixed 3 drops of lavender oil with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and dip my nails into it after cleaning them with an Epsom salt soak.  Seems to be helping and the lavender certainly helps with the odor!  Any other words of advice would be appreciated. They are sore, but I'm hoping to be able to keep them!

edyem:  I found this video blog when I was learning how to tie headscarves, but what I like even better is her directions for eyebrows and lashes.  She does an amazing job drawing on fake lashes. 

 http://eyelineher.blogspot.com/2011/05/recreating-eyebrows-with-make-up.html

Woke up this morning...my nails feel strange, does that mean they are lifting ?

Also my right foot feels like it is asleep all day...is that the taxol working its magic  ?

I am struggling with neuropathy still so decided to login and read about the experience of others. I did DD AC X4 followed by DD Taxol X4. They all thought I would breeze through the Taxol as the AC really knocked me off my feet. I didn't have the nausea but had loss of appetite and extreme fatigue with the AC. So I was looking forward to starting the Taxol - but changed my mind after the first dose. I had bone and joint pain for the first 2-3 days after the Taxol infusions but, thankfully the pain lessened each time. However, the neuropathy started after the first treatment and I have struggled with it ever since. I have some loss of sensation along with hypersensitivity in my hands and feet. Its not painful but is very annoying. My fingers constantly feel irritated, almost as if they were rexently burned. My last chemo was 8/9/11 and I have only seen some improvement in my left hand. My right hand and both feet are still bothersome so much that I have not considered going back to work yet. I have been on Gabapentin, a drug used for neuropathy, and can't function without it. It is now almost 5 months since my last treatment and I am now also noticing joint stiffness, especially my ankles and knees. I am hoping to hear from someone with similar symptoms as to if I should be hoping for improvement or if I should start to consider this a permanent SE.

Best wishes to all of you who still have further chemo to go through. Thanks for sharing. It helps to hear other stories.

Tappy- was this your first taxol?  I had my first taxol on Wednesday..I have felt strange since then..not bad..just not  good..but oh do my knees ache!  Although this is definitely better than the neulasta effects after AC, I'm curious if this achiness will just last and last.

Tappy- I have not experienced any issues with my nails as of yet, fingers crossed. The thought of my nails falling off freaks me out a little.  I also had 4 DD AC and I have had just 1 of 4 DD taxol so far.

Hi all-- I had my 9th Taxol last thursday-- it is amazing how variable they are. There seems to be no pattern for me. The 8th one was a breeze-- I had energy the whole week but this last one...not so much...  my legs ached to the bone and I had some lymphatic swelling in my arm.  I try to get regular exercise and when I needed it the most, I was too worn out.  Here's to the joy of chemo!!! 

I have only 3 left and I am counting them. I hope to find out today that my insurance has approved the use of Navalbine for my next round!  wish me luck.... 

I had my Taxol #8 of 12 last Wednesday.  The steroid was reduced from 15 mg to 4.  I thought this might be a good thing after reading here but instead of having at least one good day post chemo, I had no good days.  I even had pain in my feet and knees as well as muscle pain in my legs.

Today I'm tired, but less tired than yesterday and the day before.  I'm going to work in a bit and will hope I can get in 6 hours.

Taxol #9 is tomorrow.  I will also see an ENT about my sinus infection, though I'm beginning to suspect the whole thing is chemo induced and not bacterial.  Four rounds of antibiotics and I still have it.  It only got better the week that I skipped chemo.  Thanks for listening.

Chemo sucks!