Taxotere is a nightmare

Eileen, I am SO glad you are doing well! I think the anxiety and anticipation is worse than the actual event, especially when SEs are minimal. Keep ahead of the constipation. My MO suggested Miralax and it was easier on me than Dulcolax (bisacodyl).



For any of you having trouble sleeping, benadryl is OK, but it can interfere with the normal sleep cycle. If it bothers you, or if you have a hang-over feeling, do not hesitate to ask your doc for something that will work for you. Sleep and rest are critical, and if it takes a little prescription to get you the rest you need, just do it!



Keeping you all in my heart tonight, glad you are moving forward with your treatments, and hoping for minimal or NO SEs for all of you!

rachel - I tried the Metamucil too with little results.  Last treatment I used Miralax, started it the day before treatment and I had no problem.  That was the SE that bothered me the most.  Give it a try!  Hope you feel better and gain some strength back soon.....be good to yourself and don't over do it!

Linda - Hope you are doing well this evening too.  Your caring and concern for others comes through in your words.  You have a kind heart.

Omaz, thank you for your kind words. I truly do try to be a kind person. There was a time in my life that I wanted to "be respected, not liked." But my father told me that my mother was the kindest person he had ever known, and that just sort of seemed to resonate with me. He was also the one who taught me "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." I miss him sometimes a lot.



And I have found such support here myself. So many wonderful women here supporting each other through some incredibly difficult lives.



Rachelvk, my MO told me that TCx4 was as effective as TCx6 and less toxic. You have already done 4 TAC - you should definitely talk to your MO about the neuropathy! The thing to understand is that there is a coasting phenomenon, where it seems like the neuropathy is getting better, and then a few weeks later it gets much much worse. That's what happened to me - I was getting better after the last TC, then 6 weeks later was in agony. I still have problems, but it is better than it was a year ago, but I wish I had been more insistent with the MO so that she understood just how much my fingers mean to me. Oh, well, it seems the rest of my body is deteriorating, too - eyes getting MUCH worse since October, ringing in the ears really bad sometimes.... etc etc etc complain whine gripe.... OK, I'm over it again! Am thankful the GI system is working pretty good!!!



Eileen, how are you doing??? Hope your energy is good, your anxiety low.



Lago, nice to see you here - hope all is well with you.

Rachelvk, how did you get the extra information in your profile? I just inserted a lot of information in my bio but the information did not show in my last post to you.

Wow...not much activity here lately.  I hope that means everyone is doing well.  I had #5 of 6 TCH on March 1st.  I had alot of pain on day 5 and 6, felt like electrical pulses of pain in my hips, lower back and legs.  Once that went away I have improved and felt really good over the weekend.  Can't seem to get rid of those taxotears though.  How is everyone??

Congrats Cookie on being done! 

Yay Kelloggs! I was wondering if anyone else was getting the leg muscle pain. Mine was in my calves. I am day 13 of tch #2. It gets worse with each treatment?

My muscles/stiffness started to all of a sudden get better at week 5 PFC. I was really stiff too then one day (week 5) it got much better. Once the herceptin stops it will get better too… but I still have some from the estrogen sucking drug (Anastrozole). Not like when I was on chemo though. I'm doing my 30 lunges & 60 squats 2-3 times a week.

Linda I didn't get the extreme tiredness and my neuropathy wasn't that bad. I will admit with this warm weather it's been a lot easier to walk and do all the upper and lower body strength training. I'm not as stiff in the muscles or joints and the left foot nueropathy is barely there when its' warm and dry.

That really stinks you had such bad neuropathy from taxotere. Are they sending you to anyone for pain management?

Yay Kellogs! Done is FUN!  Congrats.  I just finished tx 2 of 6, but that means I am a third of the way through.  Gotta count the little wins too! LOL.  Congrats again.

Lago, I had to beg for referral to palliative care, both PCP and MO said "you don't need that yet" so I changed PCP to a wonderful woman who is trained in both primary AND palliative care.  I have seen a neurologist who specializes in diabetic neuropathy, and have seen a medical toxicologist who understands a lot of mechanisms of toxicity.  I have tried every class of drug known for relieving neuropathy symptoms, and have had such severe adverse effects from those drugs that I have to make a choice - non-functional brain with less (but never completetly relieved) pain, or functional brain.  I am currently in physical therapy, also trying acupuncture and meditation.  I have joined the thread for "Permanent Neuropathy" and also the "Bonfire of the Goddesses" for venting and for support.

I thought I'd check back in here as I head for my LAST tx on Thursday. I have mixed emotions - I want it to be over, but I don't want to do another round. I guess I'm still coming off relatively easy, but the fatigue has started to set in. I can't move as fast or as much as usual, and I've been slogging around the office like a sloth on and off. But at least I can still get things done at work, even if I come in late some days. My fingers are okay but I did have more tingling this time. Just one more, and then I can start climbing my way back to normal. Thanks for all the advice and support from you all.

Leave it to me to have my first and only reaction on my LAST infusion!! Yesterday was a nightmare in general. I had an afternoon appt to begin with, my MO was late, so I didn't get to the infusion center until 2:30 for a 2 pm appt. And there were other backups, so I didn't start until after 4:30. I got through all the pre-meds, the Adriamycin and Cytoxan, and then they started up the Tax a little after 6. After a few minutes, I started feeling like something was pushing into my lower back. I had been squirming in the chair a lot - the reclining didn't seem to catch and hold as well as the others I had sat in before - but suddenly I realized, uh oh..... according to my mom, I had a pretty bad look on my face, so she started for the nurses about the time I reached for the button. They came so fast. Fortunately, that's all that happened. No breathing or chest issues. They pumped me up with more decadron (my ankles were soooooo swollen last night!), benadryl, and Pepcid (the on-call oncologist, who was called in to see me, said it has anti-histamine qualities). Then they started the Tax again more slowly. Every 10 minutes they increased the drip. I was so worried I'd have another reaction because their plan was to just stop it and decide I was finished. The last thing I wanted was the fear of having that one last rogue cancer cell swimming around saying "You missed me! You missed me!"

But I'm done, and made it through even when they brought it back to the original drip speed. I slept well, and I'm feeling okay this morning and ready to go back to work for a few hours. Then I'll brace myself for the weekend. 

Rachel, Congratulations on being done!  Sorry about your reaction to Taxtere.  I had a similar reaction during my second round of Taxotere.  It is very scary.