TCHP chemo

Hi there neeli,

Welcome to the community forums, we do hope that you will find them helpful.

Hopefully members will along soon to offer their experiences regarding TCHP. In the meantime, you can check out the thread in the link below where lots of members have been discussing this regime:

(THCP Chemo Side Effect time line) https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/69/topics...

The Moderators.

I was told by MO to take a daily claritin beginning 2 days before chemo day, and continuing for 7 total days. Never had any Neulasta pain.

I did TC not HP. My experience mirrors Special K's. The only cumulative SE for me was fatigue (anemia) and that hit hard on my last two chemos. I fasted and that took care of constipation. My SEs were fatigue, food aversion, and mental exhaustion. No vomiting or diarrhea.

The Claritin helped me too. Special K, can you please tell her the medicines you took for neuropathy, I would recommend taking the vitamins to fend this off. I take vitamin B complex, magnesium and L-glutamine, but I saw a post from Special K not long ago that mentioned something else. My MO recommended tea tree oil on your nails, which I did not use every day, and two of mine suffered lifting from the nail bed just slightly, so you might try that on a more regular basis, toenails too (I have one that is giving me problems). Everyone is different. Best wishes Neeli. It may not be important to you, but I have since learned that we need to limit alcohol consumption in the future, just fyi. I was a sit on the patio with a cold drink girl, and I'm learning to enjoy iced tea now, well, trying. And, if you lose your appetite, toast is a good option. Hugs, Lisa

Omg I started Monday. I'm a hot mess roid raging crying bitch.

Neeli, I am very sorry you find yourself here, especially at your age--with the age of your children. You have had a lot of bad news lately, but the good news is that Grade 3 cancers generally respond very well to chemo. I took TCHP. Like SpecialK, I was given a loading dose the first time (but did not know it at the time) and the medical staff had warned me the effects would be cumulative. The first dose knocked me down--and good. I couldn't imagine it getting worse. But my side effects were not cumulative--in fact I would describe it as my body got used to being poisoned. I did take the supplements to help prevent neuropathy and I did ice my hands and feet. If you search "icing" on this site, you will find some recent threads that discuss it. I used Cryomax cold packs I bought on Amazon--they stay cold over eight hours. If you don't have time or money for that, ice in a ziploc will do. I had a friend 25 years ago (your age then) who had Inflammatory Breast Cancer. She wanted to quit Taxol after two infusions because of painful neuropathy and her life was on the line (fortunately her MO would not allow it!). She is very much alive this day, but I had that memory going into chemo that if there were something I could do to prevent neuropathy, I would try.

Is your breast tissue dense? That may be a factor to consider when deciding between MX and BMX. Dense breast tissue hides cancer but it also increases your risk of developing cancer by four to five times. I did not learn that horrifying statistic until the radiologist who did my biopsy mentioned it. Wish I'd known that before that day!

There is an interesting thread you might have missed discussing how to choose the right surgery for you and I'll link it below. The whole thread may be of interest to you because your age is another important factor in your decision.

We're all rooting for you to see your great-grandchildren one day!

https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/5/topics/872131?page=1#post_5416584

neeli - as missouricatlady has requested, this is my anti-neuropathy cocktail and also nail care regimen. Please be sure to check with your oncologist before adding any supplements. I took 30g of powdered L-Glutamine, in three 10g doses dissolved in a cold non-acidic drink. Don't mix it with food - trust me on this, lol! I also took a 100mg B6 capsule, and 1500mg of acetyl l-carnitine. Some oncologists don't favor the acetyl l-carnitine because there was a study done that showed it worsened neuropathy (which is caused by taxane chemo agents, usually it is worse with Taxol than Taxotere for some unknown reason) but they used mega doses. I have heard that the body can't really process more than 500mg, and that is actually the dosage it usually comes in. For nails, less so with Taxol, more so with Taxotere - lifting and loss can occur, but does not happen with everyone. I iced with frozen peas, starting 10 minutes prior to the Taxotere infusion, and for 10 minutes after. I laid a bag of peas on top of each foot, and held two bags in my lap on a beach towel and dug my nails in. I also held ice chips in my mouth to prevent mouth sores (brought ice chips in a Tervis tumbler), I had a lot after the first infusion and didn't want to repeat that experience. I painted my short nails with a dark opaque color polish the day of chemo, as light is thought to penetrate the nail bed and exacerbate the lifting issue. I usually used dark grey or navy, same with toenails. The day after chemo I removed the dark polish and painted on clear nail hardener (OPI and Sally Hansen make them) and painted a coat a day for seven days. On the eighth day I removed it all and started over with that process until the day of the next infusion. My nails looked good - no ridges, lines, cracking, or darkening. I had read about tea tree oil, it is a natural anti-bacterial and anti-fungal agent, but it is estrogenic and so I didn't use it, but I know others have with good success. As far as MX or BMX - I had breast issues for the preceding 20 years and at various points had a mammo every 6 months, usually followed by a US. I had aspirations and biopsies previously, and they were actually watching the other breast at the time of my diagnosis. Imaging failed me, so I did not trust it going forward, and even at 54 and surgically postmenopausal I had extremely dense breast tissue. I didn't feel that I could be monitored closely enough to find something early enough to provide me comfort, and I also felt that if my body was capable of producing cancer in one breast, it could do it in the other, and I tend to fall on the wrong side of the stats. Post-surgical pathology revealed extensive ADH and ALH in the "prophy" breast, so I regard it as having been a ticking time bomb and I don't regret the BMX even though I did have reconstruction issues - I would make the same choice again in a heartbeat. I am so sorry you are dealing with this at such a young age, and I totally get your worry. The good news is that targeted therapy has made a huge difference in the survivability of this type of breast cancer and there is every likelihood you will see your grandchildren at 6 and 4 - hang in there!

hi Neeli: saw this thread and just wanted to say hi! We sound very similar - you were diagnosed one week before me, and I also have little kids (7,4,1). 32 yo. I’m on second round of TCHP. I think I may have started just a week before you. Anywho- if it’s comforting, my second round has been better than my first! I made lots of adjustments to SE meds, but I prefer to take almost nothing. I’m fasting, too.

If you want to compare notes since we are on very similar paths, let me know!!

Hey neeli, we are on the exact same schedule!! I am also starting my cycle 2 this Wednesday!! Anybody want to talk to me? You guys can message me, or talk to me wherever.

You can do a 3 day water-only fast or you can do a 5-day 800 calorie-per-day "fasting mimicking" diet. Chemo day is in the middle of the time span. It's a bit hard the first day and it gets easier. The 800 calorie days I would think of 3 250-300 calorie meals... Like one egg, 1/2 avocado and salsa is about 300 cal. Or handful of almonds and a green salad. Or cooked vegetables and a very small piece of fish. You want to keep it low protein (100 cal/day) with the rest about 1/2 and 1/2 veggies and fats (nuts, avocado, etc healthy fats). No sugar or junk.

When you break the fast, eat nutrient-dense foods like legumes, protein, vegetables, berries... The post-fast "rebuild" is important to the immune system getting stronger after the fast.

Magnesium Citrate x 2-4 capsules at night also helps with constipation.... but the fasting made it so that when my digestive tract shut down from the chemo, there just wasn't much food in there.

In mice the fast actually protects healthy cells and weakens cancer cells so it makes the efficacy of the chemo better... Studies on people are happening now.

To read more about it, google Dr Valter Longo, USC. For me it made a giant difference.

Regarding pre-meds, I take Aprepitant, dexamethasone with pepcid, a benadryl, and some zofran. Those are the prescribed ones. 

lorazepam is just for anxiety - I never took mine since I didn't have excessive anxiety