TCH chemo treatments

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Mstemen
Mstemen Member Posts: 3
edited September 2017 in Chemotherapy - Before, During, and After

Hi everyone!

I'm relatively new to this whole cancer thing. I'm 29 years old and was diagnosed with stage 2 invasive ductal carcinoma in July. I've already had a partial mastectomy and just started my first of 6 rounds of TCH two days ago. So far I've had zero side effects, besides some slight tiredness. I've prepared for the worst and am hoping for the best but wanted to hear from those of you who have gone through TCH and what your experience has been like. Should I expect nausea and vomiting to come on in the later days? I'm not working now but plan to go back before my 3rd round as I want to keep my life as normal as possible. Also when did you start losing hair? I've heard usually by the 2nd treatment it's pretty much gone. Thanks in advance!

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  • SpecialK
    SpecialK Member Posts: 16,486
    edited September 2017

    Here is a link to the existing TCH thread, I did this regimen in 2011. My hair did hang on until day 24 (second round) but that is unusual, usually it starts to go by about the second week. I did not have much nausea and vomiting does happen with TCH, but is not as common with other regimens. If you haven't experienced it yet, I think you are unlikely to, so yay! I am so sorry you are having to face this at such a young age, not fair! Are you ER+ and PR+, or are your hormonal receptors negative? If, by chance you are a triple positive, here is a link to the Triple Positive thread also, somewhat more active although the TCH thread contains a lot of wisdom. IF you are ER/PR-, Her2+ here is a thread with those folks. If you have any questions I can answer please do not hesitate to ask, here or by PM.

    https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/69/topics/578284?page=627#post_5010922

    https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/80/topics/764183?page=1091#idx_32702

    https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/80/topics/767013?page=51#post_5039034

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  • Leatherette
    Leatherette Member Posts: 448
    edited September 2017

    Hi, I am on day 9 of round three of TCH.

    My first round, I felt great on days 1 and 2, day 3 I was nauseous but fine otherwise. I did not take my antinausea meds that night because i was "doing so well" and that was the only time I have thrown up (once). Keep taking your antinausea meds! I got bad acne on day 5 of the first round,but that has not happened again. After day 11 of round one, I had no nausea, and felt fine except for very painful mouth sores (worst side effect IMO), which I had on both rounds one and two.

    In general, some stomach upset the first few days/loose stools, then trying to ward off constipation the rest of the round, fatigue between days 3 and 12, no sense of taste most of that time, either. I started to lose my hair on day 16 of the first round. The most surprising side effect for me has been eyes that tear constantly, causing dried up tear crust on my face and eyes almost glued shut in the morning. I get a lot of cold waves running through my body, and my hands and feet are often cold, and many days, there is an "otherworldly " feeling that isn't quite nausea or dizzyness, but isn't normal, either. I was definitely weaker by the second round.

    This round, the sense of taste seems to be hanging on more, so I am eating more than I did the first two rounds. I lost about 15 pounds. Starting 8/29, I have been back to work 2days/16 hrs a week. I have been working about 1/3 of the time at home.

    Alright, enough for now. I hope this helps, but everyone's side effects are different. I feel that I have been doing pretty well compared to what I was expecting. It still sucks, but everything's relative!



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  • Mstemen
    Mstemen Member Posts: 3
    edited September 2017

    Thank you both for your feedback! SpecialK I am triple positive so thank you for the links, I will definitely check them out. :)

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  • NotVeryBrave
    NotVeryBrave Member Posts: 1,287
    edited September 2017

    Ah - everyone is so different. I felt fine for the first couple of days and then much worse for days 3-5. I had constipation for the first few days (perhaps from Compazine) and then diarrhea forever (probably the Perjeta). Nausea was not much of a problem, but I took the Compazine for several days each round, just in case. The worst stomach problem was gastritis which ended me up on Prilosec. The hair (80%) left around day 18-20.

    Keeping track of my SE's in a journal was helpful - I could prepare for the next time and look forward to when things got better. I also referred to it during my MO appt's.

    So sorry you're in this boat. Good luck.


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  • SpecialK
    SpecialK Member Posts: 16,486
    edited September 2017

    Per the post above, I found these side effect sheets to be very helpful. They are from the American Cancer Society and I printed out a set of them for each round of chemo.

    https://www.cancer.org/content/dam/cancer-org/cancer-control/en/worksheets/chemotherapy-side-effects-worksheet.pdf

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  • Mstemen
    Mstemen Member Posts: 3
    edited September 2017

    I'm on day 6 now of my first treatment and I'm starting to finally feel better. Days 4 and 5 I was completely bed bound with what felt like the worst flu ever. I had no appetite and my sore throat and mouth sores made it impossible to eat anything. I was so exhausted but couldn't sleep for the life of me and had an aweful thick film all over my tongue. I'm still battling a subtle headache but overall I'm feeling much better. Nausea hasn't been much of an issue but the heartburn is terrible. I also broke out in acne all over my back and face. I have herceptin infusions the next 2 weeks before I go back for my second chemo on Oct 4th but I figure if I have to suffer through 2 or 3 miserable days every 3 weeks I can handle that.

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  • Leatherette
    Leatherette Member Posts: 448
    edited September 2017

    mstemen,

    The first infusion hit me the most acutely, but I felt crappy for longer the second round, third has been better than both of the first two. I got acne the first round, but it didn't come back in subsequent rounds. Sorry to hear you already have mouth sores! They showed up further past infusion for me.

    Hopefully the rest of this round is all uphill for you.



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