Taxol Chemotherapy

Glad to hear you are feeling well :-)



I have done 4 out of 12 Taxols and although the SEs are less than FEC I am finding them emotionally harder. My onc is happy for mr to take the glutamine, carnitine and Vit B but despite all this my thumbs are a little numb. The bone and muscle pain isn't bad, but it's always there so is a bit wearing. The dry mouth is driving me CRAZY at night. And the overwhelmimg tiredness is, well, overwhelming...



Can't wait for this to be over!



Jenn

Just completed #7 of 12 weekly Taxol's last night!  Yippee!   I dreaded the weekly infusions, but honestly, I find them to be moving really quickly plus it seems to help me emotionally as I get to check another one off the list.

I did not get bone pain until last week - but I had to quit taking Claritin and switch to Allegra for my allergies.  I do think the Claritin kept it at bay.

I am soaking my hands and feet in ice during Taxol infusions.  I have had no nail or neuropathy issues.  My Chemo Nurse who has alot of experience says the ice really helps.  It is worth hauling my dishpans around! 

My newest side effect is a rash all over my face.  Looks like teenage acne.  Nurse Practitioner says it is common and prescribed an antibiotic creme.  I am also doing oatmeal and honey homemade paste which helped the swelling. Looks more like a rash and less like pimples.

My biggest side effect on Taxol has been allergies and bloody sinuses.  NP says since immune system compromised, I've become allergic.  Had a terrible allergy cough, finally getting better after 9 weeks when I switched to Allegra.  Have noticed allergic to cat and wheat and probably outside allergies too!  I believe it will go away once my iimmune system gets built back up.  It is been an inconvenience.

I tell people Adriamycin/Cytoxan was wanting to die.  Taxol is wanting to live with unpredictable side effects which are an inconvenience.

Can anyone relate to this? 

I have had 2 of the 12 weekly taxols so far.  Starting Sunday I started getting short of breath.  Monday it was really bad, went to ER and was admitted.  After multiple test, lungs and heart are fine.  although my heart is racing, average of 120.  Drs have no idea, sent me home with a low dose beta blocker.  still having the shortness of breath and rapid heart rate.  anyone else have this issue?  nothing like this while I was on AC.

BrandyJ26 - heart racing issues - I have had that on Taxol. I am on 12 weekly Taxol like you.  The first 2 weeks of Taxol my heart rate was 125.  Next 2 weeks it was 111.  Next week it was 106. Last week it was 103. So the good news is it is settling down. When I am not at the hospital, sometimes it settles down to 88 to 94.  My Onc didn't act too afraid of it.  They even had me get pulse tested right when I came in the door of the clinic thinking I get stressed from blood tests, etc.  

Ok, Nancy, weird as it may sound, I have the bloody nose issues and clots in right sinus and more allergy in left!  How strange is that one?  I've not had the bone pain for that many days.  I get weekly Taxol on Tuesdays, and like clockwork, the exhaustion and bone pain hit Friday afternoon at 3:30 pm.  I told my NP that I felt really bad for women that had this bone pain all the time.  It is terrible! 

For me, I wanted to die on A/C.   On Taxol, I want to live, but it is mighty inconvenient as all this new stuff is always showing up.  I get rather excited to go for weekly Taxol (strange feeling), but I just like crossing another one off the list!!

  

Yea Vicodin! Settling down my colitis...2 down 2 to go of dose dense Taxol. I hear this stuff takes eyebrows and eyelashes...heard good things about eyelash conditioners at the better makeup counters. Giving it a try. Thank goodness this is the end of chemo before it strips the last of my dignity. Oh wait...surgery and by by bbs. Well, whatever people say about the expanders they will be signaling the phoenix rising from the flames as I'll be watching for my "feathers" / hair coming back. With my luck I'll bet the leg hair comes back first! ha ha

Hi everyone, I finished 4 DD taxol 2-28, lost most eyebrows and all but 6 eyelashes but I wear glasses and helped a lot hiding that. I have good news though my eyelashes came back 3-4 weeks PFC nice and thick only half length 5 weeks out, my eyebrows are coming dark shadow where they are supposed to be. So it doesnt take too long to come back. Hair is coming, had fuzz through taxol now turning dark some half inch hair. It will come. My bone pain and nueropathy is going away also. Taxol gave me an emotional roller coaster ride mid way through, but that cleared up also. Good luck ladies moving toward the end of the taxol ride.

Finished my last of four taxol treatments yesterday. Feel good today. Waiting for the aches and pains to set in. Usually by tonight or tomorrow. So very glad to be done. Hardly any eyebrows or eyelashes left. Sad about that as I cannot go out without full make up or I look really scary. I have not had many problems with taxol as compared to AC. That was brutal for me. I just get pains for about a week and feel run down. Feel flu like really. Some runs but better than the constipation I had with AC. A bit of tingle in a few fingers but that's about it. Start tamoxifen in a month. Not looking forward to that but I am looking forward to beginning recon on June 13. Do not like the flat look. But I'm ok that I had that experience.

I haven't posted here in awhile, I have spent the last couple of days reading your posts...most of you seem to be taking the Taxol well. I have just finished 7 of 12 Taxol and have started to run into a problem.. I have Ice/Fire pain that shoots up the my vein during the infusion. This started on infusion #6 in the right arm (but with less Saline), then I switched to the Left arm for #7 with more Saline and it was better, but still there and painful enough to turn the machine off, screw around with the Saline amounts and finish the session. Anyone have or had this issue yet?? There was NO pain 1-5 infusion of Taxol or the 4 dd AC's. The Head nurse feels I am starting to reject the Taxol..we are thinking of taking Pain med's to get me through the last session, since there is only 5 left....I have a lot more tingling in the hands then most of you, but ZERO in the feet (weird)..Jenn~4 out of 12 your almost there!! I here ya on the dry mouth, absolutely driving me crazy!! Have you found anything that helps?? LMK. Andimom03~I also never lost the hair on my arms, 75% eyebrows and 90% eyelashes...but I will, now that I brought it up!!
As far as the "vein pain" I really want to finish the Taxol...as I have no idea if it's the good or bad cells fighting the Taxol.
Barb

First week of Taxol not too bad, hungry and tired mostly. Second Taxol treatment tomorrow we will see what that brings. Think about me tomorrow at 4:30pm, my next Taxol. Good luck to everyone who have treatments this week and hoping that everyone's SE's are few.

CatWhispurr-praying for you.  I have talked to several women who have had a more difficult time on Taxol.  I am on weekly and doesn't seem to be as bad as those who get it every other week or every 3 weeks - my chemo nurse said that as well.  It's not fun, but certainly so much easier than A/C.

Talk to your MO and let us know what happens!!!  

Catwhispurr...ask them to let you switch to weekly Taxol. I think it helps a lot for easing symptoms. I had the bloody sinus issue also, and continual runny nose, but that continued on Herceptin, so I wonder if it goes with that. Kept my toes and fingers iced through chemo and they did fine. Stopped for a bit with herceptin, and they started to lift in places, so I went back to icing them. I am a month out from my last herceptin, and they are looking a little better, but many have broken low and are very thin. They also seem to be growing slowly.



I took acetyl L-carnitine, vitamine B and some glutamine during chemo. Had some mild joint pain in hip area and lower back. The main neuropathy was tingly fingers and my feet were freezing cold to the touch all the time, especially at night. My husband would get hot water bottles for me and put them in bed. It was the only thing that warmed them up.



All the tingling went away pretty quickly after chemo, as did the cold feet, but I did notice that my hands and feet got cold easily this winter.



My counts stayed normal throughout. Toward the end, they got about as low normal as you could go, but that was on my last one. They bounced back quickly.



It did go faster than I thought. I had a calendar that marked all my chemo treatments and put a sticker on each one when completed. Then had a party on the day of the last one.

# 3 of DD taxol done.   Only one left.   I talked to my MO and he offered to lower the dose this time but I was afraid of not kicking the f* cancer, so I agreed to full dose and see how it goes.   If it gets much worse in the next two weeks, I may go for a lower dose on the last treatment.  I am going to increase the l-glutamine I'm taking from 20g to 30g for 4 days, then 10g the rest of the days.  I am also taking the B-vitamins so I hope the neuropathy will stay in check.  It isn't too bad today - just a little in the fingers.

Fluffqueen - I think it is too late to switch to weekly with only one treatment left in two weeks.   I had originally asked him about doing weekly before I started and he refused saying DD was the best to do for triple-negative.

Now, just waiting for days 3-6 which are the worst for pain and fever.  My MO did tell me to call this time when my fever gets high.   I don't know why or what they will do but I guess he wants to know anyway.

NCbeachgal - hope your 1 1/2 hours goes quickly and your side effects minimal.  I have two more infusions left and can't wait until I can send the same post!

I found this forum today and decided to join. : )

In January of this year I was diagnosed with stage 3 inflammatory breast cancer. Eek!

I just finished my last round of initial chemo. (Can't remember the names of the drugs right now, but they are common.) I really can't complain so far; with the Compazine and Zofran I've had no bad nausea. Sometimes for a few days I had no appetite, but I'll take that over feeling really sick. It took me 4 weeks to lose my hair but it finally fell out, lol. Lashes and eyebrows are still there, though...so once again I feel I've been lucky.

In two days I start on Taxol; once a week for 9 weeks. With inflammatory breast cancer the chemo is done before the mastectomy, so I won't be having the surgery until about the end of June.I found this forum in my search for experiences with Taxol. They seem mixed, so I'll just have to wait and see!

Glad I stumbled across this discussion board. I think I'll be a regular here. I just turned 55 last month and live alone. I believe this cancer journey is just beginning, so will be glad to have people to talk to who can relate.

Tracy

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Welcome Tracy!  The ladies here are awesome and a great support!