April/May 2012 Chemo hang out

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  • Stacie
    Stacie Member Posts: 607
    edited July 2012

    My MO says the hotflashes will be worse with hormonal therapy- I will be taking the post menopause variety.

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  • nofear2012
    nofear2012 Member Posts: 160
    edited July 2012

    Also my white counts were down this week. Last week they were so hhigh I didn't need a neulasta shot. My onc wants me to do the other neulasta shot, forget the name for 3 days and rececheck to.see if my white.cells.come back up. My wc were at 2.73., two ago week they were at 25.2. My rb cells dropped too so I will be eating more iron enriched.food. this such a balanceing act. My bllod results seem.to be better when I had no appetite and didn't eat much of anything. So it goes.

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  • mary71145329
    mary71145329 Member Posts: 133
    edited July 2012

    I need to ask about these hot flashes.....how about intensity? Mine seem to come and go 15-20 times a day but some have the sweat dripping from my head! Anyone else?

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  • lsharvey822
    lsharvey822 Member Posts: 257
    edited July 2012

    I wonder if black cohosh would help with the hot flashes.  I'll investigate! :)  I've been using Tea tree oil on my nails and so far so good!  and I'm not very consistent with it!

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  • lsharvey822
    lsharvey822 Member Posts: 257
    edited July 2012

    typical herb - sounds like no down side and helps some but not all.  Worth a shot maybe.

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  • kjiberty
    kjiberty Member Posts: 1,385
    edited July 2012

    Nofear:  Congrats!  Hope you are feeling okay!

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  • dancetrancer
    dancetrancer Member Posts: 4,039
    edited July 2012

    What's weird is I don't seem to sweat from my flushes.  Dry and hot like the sahara desert...not that I've ever been there...they are very intense though - just no sweating, usually. 

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  • lsharvey822
    lsharvey822 Member Posts: 257
    edited July 2012

    that's me Dance.  It's a totally internal thing for me except my head and I'm not sure if that's just sensitive right now since it's bald!

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  • nofear2012
    nofear2012 Member Posts: 160
    edited July 2012

    I have a combination of hot flashes, some are like dancer - others I am sweating from from head to my abdomin & my pillow has a sweat mark from my head. I can go days without having a hot flash but when I do have one it is mostly in the early morning.

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  • FightingLikeAGirl
    FightingLikeAGirl Member Posts: 69
    edited July 2012
    Gemmie, Tweety & Chapter4...good luck in the chair today.

    Marcia...probably won't be drinking much...there is a pool party during the say and they make killer mai tai's but I can't imagine being in the mood for one in the heat...then the night time party they don't usually drink at all...which is good so I don't have to go in for chemo w a hangover. Marcia you are my chemo buddy.

    lsharvey & Dance...I will be taking herceptin every 3 weeks for the full year. I too have had family history of heart disease (on both sides...but not like yours) and I have pvc's. I'm being checked with an echo every 3 months...I hope I live thru it w/o a heart attack. Jeez...I've been concerned about it myself...but I don't think I can handle it weekly ! When do you get your echo?

    Mary...that's good news...take care of yourself right now...you will know when the right time is...when you are ready we are here for you.

    NoFear...great news...keep up the good work!!!

    Hot flashes...mine come and go often during the day...my head feels like it is always sweating.

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  • dancetrancer
    dancetrancer Member Posts: 4,039
    edited July 2012

    When I flash, I can actually see my chest and face turn red.  Anyone else?   I'm a blusher, so maybe that is why?

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  • dancetrancer
    dancetrancer Member Posts: 4,039
    edited July 2012

    Fighting - I get my echo next Tuesday, see the MO for my weekly Wednesday.  Am hoping my results will be back in time for him to discuss it with me, but I doubt it.  

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  • kjiberty
    kjiberty Member Posts: 1,385
    edited July 2012

    No hot flashes yet.  I hear when I have to take the ESD (estrogen sucking drug) I am prescribed, it will be a whole new ballgame.

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  • lsharvey822
    lsharvey822 Member Posts: 257
    edited July 2012

    How's everybody doing?  we're thinking of you Tweety, Gemmie, Chapter4, etc.!  I hope everybody has NO side effects!  OK maybe wishful thinking! but minimal SE would be good, right!? :)

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  • RoulaG
    RoulaG Member Posts: 239
    edited July 2012

    Hot flashes and cold flashes - really strange. I can go from cold to flushed red in an instant. And it happens many times a day and night.

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  • Tweetyb422
    Tweetyb422 Member Posts: 119
    edited July 2012

    Thanks everyone, so far so good..spent forever at the doctor fr appt, treatment 9:30 to 4, they were so busy...the Benadryl really knocked me out. Waiting to see when SE hits, with A/C it was the next day, last taxol more like day 5. Not a very fun way to spend the 4th but I know we will all make the best of it.

    only 2 more treatments left, then gotta start focusing on surgery. Dr also ordered a pet scan for week from Monday...hoping to see lots of shrinage :)

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  • IndigoMont11
    IndigoMont11 Member Posts: 1,095
    edited July 2012

    I get the hot flash combo too - hot and dry during the day, sweats at night. If I had a choice, I'd take the daytime ones. The news that tamox will make them worse, oh, geez. I can tell when one is about to start. Sometimes, unfortunately, I get one from thinking about it. Being distracted helps.



    Btw, so I know that we all seem to get much better info on coping right here on the boards than from our docs, but when we were discussing my emotional state, my NP said not to take black cohosh. I can't remember why.

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  • sandik
    sandik Member Posts: 482
    edited July 2012

    tweety, you still getting a crash day with the taxol? Im only on round 2, but I feel nothing. 

    I'm so glad we are all peeing our pants together! haha

    Anyone who didn't get in the facebook group, send me a PM. I'll get you there. Been busy today. Worked all day, then came home to our new bus in the driveway. We scrapped out old one. It was old. This one will be converted to a motorhome as well. Tomorrow morning we start pulling the seats out. So, I've got a dirty 4th coming up! But, we have fun doing it. There are about 8 or 9 of us working on it, so it's like a party every time.  

    Happy 4th and be safe everyone!  

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  • GracefulDays
    GracefulDays Member Posts: 15
    edited July 2012

    Hey mcm24, I have tissue expanders in both sides, and after my first T/C treatment a couple of weeks ago, I had the worst pain in my chest! It felt like two bags of heavy rocks sitting on my chest, I had a lot of pressure and burning. It felt just like I had just had surgery although I was several weeks out from it! I called MO, and nurse said my senses would be magnified , this happened the same evening I had Naulista shot, no problems day of infusion. It subsided after about 4 days. Mind you I have not even had a fill yet, and I got the news from my PS that my first fill will be next Tuesday, the same day as my next trip to the BGC, and all subsequent fills will come each day of chemo treatment. Oh joy :( Can't imagine how that is going to feel! Ugh

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  • Fierro6
    Fierro6 Member Posts: 224
    edited July 2012

    I get fills on the same day as chemo, but we just started that schedule last week.  The fill didn't cause discomfort, but I noticed waking up sore for about five days after.  They wanted to do the fills before chemo, but same day, so my counts would be at their best.  I'm only going for fills every other chemo day, though.  I'll be in chemo longer than I need for the TEs, so he said there is no reason to rush it.

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  • dancetrancer
    dancetrancer Member Posts: 4,039
    edited July 2012

    Roula - I get the cold flashes, too.  I read somewhere that the hot flashes can decrease your body temp afterwards quite a bit - so that would explain it!  But all night is like - covers on, covers off...covers on, covers off.  Uggh.  Lowering the a/c temp last night helped - spent more time under the covers, which I prefer. 

    tweetyb - so hoping for GREAT Pet scan results for you!  

    indigo - another friend of mine told me Tamox did NOT make her hot flashes worse...so I'm holding onto that hope!  

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  • mistym
    mistym Member Posts: 58
    edited July 2012

    Happy 4th of July ladies!

    Big hugs to those of you not feeling well and those who are going for treatments.

    I have an appointment today with my GP to check on the shingles.  They aren't spreading but the ones I have are still quite sore and infected.  I guess the Valtrex is mainly to stop the spreading and I am happy for that.

    For anyone who hasn't joined the FB group that sandik set up.....you really should.  It is amazing and I find it so much easier to follow than this page.

    Oh and sandik....why don't you leave all those seats in the bus and we can all go on a road trip together? Laughing

    Hugs,

    Misty

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  • chapter4
    chapter4 Member Posts: 155
    edited July 2012

    Indigomont11. - on ambien time release...they are 12.5 mg. the others were 5mg....it still took time to get to sleep. But it did help me stay asleep...woke around 2am. But fell right back to sleep...woke up in the morning feeling good...not groggy. I used to take two of the 5mg pills on treatment night...but so far the release ones seem better.



    Anyone dealing with night sweats? I don't get hot flashes...I'm 48 and just sent into chemo pause apparently having not gotten my period since first week in May...but so far just crazy night sweats...all night...however I slept right through them on the ambien....yes sir.

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  • dancetrancer
    dancetrancer Member Posts: 4,039
    edited July 2012

    Roula - I get the cold flashes, too.  I read somewhere that the hot flashes can decrease your body temp afterwards quite a bit - so that would explain it!  But all night is like - covers on, covers off...covers on, covers off.  Uggh.  Lowering the a/c temp last night helped - spent more time under the covers, which I prefer. 

    tweetyb - so hoping for GREAT Pet scan results for you!  

    indigo - another friend of mine told me Tamox did NOT make her hot flashes worse...so I'm holding onto that hope!  

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  • Marcia1111
    Marcia1111 Member Posts: 368
    edited July 2012

    I saw my  internist shortly after my dx and asked him about the hot flashes.   He mentioned  black cohash, but said not until I'm done  being  treated for BC.  Maybe I'll ask the MO.  My hot flashes seem to have subsided a bit, but I do do the sheets on, sheets off dance every night.  One night I woke up totally drenched, but otherwise, it's hot/cold/hot/cold/hot/cold.  I was on the pill for many years and stopped when I was dx on April 2.  I haven't had a period since.  I don't know if the pill was keeping me from going into menopause or what.

    My PS won't do fills during chemo.  I'm glad they got to a decent size before I started.  They have been really hurting the past few days, which I don't get.  I haven't had a fill in a month so I would think my skin is as stretched as it's going to be until the next fill.  They usually feel really tight after my infusion, which is tomorrow, so I'm not looking forward to that.

    Happy 4th of July!  We're having lots of rain with thunder and llightening in South Florida.  I guess the pool party I was invited to will be indoors.

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  • mcm24
    mcm24 Member Posts: 33
    edited July 2012

    Not that I am happy that you all are having these SE's, but I AM happy to get on here and read about them and know that I am not alone! I complain to my DH all the time about how I am feeling, but I just told him it is so reassuring that all of this is just par for the course, after being on here. I do the sheet dance and also have the cold spells. I am constantly taking my temperature because I am worried about a fever, with this UTI I have. I have been really emotional, too. My MO gave me a prescription for an anti-depressant to take at night. I filled it but have not taken one yet. I think I am entitled to feel like this!  After my meltdown last night when I was trying to sleep, and after taking a Vicodin and my legs still hurt so bad, I may have to reconsider. Perhaps it would help me through these last few months of hell. Are many of you also taking an anti-depressant?

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  • dancetrancer
    dancetrancer Member Posts: 4,039
    edited July 2012

    OK, you guys made me curious about black cohosh, so I looked up why docs seem to have different opinions:

    Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet:
    Black Cohosh 

    How black cohosh works is not known. The possibility that black cohosh exhibits estrogenic activity has been studied but the evidence is contradictory [10-18]. 

     So, if you are ER+, you'd have to weigh the unknown risk of it being estrogenic against the discomfort from the hot flashes.  

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  • Husker123
    Husker123 Member Posts: 101
    edited July 2012

    Mary71, I'm in your camp. When the flashes hit, my poor bald head just pours water! I can feel them coming on & just wait for the rainshower. I always have one when I wake up.

    My MO's nurse was telling me at my last appt. about a woman who had taken an herbal supplement for hot flashes that was estrogen based. She had her breast cancer come back. She didn't think to tell her Dr. what she was taking so they were a bit baffled until she finally mentioned it.  I can't remember the name of it but it wasn't the black cohosh.

    Started on my decadron this morning. I'm glad to be about done with it. It looks so much like my synthroid pill. I took one decadron instead of the synthroid when I got up. Playing catch up on my meds now. I should be good & wired for the day!

    Happy 4th to all!

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  • nofear2012
    nofear2012 Member Posts: 160
    edited July 2012

    @Mcm24 - I had a presc for an antidepressant but could not take it due to it upset my stomach so bad otherwise I would be taking it. I know other ladies on this thread do take one & sewer by it for helping to regulate their mood. U are most definitely entitled to feel what u feel but u do not have to suffer either. Hand in there.

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  • nofear2012
    nofear2012 Member Posts: 160
    edited July 2012

    @sandik - I just pm u to be added to face book

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