Is Taxol worse the Adriamycin?

Hi all,

I had four treatments of Taxotere, and have now received one infusion of AC with the next scheduled for this coming Tuesday.

One thing I learned from the Taxotere with Avastin is that the effects are cumulative -- it gets worse from treatment to treatment.

However, so far the AC has been less horrendous than the Taxotere. With Taxotere I was wired constantly, never slept, felt irritable and nervous, was more or less out of it constantly, and had severe vision problems including dry eyes and blurred vision. Even though I avoided some of the worse SEs such as neuropathy or hand and foot syndrome, I still hated it. It was awful.

Until now, the AC has just made me very, very sleepy. It's as though I'm catching up on all the sleep I missed out on with the Taxotere. A bit of nausea, controlled with Emend, taken as prescribed. Mouth sores, yes, but not as severe or painful as with Taxotere.

These will probably end up being my Famous Last Words, hah!

Hugs to all,

Annie

Hello, May I ask how old are you? I am 42 and trying to decide on chemo, or not, I had stage IIA grade 3 HR pos. I am unsure because I am already anemic, and have slepp apnea.

sem i just finished with raxol every week and i didnt have any bad sideeffects thats why they do it weekly so the sideeffects wont be hard it took my hair 2 months to come out and then all didnt come out the main sideeffets i had was bloating and neropathy in my feet thats why she is chaning me because of my feet god bless deb from ky

I didn't tolerate the Taxol well at all.  I had the bone pain that lasted for a few days but did gradually get better.  I would get my infusion on Wedneday and the pain would start Friday into Saturday and Sunday, by Monday it started to improve but I had neuropathy in my feet for a long time.

Some women have no problems with Taxol, it all depends.

I did the a/c every 2 weeks x4 and then the taxotere every 3 weeks, and I have to agree with Dorothy. I had mouth sores, constipation, and everything tasted "yucky" during the a/c, but taxotere was far worse. I had shortness of breath, horrible leg pain, fluid retention, and my nail beds looked disgusting. I'm 13 months out of chemo, and feel 100% better, but still have neuropathy in my hands and feet, and still some fluid retention. Good Luck!

Hi all,

I've now had four Taxotere treatments and two out of four AC infusions. I must say once again that the Taxotere was FAR worse for me than the AC has been until now. I had so many horrible Ses on Taxotere (even though, as I said earlier, I was spared the worst such as neuropathy and foot and hand syndrome), that I wondered if I could stand it.

I was wired constantly and never slept, had veritable ulcers in my mouth and throat, binding constipation, and skin so dry I could have been in training to become a lizard. Many other symptoms as well, but those are the ones I remember the most vividly.

With AC I am mainly tired. I sleep and sleep and sleep. Other than that, nothing much to write home about.

Annie

Hello All,

Now my reaction was not normal at all.  My first treatment was TC I almost right away started with an itchy scalp then my face and ears went read. They stopped the TC and gave me more steroids and Benadryl. After that they were able to give me the first Round of TC.

I was fine for 3 days after that really almost no stomach upset. After the 4th day I was just exhausted and deep sadness lack of desire to do anything but nap.

Tuesday the 24th they started to give my my 2nd treatment of TC. I only had about a teaspoon in me and I went into anaphylactic shock, my my chest and  lungs constricted I could not breath or speak. The doctors rushed in stopped my treatment check my lungs and gave me oxygen. I was fine an hour later just scared out of my mind.

Saw my Doctor Friday and they started me on AC. This being said my Doctor said this only happened 1 other time in 12 yrs that he has seen this kind of reaction the 2nd treatment of TC. They did prep me with Benadryl and steroids.

As far as the AC I am not feeling as well the day after as I did with TC  I do feel nausea even though I have taken my Emend. Any advise on what to eat to feel less nausea? 

Hi, fellow TC warriors! 

Your oncos should be giving you something for "breakthrough nausea" in case the Emend (or Kytril, or Zofran) doesn't keep you completely free of nausea from the AC.  A less-powerful drug like Compazine or Phenergan can be taken along with the stronger anti-nausea drugs.  Some oncos prescribe those "older" drugs for you to take when the newer, more powerful drugs aren't quite enough.

Call your onco if you are still nauseous.  That's one advantage of AC, from what I've read (I haven't had it)--your onco should be able to control the nausea for you.

otter 

Hi everyone,

    Well eight days after taxotere I ended up in hosp for four days.I had real low white and red blood counts.They kept me on iv antibotics for the four days and then sent me home with more.I have to have one more chemo and am scared to death. I was so sick.Well enough of the complainning  I dont really have a choice.Good luck to all and GOD BLESS.

                                                                                 Dorothy

thank you LIZ I will ask my doc .

                            Dorothy

I just finished Taxol July 2 08. I don't think it was worst than Adriamycin.With Adriamycin i had nausea and votiming 2days after chemo that was terrible. With Taxol i have bad leg pain usually go a way  about the 3 day after chemo but i was taking it every week so about time it went away it was time to go back i complete my 12 weeks thank GOD  it's over. I start radiation in 2 weeks. and in 2 weeks they is going to remove my port because i bllod clots in arm the port is in.

I felt flu ish as well while on Adriamycin and just not energy.  When it was time to do the Taxol I had pains in my legs for 2 days and then felt fine.  One thing you should think of getting is Biotin someone recommended it to me on this site and I felt it really helped with my nails.  I did not lose any of them because I believe I started the Biotin in time to help.  Good luck to you neither one of the drugs are without side effects.

June

Hi everyone, I finished my Abraxane this past Thrus! My last chemo! Yippee! I just had my mri this morning and will find out on Tues. if everything is GONE. I pray it is. This will decide me having my breast off so this is a big one.  I will meet my radiologist on Tues to also see when I start radiation. Pat, how are you doing? I had stiffness but really nothing else. What a godsend this Abraxane was! and now over - really can't believe it. I know you are right behind me. I hope you are doing as good. Keep me posted ok!!

Heidi

I finished 10 rounds of 12 scheduled tx of Taxol.  The 1st tx they kept me all day to watch for an allergic reaction....which did not happen.  Since I dont do anything like anyone else....my reaction waited until the end of my tx.....got a nasty rash on my legs and arms...but no itching.  Itching waited until the rash went away...go figure.  After reading all of the posts, I guess I am lucky....I had no isses with nails.....except afterwards I noticed that my toe nails on my big toes looked funny, guess that they must have started to separate ....but my last tx of Taxol was in Feb and they have grown out and look normal. Doctors never warned me that nails could be an issue and only asked about tingling and numbness in my fingers and toes. I did have some numbness in my fingers but they are fine now. Taxol did throw me into arthritis in  my hips, knees and ankles....the doctors wont admit that the chemo did this but after reading the posts here I see that others have had the same experience.  I have found that these sites give me lots more info than any of my doctors or nurses give me!  I am now 1/2 way through 33 radiation tx.  Has bilateral mast May 22.

Thanks to all of you for the info, tips and sharing your experiences!

Jacki in Ohio

Is your cancer a re-occurance?  How did you get your docter to approve Abraxane and have your insurance company pay for it.  I heard it could only be used for advanced cancer.