Serious Acne On Head and Face

I'm on weekly taxol and get terrible acne on my face and neck.  They gave me a topical acne medicine (benzo something) and it helps alot.  Never get it on my bald head though.  The nurse even said there's a saying (she doesn't know if its fact) but the worse the acne, the better results of the chemo.  I hang on to that saying!

Hugs.

Laurie

Just saw my oncologist yesterday and complained of the same thing.

I already had rosacea but had now really had any bad break outs since 2003.  The bumps on my head were taken care of with an antibiotic my secondary oncologist had given me.

My oncologist at MDA said that Taxol does cause acne as does the steroid.  She is recommending that we lower the dose of steroid or even stop it all together as I have not had any reaction so far to the taxol.  She also prescribed Clindamycin Phosphate Lotion (1%) and Finacea which I have used in the past to treat rosacea.  I just started using it last night so I will let you know how it works.  My face was BAD!!  Acne, red, rash-like, dry, and painful.  I told her I can handle being bald but this acne SUCKS!!!!!  She also recommended a gentle face lotion such as Aveeno or Neutrogena.  But to use one specifically for the face, not body lotion.  Like I said, I will let you know soon how it is working. 

I hope you find relief soon!!

 Linda

I am on Tykerb and it causes acne on the face and scalp for me at times.  I use Clindamycin antibiotic gel on the face and helps keep it under control.  My oncologist told me to buy some Head and Shoulders shampoo but not the regular kind.  It is the kind in the blue bottle and has as an ingredient, selenium sulfide.  It really helped me.  It cleared up the acne on the scalp and helped greatly with the itching.  Maybe an option for you to try.  Good luck.

I got this after my first tx of TCH.  It was awful.  I also was recommended to use Cetaphil and it REALLY helped a lot. I had been scrubbing so hard,  i think it made things worse. The Cetaphil is very gentle and I patted my skin dry and it seemed to heal pretty quickly.
I did call the onc and insist on an RX (that I had read about on here), but by the time I got it, the problem was starting to recede.

On subsequent tx, I had just a few minor spots and then eventually none at all.

I never figured out if it was the T, the H or the steroids. Doc seemed totally unconcerned. (Why am I not surprised?)

Good luck - I hope it clears quickly.

Faith316 wrote: "I am on Tykerb and it causes acne on the face and scalp for me at times"

I am on Tykerb, too, and have been having nasty pimples myself on my face and sculp that I did not have since I was a teenager. I stopped using all commercial products with chemicals with it. I found a baby product that contains no harsh chemicals and use it to wash my body and my hair (whatever I have left during chemo) and so far no irritation on the skin. It is called Eco Store Baby Wash and the moisturizer is great too. Here is the link http://www.ecostoreusa.com/babybodywash.aspx

Also, my doctor thinks that although they look like pimples, they are not, but it is a rash and she decided to treat it as such with hydrocortisone 1% cream that also did the magic so far.

It happened to me, but only after the first infusion of TCH, and I am now ten days out from my third. My onc did not change my steroids or anything.

Hope yours gets better. It's no fun!