January 2013 chemo group

Hey Mandy,

I am so sorry to hear how hard your journey with AC was.  You have survived a trip through one of the hardest AC valleys I have heard of.  Congratulations on crossing the finish line!  I hope that the nausea and badness stays in your rearview mirror!

As far as Taxol supplements, I had a kind of a mixed experience.  I can tell you what I took that had no problems and which I would recommend without reservation,  and then the stuff I had trouble with.  I also want to point you to the Weekly Taxol thread here on BCO.  There are a lot of women doing Taxol over there sharing information and SE management support.

Helpful supplements with no problems:

Vitamin B-6  (100 mg at breakfast & dinner).  My naturopath recommended getting the P’5’ P formulation (also called coenzymated B-6).

Vitamin B-12 (1,000 mcg at breakfast & dinner) It was tricky to find a 1,000 mcg formulation but Jarrow makes one.

Magnesium (250 mg at dinner)

Tea Tree Oil painted on the cuticles of my toes and fingernails each night to try to prevent nail infection.

What I had trouble with

l-glutamine (10 mg, 3x/day).  Lots of women take this but when I took it, my ALT liver enzymes went through the roof.  I tried cutting back to 20 mg per day but they stayed unacceptably high.  So after Taxol #3 I stopped taking glutamine and my ALT levels were back in the normal range by my final treatment.  My naturopath said this is a rare reaction but it happened to me.

Since I couldn’t do the glutamine and since I did have some neuropathy symptoms, she added in Alpha Lipoic Acid (500mg at breakfast & dinner).  She cautioned that you CANNOT take Alpha Lipoic Acid within 48 h of chemo administration. It's a strong antioxidant, and will also really support the liver's health.  Since I was doing dose dense Taxol I took it on days 3-13 (avoiding 48 h before and after chemo administration). 

I also kept taking

Co-Q-10 and L-Carnitine and the Probiotic which I started taking during AC.  My naturopath recommended I keep taking the Co-Q-10 for several years to address any possible damage to my heart muscle from the AC.  The L-Carnitine helps with energy levels.

I wish you a much smoother journey on Taxol!!!  Please know that we care about you and are thrilled to hear from you when it feels like a good time to post.

Be well.

Thanks Nicole! You saved me the search! Why the magnesium?



Paula - no I haven't tried that. Is that prescription?

Smethot,Jubby......I'll be thinking of you as the first week of May comes!! Hopefully,I can dance around a May pole somewhere!! And I raise my glass ( of tea) to ALL OF YOU. And this is totally off the subject,but....someone mentioned being constipated? For me.......I put Chia seeds in my protein smoothie everyday,and that seems to help Mother Nature......I'm here in the woods in Oregon if anyone is coming my way! Take care...

Becki (cancernoway), hooray for no thrush and feeling better! Wow, you've been through the mill and then some, haven't you? I hope it's smooth sailing from now on.

ywheels, I know you're on the dose-dense Taxol and I'm on weekly, so I'm not sure if my SEs will give you any clue, but so far I've found that I'm really tired on day 3, and it might carry over to day 4 but to a lesser extent. Then it goes away. And it's never anything like the fatigue from AC. I hope yours works the same way.

Nicole, as always, what would we do without you?

My good news this week is that I didn't have to take the massive dose of dexa before my Taxol yesterday. Woohoo! I never did get the steroid high, even with 60 mg of dexa in the 12 hours before Taxol, and I figure if I'm not going to get clean closets out of the deal, I shouldn't have to take them.

Ciao, belle!

italflamingo, yes, like cancernoway (and you) I'm also on the TCH combination and I had a double mastectomy on November 7, 2012.  Chemotherapy started January 2, 2012 and I had a loading dose of Herceptin (alone) on December 12, 2012.  

It can be very overwhelming at times, both physically and mentally, because there are so many facets to treatment.  Wishing you strength and good days ahead! 

Thanks. I plan on demanding some change so I'll ask about the patch. I also left a message for the acupuncture guy. I'm not sure when you should go for best results.

Mandy, I've now had three acupuncture sessions and at the last one he asked if I had been having any nausea.  At that point in the cycle I was not and I can't really say that what I experience is true nausea but it's definitely an overall queasiness.  That said, acupuncture can apparently be effective for nausea or at least it's something the acupuncturist can try to address with different points.  On what I call my "dark days" I don't think I would feel like leaving the house to have acupuncture so there's kind of a Catch-22 in that I feel like sh*t and acupuncture might give some immediate relief but I don't want to journey out when I'm feeling like that.  Too bad he doesn't make house calls!  

The reason I'm going is to try to increase my white blood cell count and even hemoglobin count, if that's possible, and maintain my overall stamina through the end of chemotherapy and beyond.  I think it's helping.  I'm also considering a Reiki session at some point - not sure if I'll do it before or after the sixth treatment (which is the last one).  

We've had a few discussions about acupuncture and timing of sessions in the Facebook group.  It's private and pretty active.  If you're interested in joining us send a PM to Bryona or friend Debbie Inzana (I think that's the protocol - I'm not very Facebook savvy!). 

I hope you can get some relief from this - and soon!  

Also, have you tried Sea Bands(tm)? 

Skigirl - No hearing issues, but I've had sore teeth and trouble swallowing Day 2-3. 

Thats exactly whats going on Tinnitus. I'll see if I can find the thread. Wondering if there is anything I can do for it...?

I normally have some tinnitus (without chemotherapy) but it has become more noticeable/pronounced as the treatments have added up.  For me, it sounds like locusts in the distance (or distant machinery). 

No problem with my ears...yet, but my eyes are making me completely crazy!  All they do is water!  Trying to be faithful about getting drops in ALOT more frequently which seems to help.   Heading to the bar for #4 this week, then 2 more to go!  Hoping you all have a good week!

Sandra, I was pretty sure the techs told me that when I showered I should keep my back to the shower or they gave me some type of instruction regarding the tape.  I didn't really pay attention.  I don't know why.  I just didn't.  But I feel pretty sure that they said the tape should stay on for about a week or a week and a half.  And I looked at them like they were nuts and said, sort of like I was puzzled about what they said, "A week?"  They said yes.  I got the impression that they wanted the tape to stay on.  What I can't figure out about the tape and red marker is that they placed the tape directly over the tattoos they'd put on my skin that they use for lining up the radiation field.  Also, I am pretty sure I'm not going to be starting the radiation treatment until after the tape would have fallen off.  So, what's the big deal about the tape?  

I would call the RO Oliverhog. I have many tattoos and I only had them covered for about 2 hours after getting them. I would have never thought that you would need or you would want tape on a tattoo... is the tape over the tats? Now I'm confused.

Sandra60:  I've got spring cleaning fever too.  I bought a Shark steam mop tonight and will see if that's easier to do the floors.  It was $49 and for some reason I thought that was a good price, so I bought it.  LOL