taxotere side effects

Re taxotears: I did not have it until a few days into round 4. Today ( day 26 PFC) was one of the worst. Years about 80% of the day. I had to take a .5 Ativan because I was so upset- burst into REAL tears in a big shopping mall with DH. I felt so different from ME. Looking like I am crying most of the day was discouraging. Fortunately we stopped in the hills and did wine tasting later and that was relaxing.

I hope it starts to lessen soon.

Hello guys,

I'm starting tomorrow! I'm beyond scared I have read a lot online but nothing is putting my mind at ease. Anyways just wanted to start posting and sharing. When do the initial side affects kick in?

Oneworld, I was in your shoes 2 weeks ago and Tazzy is right, the anticipation is the worst part.  I go for #2 next Tuesday and I won't say that I'm looking forward to it, but I am much calmer because I know what to expect now.  My Dr gave me a pre-chemo cocktail of Aloxi, Dexamethasone, benadryl, famatodine and Emend and I had no noticeable side effects.   My nurse told me to take one of my anti-nausea pills before bed that night and another one when I got up in the morning and I only had a wee bit of queasiness on the 2nd day which I quickly took a pill to nip in the bud!
I read a lot of posts and it seemed that day 13 or 14 was the big day for the hair fall out, so I had mine buzzed off last Thursday night.  I noticed that my hair seemed a lot dryer and I wasn't able to style it as well as I had before... a sign that it was dying?  I'm sure glad I did it because on Saturday I noticed I was losing hair "someplace else"!!  
Take a deep breath tomorrow morning and tell yourself.. "I don't have to be brave, I just have to show up."  The nurses will take wonderful care of you  

Oh! and the plus side of getting your hair buzzed - apart from it keeping you in control - is that your scalp will be painful where the hair follicles die off... no one warned me about that.   Soon as it is buzzed - the pain goes. 

Melrose... good luck on #5 tomorrow.   You wait until your final one - oh! happy days.

Hello LHJL

RE: Onc said that some of those who had side-effects with FEC get less severe side-effects with Taxotere

That is certainly the case for me, on the whole, although I have got red blotches down my arm where the Taxotere leaked out. It's PICC time on Thursday.

But on the whole, I am finding Taxotere much easier than FEC and feeling much better after the infusion. Day 5 to 7 seems to cause a high temperature but that's about it and then it goes.

I am on a reduced dose, however.

You mentioned you might ask your onc for a reduced dose.

Did you ever follow through on this?

Best wishes

Alice 

Hope everyone is having a wonderful day and feeling well.  It's day 15 after my 1st treatment and the stubble I have on my head is hanging in there and I was able to enjoy coffee this morning for the first time in about 10 days!! 

Alicethecat, while I am certainly sorry to hear you have a rash, I am also happy to see I am not the only one.  When I showed it to the Dr last week (not my regular Onc) he seemed 'curious' about it.  It scared me a little that this might not be a normal side effect.  It popped up about a week after my 1st treatment and when I called the nurse, she didn't make it sound like it was something unusual.  I've been putting cortisone cream on it and started taking some benadryl yesterday to get it to clear up.  I have such sensitive skin and break out from so many things, I shouldn't have been surprised when this started.  

Melrose, Great news that your echo looks good.  My Rad Onc did tell me that a small portion of the upper lobe of my L lung will get hit with a little radiation but shouldn't cause any issues other than it may show up on future x-rays.  I keep telling myself I have to take the good with the bad and that keeps me going.

Speaking of that... I had a co-worker tell me what a great attitude I have had thru all of this.  (She has been a great emotional supporter since Day 1) and I hugged her and thanked her for not saying how BRAVE I was.  That is one of the best compliments I've gotten thru all of this.  Another one was my daughter's boyfriend telling her that "Your Mom can really rock the shaved head look."  He such a sweetheart.

Thank God for all of you and the support and information.  There are just some things the Dr can't tell you, you have to get it from first hand experience.  I'm so glad I am not alone.

ljhm

You can find more information about Taxotere, including the side effects, on the main breastcancer.org site.  

We hope this helps!

The Mods 

I've got periodic eyetwitching, and Taxo-tears.  Once in a while I will get cramps in my fingers but i just straighten them out when they do that.  Doesn't last too long.  Welcome to neuropathy....

Somebody on this forum wondered if icing of the hands during infusion was really worthwhile. I have to say that it worked for me, because I have had very little numbness/tingling in my hands. My feet is a different matter. It is not too bad though, and I still have numbness in a few toes 10 weeks PFC. I just did not occur to me that I could ice my feet as well, and only did so during the last chemo treatment with two huge Costco bags of frozen peas. It is certainly worth while to try anything to spare ourselves the side-effects, especially neuropathy which can be permanent in some cases. 

Enjoy your wig, ljhm. I washed mine for the first time today, and hope it will be fine. My hair is growing, but it will be months before I will be able to go 'topless' - no big deal. I feel great, all treatments are done and life is good.

FYI- the icing is to help prevent nail damage and not prevent the neuropathy.  There are supplements that one can take to help with the neuropathy but as with everything, ask your onco first before taking any supplements or icing. 

I didn't ice or wear nail polish. Had no nail issues until last treatment. Then they got mottled and discolored. Not all, about 6. And VERY sensitive, hurt to even accidentally bump them! Lasted about 10 days . No nails fell off and week 4 PFC (this week) they got rapidly better. now they are 85% normal. I painted them red yesterday, not usually that sort but it looks nicer than the discolorations. I looked like he world's clumsiest carpenter!!



Taxotears seem to be reducing rapidly as well. Fewer episodes and NO coursing/ crying look for several days no. Hurray!

My chemo days are behind me (finished 12/11) but thought I would share how I handled chemo week.

Treatment day and the four days after I took Ativan and Compazine around the clock (every 8 hours). I needed the Ativan to help with the anxiety of what the side effects may be and the Compazine was preventative since I dreaded getting sick (I never did either). That combo really helped get me through the worst days.

My nails turned brown but have now grown out - six months after treatment ended. Taxo-tears - I had them but didn't know what they were until recently - I just thought I was over-emotional.

Didn't have mouth sores but I rinsed my mouth with non-alcohol mouth wash minimal 4-5 times a day. I went through bottles of that stuff. It either worked really well or mouth sores just weren't an SE for me.

Towards the end I had some fluid retention so was put on diruretic and potassium bottomed out. If you have to take diruretic increase your banana and apricot intake - or get a prescription for potassium pills.

Didn't have much neuropathy - only in my toes, never painful or of concern and it went away soon after chemo ended. Funny thing - it seemed to go away one toe at a time. Don't know why but the little toe was the last to get better.

Hoping some of this information is helpful to someone. I wasn't on this forum during treatment so didn't have the help of someone who had just traveled the road. I do have a sister who is an oncology nurse and she gave lots of suggestions.

During treatment it felt like no end was in sight. Now here I am, six months later, able to share what worked for me.

There is light at the end of the tunnel - just one day at a time.