Can Taxol alone cause chemo brain?

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GinaDexter1982
GinaDexter1982 Member Posts: 29
edited June 2017 in Chemotherapy - Before, During, and After

Hello all,

This afternoon my mom and I were bickering over something and she had a short memory lapse over what bottle of shampoo to use for her hair. She's had five taxol treatments over the last seven weeks and so far has been handling everything incredibly well and the cold caps are working like a charm for her hair. She has not had any Adriamyacin treatments, she decided to say no to that when the doctors offered that to her. So, even before the chemo started, she had memory lapses all the time and so do I. We never sleep, insomnia kicks our butts. But she had that memory lapse and got freaked out. So I was wondering, can Taxol alone cause symptoms of chemo brain? From what I understand, chemo brain usually results from vigorous chemotherapy but she has not had that. She's even had to delay two treatments due to hematomas on her feet so even more time has passed without treatment.

Any thoughts? Should we be concerned or not worry about it?

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  • MinusTwo
    MinusTwo Member Posts: 16,634
    edited June 2017

    Gina: YOu need to go to My Profile and post your Mom's dignosis & treatment to date. It's hard to answer when we don't know the facts.

    But yes, of course Taxol can cause "chemo brain". It usually resolves after treatment but sometimes takes a number of months.

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  • HelenFaith
    HelenFaith Member Posts: 53
    edited June 2017

    Hello Gina,

    Yes, it can. I am currently on Taxol and get so frustrated with chemo brain, especially when it happens at work. I am a Social Worker and interact with a lot of people. What is your moms treatment plan? Do you know what dose and how often she is getting Taxol? Also, I know my doc was really pushing the Xanax on me, which I took it the first 3 days after I was diagnosed and quit taking it just because I didn't like how I felt and I figured I have to live with cancer, so I better learn how to using other ways to cope.

    Your mom is under a lot of stress and may feel as though she has no control of her own life, so bickering over shampoo may have triggered that lack of control and her brains response was to shut off to protect (our brains are amazing when it comes to protecting). How old is your mom?

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