need guidence

Hi Joy,

Sounds like you're experiencing some neuropathy. Check out what the main Breastcancer.org site has to say about managing this side effect.

Hope this helps!

--The Mods

lack of sleep certainly adds to the misery of being diagnosed with BC.  Many or most of us diagnosed with a potentially life-threatening cancer had trouble sleeping. I suggest sleeping pills - they really help.  I stayed on from the time of my first surgery, until a few months after I finished chemo. After my life got somewhat back to normal, I didn't have any trouble quitting.  I think being able to sleep really saved my sanity.

Your doctor should not have an issue prescribing them for you.

Good luck.

I agree that it sounds like neuropathy. Call the onc and they should call you in some gabepetin for it. They can increase the dose after 1 week if needed. I am currently on 600mg 3 times a day. My legs are also affected. You will like the gabepetin. It takes away the pins and needle feelings and gives you back the use of your fingers.

I've heard of using ice during the infusing to prevent the medication from getting to the finger tips. Never tried it and never saw anyone in the chemo room doing that.

Carboplatin and Taxotere is a rough mix, they all are. Afyer your chemo is finished you red cells will come back and your energy will somewhat come back. Chemo also kills good cells. It's the RBC's that carry oxygen and iron to the rest of the body, so when you are low on those you really feel like crap.

When you get tired you are supposed to rest. You cannot expect to be able to do what you used to do while on chemo. Make sure you let your doctor know how you are feeling. Maybe she has more ideas or a booklet they can give you.

yellowwing1 I'm so sorry that you are dealing with all of this right now. I had the same chemo cocktail ie. Taxotere, Carboplatin and Herceptin. I took Acetyl L Carnitine to prevent the neuropathy (there are some studies indicating that it might help) and thought it worked but I still developed neuropathy in my hands after chemo ended. My hands tend to get tingly and then go completely numb at night when I'm sleeping and sometimes it spreads up my arm which wakes me up. The good news is that it's been several months and it is getting a little bit better. My neurologist said that they don't really know a lot about chemo and nerve damage and that they don't fully understand how nerves regenerate but there is evidence that if they aren't damaged too badly that they will repair themselves over time.

I know the treatment is tough but please know that it does get better. I didn't think I would ever feel better but I'm beginning to feel like myself again (I have only 3 Herceptins left). Wishing you all the best!

As far as the icing, I did that during chemo. The reason to ice your nails is to prevent the Taxotere from reaching the nail beds and causing them to become sore as well as preventing the nails from lifting off the nailbed-a condition called onycholysis (not common but it can happen from Tax). The icing does not prevent neuropathy.

yellowwing I had Herceptin every week during chemo (18 weeks) and now every 3 weeks for the rest of the year. My weekly dose of Herceptin was lower during chemo and now I get the bigger (triple) dose every 3 weeks. MOs vary as to which way they handle the Herceptin but you end up getting the same amount overall.