Almost done with AC then going to Taxol

Hang in there, there is light at the end of the tunnel. I finished with 4 AC's and just had my first taxol. It was much easier then the AC. With the AC I had alot of nausea. My treatment was on Monday, by Tuesday I was quesy, took my phenegran (sp?) and this would knock me out until Thursday or Friday and somewhere in between I would wake up and get sick. For these 2-3 days I wouldn't eat or drink anything. Now with Taxol, I had no nausea, have been awake much more and have been eating like a horse, which is good because I lost 6 pouds since the start of chemo. I have a bit of muscle pain but the advil seems to help. Taxol for me is much better then the AC.

Hang in there, your almost to the halfway point...you can do it.

Ginger

I also just started Taxol last week. I had an easy time with AC - I had throat sores and constipation/hemorroids, but no nausea. I feel like Taxol is worse for me. No nausea, but I had extreme bone/joint pain for 2 full days and mild pain for 2 more days. Tylenol/Advil didn't help. Doc gave me Vicodin which helped but I don't want to take it during the day when I need to function. Not the end of the world, but a few very painful days. Good luck!

Trish -- You sound like a lot of us on the March thread did at this point in the AC/T treatments. Those middle weeks are hard mentally as well as physically.

I personally didn't have a hard time with Taxol -- I felt much better than I did during AC. Some people do have a hard time with bone pain, but for most of us it seemed to be pretty tolerable.

I finished chemo June 14 and rads yesterday, and I thought I'd never get here. Keep putting one foot in front of the other, and you'll get here too.

hi,1 more taxol/herceptin for me and then just herceptin for a year. this past week i am wiped out,so tired i am in bed by 730. my nails are brown and fingers and toes are a strange combo of numbness and pain, i am getting pretty good at hiding my sneakers behind my desk,cannot tolerate hard shoes.

but altogether it was better than the a/c.

no groth back on my hair yet,but thats ok!nancy

I've just finished 4 sessions of taxol, bi-weekly. My first session was quite painful. Was in bed for 5 days. Ended up having to get morphine for pain. Second and third not too bad, but fourth again was in bed, just took tylenol #1. I'm having severe pain to feet-difficulty walking, also pain to finger tips. Not sure how long this will last. Unable to get straight answer from dr. He just said that he only had one other patient with such pain. Hope your luckier than I. If anyone has any more info would appreciate it.

Hi Kim:  Finished with Taxol on Thursday and took my first hydrocodone a few minutes ago.  Guess the effects are cumulative because before this the pain was manageable with Advil, but not tonight.  My lashes have returned but on one eye and there is no sign of brows returning.  Glad we're done with chemo.

Prayers to everyone.

I found I had trouble sleeping with the hydro - everyone said it would knock me out.

Congratulations on being done!! Doesn't it feel good? Are you doing radiation?

The taxol can cause neuropathy in our extremities. It scares me. It isn't always reversible. The bone pain scares me too. I have osteoporosis. Hoping I don't get either. But the idea that the nausea may not occur is comforting. 

If you're having pain in your hands and feet, that's probably neuropathy, which pain killers really don't help with that much.  I'm taking Neurontin, and I haven't had any pain or tingling in my hands/feet, and it did seem to get rid of the muscle pain as well.  I do have numbness in my fingers, and a little in my toes.  You might want to talk to your doctor about trying something like Neurontin or Lyrica for the nerve pain.

Trish,

I started with the rash on my arms, legs, boobs and buttocks.  It is a reaction from the chemo.  I am using hydrocortisone cream as well as Eucerin cream.  Seems like now that I am on the Taxol it is not as bad. 

I took 4 doses of taxol along with herceptin before I had my mastectomy. I experienced numbing & tingling in my hands and feet. My feet were worse than my hands, to the point where I didn't want to wear shoes some days! Finally bought a pair of crocs - I caved! They are so comfortable but so ugly! I took L-glutamine (for neuropathy) tablets and glucosamine (for joint pain) daily and found much relief! I managed to take an over the counter pain reliever along with these two OTC's meds to get me through the rough spots. I got the l-glutamine at a nutritional store but I saw some at Wal-mart too. I don't know much about glutamine to guide you on which one to get. I talked with someone at the nutritional store to make my decision. I hope that this helps you!

Hi! Sorry to hear that you have "it" too. We need to find a good name for "it"! When it got so bad that I had to soak in AVEENO 2-3 times per day, I would say, "AVEENO TAKE ME AWAY!" Remember the commerical, "Calgon, take me away?" New day & age! Hope you can find a little humor in that! I know your frustration as I was there myself so I empathize with you dearly! Try Aveeno baths for comfort. You can find it at drug stores or Wal-mart and there is a generic too. Either worked for me to provide some temporary relief. I would take 30 min. to 1 hr. baths & fall asleep with a sense of relief! Good Luck. Who knows - maybe it will get better for you too! You could ask your oncologist about taking a steroid medicine. I took prednisone 2-3 times per week just to "cope" with the more severe itching days (day of treatment & couple days after) but my Dr. didn't want me taking prednisone daily due to it's harsh effects. Many thoughts & prayers coming your way!  

Are you taking herceptin w/taxol or just taxol?  

I am a triple negative so no Herceptin for me.

Hi. My name is Shelly and I am new here. I just finished all of my treatment for Breast Cancer and went on line to see if anyone else has had as much trouble with itching from Taxol as I have. My last chemo was 3 weeks ago and I am still experiencing periodic bouts of intense itching. It is awful! I cannot seem to get relief. My oxycodeine help during treatment but can't be on that forever. Help!