Paclitaxel

Hi Melissa, 

We will be thinking of you tomorrow. There are many, many members here who have had Taxol. Perhaps taking a look at these articles could also be useful: 

http://www.breastcancer.org/treatment/druglist/taxol

Best of luck, and let us know how you are doing throughout!
Warmly, 

Melissa and the Mods

Melissa, I completed 12 weekly taxol (paclitaxel) treatments on December 7. It was surprisingly uneventful for me. I had no nausea whatsoever. I did not lose taste sensation or have an icky or metallic taste in my mouth which is common for some chemos. I was able to continue working throughout treatment, except on treatment days. I used cold caps to save my hair, so I can't tell you anything about hair loss. I did have some side effects:



1. Neuropathy is a concern with taxol. I believe it's usually less problematic with the weekly dose. I was able to control (eliminate) my neuropathy symptoms by taking 100mg of vitamin B6 every day, and 30 grams (yes, grams) of L-glutamine powder, divided into two "servings", mixed with a liquid of your choice, on the day of chemo and the subsequent 3 days. I didn't start this regimen until I actually started feeling the tingling of neuropathy, which was about week 3. Talk to your doctor, or better yet the chemo nurses, about this.



2. I became a bit anemic immediately and remained so throughout and for some time after completing treatment. My hemoglobin never got below the "red line" of 8.0 so I never had to have a transfusion, but I did have a definite lack of energy and going up stairs caused me to be really out of breath. Walking was not a problem, and I actually walked for 30 minutes or more at least 4 times a week.



3. Constipation and diarrhea - I had both at various times, but mostly constipation. There are a lot of over the counter meds for these issues and they do work.



4. Generally you get a steroid in your premeds. No one warned me about the face flush the day after treatment! I thought sure I had a fever (the docs will want to know if you do get a fever) but eventually learned that it was caused by the steroid. I just looked really healthy the day after treatment! also, the steroid causes difficulty sleeping. After my second treatment the doc agreed to cut my steroid dose in half which helped with the sleep issues.



5. some people have problems with nails - dark areas and/or lifting of the nails. I never had those problems, but now at 5 months post-chemo my nails are very thin and brittle. I think that is caused by the anemia. Some people ice their fingernails and toenails during taxol infusion - with frozen bags of peas or ice chips - but I didn't do that. also I've read on this site about using a very dark nail polish on the day of treatment.



That's all I can think of at the moment. There is a weekly taxol board on this site - look under the chemotherapy section. Lots of those folks had AC before taxol, which makes the taxol harder on the system due to cumulative effects (my observation, not a scientific fact!) Good luck to you, and think positive!