taxotere side effects

PAeaglesfan - I completely agree with you on the being thankful for wonderful family, friends, Doctors, nurses, and this board particularly.  If not for this board I would have thought I was being a wimp, wondering if I was going crazy and if I would make it through the 10-12 days after treatment.  You helped a lot with that along with lots of other ladies that responded to my questions.  NO ONE can understand unless they have been there, and it is hard to explain to people just what is going on.  I hope you continue to check in and keep us informed on how things are going.

Trisha-Anne - I know that the treatments are all going to be worth it in the end and I will look back and realize the last 4 or 6 months went fast, I remember that from the first time.  It is just that the days you are feeling the worst seem like they are 72 hours long and the days you are feeling good seem like they are about 8 hours long.  I just keep telling myself that "this to shall pass" and it does.  I am so thankful for having this type of cancer instead of some of the others that are so much worse.  Sending you a really long distance hug.

Hugs and well wishes to everyone, I know they can help us all very much!!!

Hi Traii- the Tax does have that SE. I had pitting edema, but was lucky enough to escape the peeling skin. I think it was earlier on in this thread that I read about the solution to this problem, but I am not sure if it is too late for you to start it now. It is worth a try to stop it getting any worse. Maybe if you put your symptoms on the "search" option you will find it. Anyway the solution is "icing". You have to ice the fingers and toes - a similar solution to the ice cap for hair loss. The lady who posted said she uses bags of iced peas. You have to put them on the fingers and toes for a while before the infusion and after the tax infusion. I seem to remember it was half an hour before and after, but please ask your nursing staff about the time. They will know. Unfortunately it obviously makes your time in the chair a little longer, but this is such a horrible SE it is worth it. Take warm socks and gloves to wear after you have finished icing, if you have another infusion of a different chemo. It is uncomfortable when you start, but after a while your toes and fingers apparently go numb, and it is standable.

The painful balls of the feet seem to be a common SE. I experienced it, and so did other ladies on our chemo thread. One foot is often much worse that the other. The pain did not last the whole 3 weeks before the next chemo, but tended to wear off gradually by the 5th day post chemo. I am 7 weeks post final chemo, and my foot is no longer painful, but it does still feel very tight and crampish at times, although this is getting better gradually. Hang in there! Thinking of you

jeanie b - my hair did not grow during Tax, but several other ladies reported that their hair started growing a bit by the 3rd or 4th chemo. I say any hair is good hair! Leave it for a bit, and see how it develops. 

Hi halfcan

Be aware that the dose of Dex that you'll be taking will probably make you hyper and unable to sleep.  You may also experience a "crash" when you stop taking it.  If that happens ask your onc if you can be weaned off it next time. In other words not suddenly stop taking it, but take a lower dose for a day or two after, it does help avoid the "crash" which can be awful.

Good luck, and Yay for finishing FEC :-)

Trish

xox

Hi Ladies

I had severe sore feet this cycle...I'm # 2 day 13 and its easing but still sore. I didn't ice my feet only hands and sucked on lollies through the treatment.....nail beds a little sore ( but nothing compared to the #1 chemo where I did nothing because I didn't think the SE's would happen so quickly !

Other than the sore feet I am feeling fine.

Congrats Halfcan on half way there I am half way there on the 12th Dec last Taxotere then start my CMF hoping that the SE's are not as bad as  Taxotere.

Congratulations on finishing your taxoterrible Websister!!  I wish I had that piece of advice from your pharmacist when I was in treatment.

I am 3 months pfc today and can't believe it!  I celebrated by combing my hair this morning lol  (I have about 3/4-an inch of hair now).  Good idea for the nail polish halfcan, and keep it up after chemo is finished. I stopped using it when I finished and now I've reached the growth that occured during chemo and 2 of them have split back past the quick.  

Traii and websister,

Happy for both of you on finishing taxotere! Whew!!!!



Im 10 weeks PFC and still get tingling on my hands and feet which wake me up at night. Makes me feel like im holding my celphone in vibration mode.



PAeagles, combing my hair now, too! (Tho i really dont need to, i just want to..)



Hang in there, ladies, minimal se's to all.

Saw MO yesterday and got the green light to start the taxotere today.  So BGC @ 11:00.   I'm thinking I should dress warm or I'll be freezing in there with ice in my mouth and on my fingers.  Brrr.  Thinking the 1 1/2 hours are really going to drag!   Not super happy with my MO yesterday.  Talked to him about L Glutamine, 24 hour Claritin and/or a prescription for the nasty 3 days of bone pain from the Nuepogen I had last time.  He informed me that I could also now experience some additional bone, muscle and joint pain from the Taxotere!  Then he told me NO to any of the above!!   Only got him to say yes to try Aleve because Tylenol wasn't working so great.   He says that should be enough....great....  Anyway I am off in a few hours to begin the second half of my chemo journey.  Oh and on almost no sleep!  Double dosing of the DEX saw to that!

websister -  Hope you're feeling ok this morning.   Did you ice your fingernails during Tax?

Hugs to all  :-) 

Thanks PAeaglesfan.  I'm not on any nausea meds really so not sure whether to expect constipation again or the trots.   BTW:  Hiccups are a side effect of the Dexamethason steroid.   

bcbarbie and PAeaglesFan - I am smiling at you two combing your hair, or what there is now , and agree with Traii, so I am celebrating for you.  Glad to hear you are completely done and starting to grow that hair.

I have been reading some others side effects from Tax and I am wondering what is wrong with me.  I have treatment on Thursdays, by Saturday around noon I am getting off balance, blurry eyes, tired, no energy and by Sunday afternoon, food and drink are almost intolerable.  Mondays I get up and can barely focus, still off balance, hold on while I walk anywhere, have to lay down and rest for several hours, diarrhea, can hardly stand to eat anything.  Tuesdays seem a little better for a while then it starts over again, run a low grade temp of 99.2 off and on beginning on Mondays through Thursdays when I go for fluids to rehydrate and usually end up with a Neulasta shot, as white count is usually .5 or .6, then I have to stay away from people for 3 or 4 days while my white count comes back up.  This happens every time, even if I am taking the Xeloda along with it or it is my off week from X.  I know it sounds like I am whining but I really am not, I just admire those of you that can go to work and carry on as normal.  I know this will end one day, I go tomorrow for fluids so I will start to feel better by Saturday or Sunday and then I go on the 20th for my 6th treatment.  After that we will scan and see how many more I have to take.

Well, I better go lay down again, I am sure this is the low point talking and I will be better the next time I get on here.  Wishing all of you a good evening and sending cyber hugs to you all.

Jeanieb2 - you are not whining, that doesn't sound like fun at all!

I find with Taxotere that it hits me about 3 - 4 days after infusion. I don't have the dizziness but I do have nausea and last two times one episode of vomiting each time, during the night. Coincides with onset of diarrhea. Don't feel like eating or drinking, taste is altered. I have also been very tired and it will hit suddenly. May be out and running errands or having lunch with someone and all of a sudden total exhaustion.

This time the diarrhea started the day after, no nausea or vomiting yet though, hope I've avoided that. Find the muscle and joint aches started the day of and are continuing today, walking like a very old lady.

Sending hugs, hope your scans show no further need for more Taxotere after the treatment on the 20th.

Jeanieb - I have Maxeran if I need it for nausea but it seems to just be once and hit suddenly middle of the night then that's it but the diarrhea/cramps set in or remain. I do have Immodium and an anti-gas for that. Re: aches and pains - manageable, just not that pleasant - thought it was more from Neulasta before but no Neulasta this time and started evening of treatment. Could be a combination of Taxotere and the Herceptin that makes it worse.

Hope you are enjoying the Christmas tree lights, I really need to get decorating before the season is over

Wednesday was #4 chemo/#1 Taxotere day.  It started out fun with the chemo nurse trying to access my port!  I had read of others having this issue so I wasn't too freaked out.  After trying a bunch of different positions with my head and body, I had to get up and walk all around the chemo room swinging my arms over my head like I was swimming and then go lay down on a bed so they could lower my head.  Happy to say it worked and didn't require any meds to open it up which would have made my visit at least another hour of infusion!  Then it was on to the fun, freezing, huge gloves past my wrist to suffer through plus ice in my mouth for the 1 1/2 hours.  It might have been ok except I was nauseas all morning and still was, so it was challenging to suck ice.   I was very glad when it was all done.  Headed home to sweats, a cozy blanket and my couch for a 2 hour nap.  Awoke feeling much better and no longer sick to my stomach.  Not sure why I felt like that all day other than from the double dose steroids or major lack of sleep for two nights.   Anyway, yesterday I get up and feel pretty darn good so attack some house chores, go out to lunch and for a walk with a friend, then later out to mexican food for dinner and some grocery shopping.   I was totally pooped by the end of the day and fell asleep on the couch again for awhile.     Another restless night of sleep after a good 3 hours but then this morning feeling good again so decided to do some organizing of closets.  lol   Well, done with that for now...all of a sudden I am beat.  Maybe did too much but wanting to be useful while I am feeling ok.  I keep expecting the bomb to drop with some crappy SE from the Taxotere!  Today I start the nuepogen 7 day injection series and I know that 5 days from now I will be misserable with bone pain again for 3 days.  It so sucks, but if it keeps the white count happier than most likely worth it!!!

websister - why no Nuelasta this time?  Hope you are feeling better!

BC....new day....new shit! Please tell me if my SEs sound familiar. Started feeling worse yesterday ... chemo on Wed. so day 3 I guess. Awake most of the night with ears hurting and pressure and shooting pains everywhere it seemed from my ankles, knees, hips, back and generally most everywhere. Took some Ibuprofin a couple hours ago but it is my ears that seem strange. Achy muscles and pains doesn't seem too surprising nor the headache. Looks like I'm not getting out of bed much today! Hope everyone else is having a better day. Hugs

SpecialK - Thanks so much for that link to the side effect sheets, that is so useful.  I am going to print it off and use it, even though I am in the 5th cycle of Tax.  I still keep a journal of how I feel each day and this will just take the place of it.

Good news girls today is the 9 day of my chemo i felt pretty much close to normal. Bads days will over