Abraxane- has anyone taken this?

karensa75 - Thank you for your input, every little bit helps when you know absolutely nothing about it other than what you read from the drug company, so I do appreciate you telling me the side effects you had.

WinningSoFar - Thank you also for your remarks.  I like to find out everything I possibly can about the drug I am going to take. I always figure every little bit helps.  If I have something that is bothering me I can look and see that it is a side effect and it helps to relieve my mind.  I will start next Thursday, hopefully it will be fairly easy to tolerate.  The onco nurse said most people tolerate it fairly well compared to some of the others.  I hope I tolerate it well, I have become accustomed to the fatigue, nausea, no appetite and one chemo caused diarrhea and the other caused me constipation so will just wait to see what this one does to me.

How often did you get the treatment and how many did you do?  I think it is every 3 weeks but do not know for sure.  Did you get low white counts and need a Neulasta shot?  I did get my hair back while taking Doxil but never did go without my wig as it was still pretty thin and very curly and fuzzy so was waiting for it to get a little longer before I took the wig off.  I called my friend who use to do my hair and scheduled to have it shaved off after my treatment on Thursday.  I just wondered if anyone that took this kept their hair, not that it matters to me one way or the other, just curious I guess.  Thanks again for you input.

kerensa75 - Have you had many side effects or is this chemo tolerable.  I was on Doxil and tolerated it fairly well and was hoping this was about the same.  I know I will lose my hair, I was told that and read it also, I am sure fatigue is always there but was wondering about some other side effects to be on the look out for.  I read somewhere about the heart beating fast and possible fever, I have always run a low grade temp on the chemos I have taken except for Xeloda, so I will be on the look out for that, diarrhea, constipation, etc.  Any help is appreciated.  Thanks for the answers about white counts, I am glad to hear that and will find out tomorrow if I go weekly or once very 3 weeks.  I wonder what the difference is if you go weekly or once very 3 weeks, will ask tomorrow I guess.

I took Abraxane once a week for 3 weeks, then a week off, 5 times.  My counts were always normal and I never had Neulasta. 

Dear Jeanie,

I did take stool softeners when I had constipation, but that was fairly uncommon. More than C, I had the big D and took a fair amount of Imodium.

The onc nurse told me I was getting a small amount of steroid in the premeds (or maybe even in the Abraxane itself, I'm not sure). Initially, I had decadron, but by the second time on Abraxane I guess they felt it wasn't necessary. Honestly, I couldn't tell any difference anyway.

Regarding antinausea drugs, if I got Emend as a premed, I had no nausea at all. If not, well, then I did get nauseated. I used the Sancuso patch once when I was taken off Emend, and it worked well too. My appetite never left me, darn it all. The first time I was on Abraxane, I lost my taste for certain things, but the second time, that didn't even happen.

I haven't been on another chemo to compare, but I would say other than for fatigue and snotty nose (and streaming eyes), Abraxane was doable.

WinningSoFar and kerensa75 - Thank you so much for your input on this chemo.  I do get emend so I am sure that makes a difference.  I am glad to hear you are not nauseated, I was having such a hard time eating before I started this chemo so maybe I can get my appetite back, so far so good, although I do not want to gain back the 40 pounds I lost since starting chemo, I needed to lose it so will just have to be careful what I eat and eat only the good things for you, like cookies, chocolate, cake , I know, I know, it should be fruits and vegetables and protein, so will just have to be careful.  So far I have not noticed really bad fatigue.  I do get out of energy fairly quickly but not terrible.  Have had constipation but took the Miralax, normally I get diarrhea so was surprised to be constipated.  It is so nice to hear from others on this chemo.  I did not know where to go find anything out, besides, reading about it and hearing from someone actually taking it are so different.  I hope you guys are doing well with this and it keeps us stable for a long time or you can reach NED.