taxotere side effects

Adding my thanks

Traii - I went after my 3rd treatment and had my hair buzzed off.  I had lost some, not all but it was really thin so I just decided to have it shaved off instead of waiting.  I sometimes wonder if I should have just left it but I had found a wig so just decided to go for it.  It is growing back now, of course it is still falling out some also, so I will be using the wig for some time I am afraid.  I just finished my 5th treatment November 29 and will go for my 6th on December 20.  I asked the onco if it would continue to fall out and he said yes, which seems strange, your hair grows back but yet falls out, does not make sense to me.  As far as the lower back pain, I have not had that.  I am having some today along with some other bone pain but I am attributing that to the Neulasta shot I had on Thursday.

Hi Traii - I have had lower back pain with Taxotere, this time not Neulasta so think it's the Taxotere. I had FEC before the Taxotere/Herceptin, still had a bit of stubble after three FEC but since Taxotere/Herceptin that has gone also.

Hope it's all good for you next week with your chemo, Traii.

If you are having fever, urinary frequency or pain on voiding though you should get checked out sooner, back pain can also be caused by urinary tract infection.

Trail, Yes I did get lower back pain on taxotere. I got yanked after two treatment for other ses, then switched to taxol. Everybody kept reminding me that ses are cumulative, so maybe your back pain is just the ses adding up . Glad its your last one coming up. It's an accomplishment to finish.

unfortunately every time I start something happens, first was the abscess, last week it was diverticulitis and was hospitalized for both....and off again, started in august and it only lasted 3 weeks before the abcess.....

sandy

Hi Jeanieb - I had diarrhea into the third week the first time, not so long the second time. It started sooner this third time, I will monitor to see how long it lasts. You should call and check with the oncologist or triage nurse if you are losing a lot of fluid with it. They may want to bring you in for more fluids and/or get a stool specimen to check for any bugs.

I definitely didn't bounce back as well after the second Taxotere and I am finding myself even more achy and tired this time. Thinking it will be a bit of time before I have energy again.

Take care ((()))

Hi Halfcan, good to see you here!  I think I will join you here, as our October thread seems to always be on the quiet side.  Besides, Taxotere is on my brain these days -- so this thread seems more appropriate!

Hi Ladies~! I am new to this thread but am due for treatment #2 tomorrow.  My WBC and Neutrophils are VERY high. Much higher than the normal range.  I am hoping this is a good thing, and maybe even that I can reduce my number of neupogen shots! (wishful thinking). Did anyone else notice their counts did better on taxotere?

More alarmingly, they did a ferritin serum test, which I assume was to test for iron deficiency, and the results came back 6x higher than the acceptable range.  I have too much iron in my blood???  And I'm a vegetarian! Does anyone know if taxotere or dex or even neupogen would cause your body to absorb too much iron?  I'm concerned by my high numbers! Strangely, my drs office has not gotten my blood test results yet, so I can't discuss them with them yet (I can see my results online).  I see a whole host of problems attributable to too much iron in the blood, and now I have something new to worry about!

Halfcan, my tongue was also swollen and my jaw hurt when I tried to move it.  I was going to ice tomorrow like you recommended, but it seems that it didn't help?!?!

Also, my fingernails have been tender.  Didn't ice the first time.  Debating between icing and using sally hansen hard as nails clear polish, or painting my nails a dark color. I've read that taxotere is light sensitive.  For those of you who have tried either the icing or the dark polish, do you have a recommendation of one over the other?

Thanks!! Gearing up for tomorrow.  Had a rough time the first time, and am hoping for a better outcome.  And halfcan, I had my treatment on Tuesday, and although it was rough, by Wednesday of the next week I was feeling better than I have in weeks! I hope you can get through these se's and feel amazing like I did!

Halfcan, I too couldn't walk with the pain of like tingly pins and needles(and not in a funny haha way pins n needles) ...took me from Day 5 to Day 13 to come good...still get a little tingly at times but manageable....I could hardly walk let alone stand but I needed to get things done

I even called my onc to see what I could do and he said moisturise...yeh good for dry feet but didn't do anything for the pain or tingly

Glad you feeling a little better now.

Jeanie I had a little 'running to the loo' episode the last week. Nothing too severe but yes...i think some of the SE's have accumulated as we go on and do more Taxotere treatments.....don't you think ?

I too iced my nails on chemo # 2.  I still had tenderish nails but nothing compared to my # 1 chemo where I had my hands all peeling and nail beds were achey....though I'm due for chemo # 3 tomorrow (final Taxotere ) and one of my thumb nails looks like it is going to lift and take off

I have been putting Sally Hansen nail hard strengthener on my nails and painting my toe nails ( I always have I just can't stand no colour...lol) toe nails are ok

 fight4two I too heard that Taxotere is light sensitive, my onc recommended a hardner but I'm going to go the dark purplish colour nail polish tomorrow with the ice gloves ( just to be safe) ... lol can't harm doing both , 2 is better than none ! along with the hardner underneath the polish and on top....(think I have my nails 'covered')

Icing the mouth, I did that, I 've sucked on lollies too ...I think the lollies worked just as good ... can't stand to think of icing mouth, fingers and feet all at the same time so have my lollies ready for tomorrow along with ice for my feet and as for the hands my chemo room actually had one lady that left behind for other women whom wanted to ice their hands the ice gloves.....so i'm calling my chemo nurse today to remind her to put them in the freezer for me

Good luck for tomorrow fight4two looks like we have chemo together ... I'll be thinking of you.

Remember WE CAN DO THIS LADIES........KILL KILL FIGHT FIGHT Taxotere SE's we got you!!

Thanks Halfcan......yes please,come along in my pocket hun ! hugs to you too

Traii and fight4two - You better have a very large pocket or else Santas bag because I am coming along with you all.  I hope that the SE are so minimal this time and the time will fly by so that it is just a distant memory before long. 

websister - Thanks for the info, at least now I feel like it is just another side effect after all.  I took Imodium and it does help so I think it is just from the Taxotere, plus this is my "on" week of Xeloda and I started that this morning, but it usually works the opposite on me, at least it did until I started on Tax.

Back from treatment #2.  Painted my nails with sally hansen and iced them with peas.  The peas were not as cold as I expected (so maybe didn't do as good a job) but regardless, should be better than the first time. The nails aren't hurting yet, but I don't remember how soon they hurt the first time.  Plus they are cut short this time, and were left long the first time.

My reaction to the dex doesn't seem as bad this time.  So far no swallowing troubles and no tingly red lips.  Just the extreme exhaustion.  I get pale and tired with dex instead of red and wired.  Unfortunately, due to my SEs the first round, my MO has prescribed MORE dex for me (two more days - five total!!! but 2 a day instead of 4 for the additional days) and a drug called protonix for my esophogas swallowing issues and severe abdominal pain.  I hate the idea of taking more drugs and don't know what to do!  The dex is because on day 4 post treatment, I woke up looking like I had my wisdom teeth taken out and I had facial pain/swelling from below the eyes to the chin.  He thinks this was an allergic reaction to the tax.  So far my esophogas is fine, and I want to skip the protonix.  I also hate the side effects of the dex, but I guess I should take the extra two days.  It would be great if it negates the facial swelling, but since so far my SEs are different, who knows if it would have come anyway??

Anyone else get a script for protonix?  I think its also called pantoprazole.  I think I will write my SEs down this time as I am really having trouble remembering what happened round 1 and when.

Halfcan, did you find a solution to the terrible tongue swelling?  I definitely had that, to the point it was painful to try to stick out my tongue and brush my teeth.

I think I am due for a 20+ min walk on the treadmill, altho last time the balls of my feet got really red and tender (kind of blistery). She gave me my tx on the arm opposite my tumor side, and I always feel like the tumor shrinks more when she does it on the same side.  Not sure if I'm imagining things or its coincidental..... but worry that my circulation is so poor that the drugs don't make it over there! The positive is that today my MO measured my tumor at half its original size! Hooray!  Its working!

Traii, hope your infusion was uneventful.  I usually feel pretty good day of, so hope you are feeling good so far too.

Thanks to all who were in my pocket today!  I needed you guys!

Well # 3 went good for me and sounds like you did well to Fight4two

I think from memory my finger nails started becoming tender around the day 3 mark onwards and my feet around day 5 - 13 however I can feel them a little tingly this evening.

My onc said that they are dry and to moisturise every 1 hour for the first few days......and take panadol or ibrufen to reduce pain and swelling .... easy for him to say re moisturise considering I have a almost 3 year old that loves to keep me on my feet and way too hot here to walk around with socks!

I don't like Dex however as Websister says ,we gotta do what we got to do......I have 8 mgs in morning with food and 8 mgs in the arvo with food and thats for a day before and 2 days after. I asked my onc if I should have it for 5 days and he said no.....

I had facial swelling ( not extreme but to me noticable ) the first and part of the second tax...this time 2 days of having the DEX i don't have any swelling, actually my face is thinner

Thanks to all that were in my pocket and Websister on my shoulder......you all were helpful too

Heres' to minimal SE's for us Fight4two I need to get out and partay, have 2 this Saturday so lets keep the balls of our feet to a minimal so we can walk.

sorry to hear Websister you are getting the pain on your feet too..... I iced my feet but don't know how it will go....guess like everything these side effects with suprise us when we least expect it..its like waking in the morning and not knowing what sort of day we will have so I don't like to 'plan' anything as such until I know if I'm getting out of bed with 'good ' balls or not...lol oh and hope your finger is better from getting them inbetween your recliner !

Good night all, its midnight here and I'm feeling kinda run down right now..... enjoy your day xx

Mouth fuzzy feeling is starting for me now schoolmum its horrible.

I bought some nike thongs that have padding...they seem to be ok at this point. As its summer here I like getting around the house barefoot but killing me on the tiles

Might give the shoe inserts a go for weekend..thanks for the tip jyst hoping i dont get sore feet but onc said i got it last round so sue i will get it again

Good luck with #3 on monday!

Well back on Tax next wednesday, unfortunatelly everytime I get it I get sick....Started in July, 3 weeks on a week off, did 2 1/2 rounds and got hospitalized for 12 days because of the abcess, then took about a month off and then started again, 1 1/2 round of 2 weeks on a week off and then hospitalized for 5 days for acute diverticulitis.. now am going to try it again cause they keep telling me that getting sick is not a result of the chemo, although could contribute to it, but only b/c of the white count.....for me, I am on it until it doesn't work and then on to another one!!

Sandy