Taxotere, Carboplatin and Herceptin
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Jinkala, I had a hard time with the tap water. I could taste the chemicals. I switched to filtered water and when that became unpallatable I turned to the bottled water. Diluted power drinks also helped. I had emend and aloxi both premeds for nausea. Didnt have a problem with that combo. I had mouth sores the first tx but after I started to use the Biotene toothpaste and rinse never had another problem. Hang in there....
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I chewed on ice all through the treatments on Friday like I did the first time. Maybe because they did the infusions faster this time, I didn't get as much ice time as before. I've been drinking bottled water and while it doesn't taste 'bad', it just doesn't taste that good either. I don't have anything to add to it though and I'm not going out to buy anything while I feel this bleh. I do use the Biotene rinse though which does seem to help.
I did find that I can handle the Atkins chocolate meal shakes (low carb yay) so I will need to stock up more on those for next time. I also find that Altoids breath mints are not as overpowering as they usually are for me so they help make my mouth feel a bit more normal too.
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Jink, Lago is right, a bit of citrus helps in the water. As for eating, I felt the white stuff,mashed potatoes, plain noodles, toast, bananas, was sometimes the only thing that I could get down. And that didn't add to my diarrhea. Please be careful not to get dehydrated.
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Me too with the white stuff. Not stuff I usually eat normally. But I remember DH boiling some cut up white potates, smashing them with a fork, and a little butter, S&P, and that was dinner. Or plain buttered noodles. Seems so alien to me now. But at the time, you have to do whatever works.
You WILL come through to the other side of this.
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I had my 2nd Treatment today. Because of the stomach cramping I had with the first round, my onc took me off the oral steroids for this round (still get the IV steroid). We also doubled some meds (Nexium, Zantac and Sucralfate). I am finding only slight taste changes so far. When does that normally set in?
Has anyone else gone with out the steroids days 2 - 4?
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lori - not everyone experiences every side effect, so you may not have as much problem with taste changes. I only had steroids on the day of chemo in the pre-meds for the first three tx. I took an antibiotic after #3 for a UTI and developed a rash (I am allergic to many antibiotics!) but because they could not definitely attribute the rash they started the before, during and after dosing with Decadron for the remaining tx.
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My taste changes were very minor and really didn't notice them till after a few tx and only for a few days. I went out and bought the plastic forks/knifes because I was told I would have metallic taste and not want to use silverware. To date the package is still unopened. I think I need to go on a picnic or something so I can use them.
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I had the bad taste buds from about day 3 to day 10. Im not a pop drinker but I really craved root beer during treatment and it tasted good. Icebreaker mints come in a citrus flavour that I found really helped with dry mouth. Also...frozen peach and mango chunks blended with water in the magic bullet was one of my fave drinks during chemo...helped my mouth and cooled me off from the one big constant hot flash I had...also good for hydration. I drank extra protein ensures blended with banana and ate toast with peanut butter every day for my blood counts. I was a little anemic but all my other counts were good.
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Hi LoriBach, I went without the steroids this time....sort of. I took them the day before and the morning before, but mentioned to the onc how terribly bad my "hangover head" was. she said she had no problem with my leaving out the pills, but to watch for swelling....of the lungs...causing shortness of breath. So far, no problems, and I haven't felt even close to as bad as I felt last time. I was much more tired after this one, for the last 3 days, but I'll take that over the hangover head anyday. That was as close to unbearable as I could take, so this was a picnic.
I am having a rather "delicate" problem now, though that I could use some advice on. My hoo-hoo. It is raw and sore and burning, I'm sure from all the peeing and wiping, peeing and wiping, peeing and wiping. What can I put on that for relief? Also, I noticed last night, that around the corner, my poor hiney, had a bloody spot right where the butt-crack comes up to the back, right at the top. I have no idea what has caused that. I am a thorough cleaner after my jaunts to the bathroom, which sometimes can be messy. I wasn't constipated, and I didn't have the Big D, but things were loose and sometimes took 4 or 5 wipes, plus a moist towellete or 2 to get completely clean. It's almost like a little tear of some sort, but I can't bend enough to get a good look. What to put on that? Sorry to be so graphic, but I guess it comes with the territory.
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rickysgirl we all talk about that "shit". There is an entire thread dedicated to losing your mojo and painful intercourse. Everything is open for discussion here. I think there is also one on gas and chemo.
First of all let your onc know. Call. My concern with a cut or bleeding in that area is infection. You are more susceptible now that you are one chemo. On chemo your skin is more delicate, at least mine was. You might be too agressive.
As far as your hoo-hoo, also called "down there" but I prefer the V… is it just the exterior. Again I think you should discuss this with your onc. I would stay away from anything petrolium bases unless your onc says otherwise. Again you don't want to harbor bacteria. If it's also internal you might have a urinary infection. Also if itchy it could be a yeast infection too.
But please talk to your onc or nurse. There are things I might recommend but first find out what the problem is. Your onc really does want to know all SE you are having from chemo. And some things you shouldn't not wait till your next treatment to tell h/her.
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rickysgirl, I agree with lago. I had the same problem and waited too long to call onco. Turned out to be yeast infection and because I waited too long, it took a while to heal up.
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All I can say is ditto. Call. Please.
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I did call. Their recommendation? Boudreaux's butt paste and baby wipes. I was able to reach around and do a little feeling on my butt spot, and it feels like it's scraped. I guess from all the cleaning and wiping. we'll see how this goes. Other than this, things have been o.k. I'm starting to feel like myself again after three days of sheer fatigue, to the point that I was either in bed or in my chair. It's nice to be on the way back to the land of the living. thanks everyone for the advice. I really do appreciate it.
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I forgot to mention that today is the day I have lost my taste. Everything either tastes funky or there's no taste at all.............except for my strawberry-banana yogurt with grape nuts mixed in. There seems to be a never ending bad taste in my mouth, too. No matter how much I brush, gargle and floss, I cannot get the bad taste to go away. HMMM.
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rickysgirl - get some baby wipes that are the no-alcohol type, they are gentler to wipe with. Also, a squirt bottle filled with water works well.
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I second the Boudreaux's butt paste. It saved my butt!!
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I got thrush of the skin in the perineal area while on TCH. It was like a red rash and broke open in a few areas. Doc gave me nystatin powder to apply which helped clear it up fast. Just an FYI in case this could be going on for you. Also, I took baths daily, often twice, just to keep extra clean and prevent further infection.
Also, be sure to keep the area dry, b/c yeast grows in wet areas. I also got thrush of the skin in my armpits due to this. Thrush loves me. Still does. LOL
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Here's an old fashioned remedy,that I use, nut it does hurt! Hot water and salt to clean the wound with. It stings like the Dickens, but it clears up the crack. I wouldn't use it on mucous membranes, but the crack where a tail would be is fair game. When I do that it closes in a day. I put gauze in the wound overnite. That's what works for me. LOL
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rickygirl - For messiness if you have a handheld shower head you could use that to rinse things off. Decreases the amount of wiping needed.0
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Hi. I'm starting this regimen next Weds (getting my port installed tomorrow) and after reading several pages of this thread, I'm starting to freak out!!!
I have a question for those who ice their finger and toenails during the infusions of taxotere. I was just told that the infusion center doesn't really support the concept of icing (they claim no scientific studies support it) but I told the nurse I planned to do it, and I would bring my own provisions. They will supply ice, but what else should I bring? I guess I will need a bucket or some bowls, and I cut the fingers off an old pair of gloves. Anything else??
Also, I was told that the taxotere portion will be about 3 hours long. Do you keep your hands/feet immersed in ice for all that time?
Thanks for the advice.
Cheryl
PS I also told the nurse I plan on taking claritin to prevent pain from the neulasta shots. She said she never heard of that either....and my center claims to be state of the art!!!
Thanks,
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Cheryl the nurse I spoke with from Massachusetts Blue Cross & Blue Shield even knew about the Claritin.
No matter how state of the art they may not know. Also I found that everyone is so busy they tend to BS about stuff to make things a little easier for them. Sometimes you need to insist.
First infusion is the longest. It may be 3 hours but in my case because I had no reaction they kept speeding it up. I think it was more like 2 hours for tax or even less. All the others tax was only 1 hour.
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Yeah, my tax was only 1 hour. I iced 15 min prior, during, and post, for a total of 1.5 hours. I used ice in baggies and kept them in little individual coolers ($1 at the dollar store) - helped keep them from leaking everywhere as much. I couldn't ice nonstop the full 1.5 hours b/c it would get painful/numb - so I'd take little breaks as needed. You want to get them really cold, but don't give yourself frostbite either!
I brought an electric blanket which helped keep me toasty warm and more comfy during the icing.
No one heard of it in my center either. Didn't stop me. I really feel we are way on top of the little tips and tricks to make chemo go smoothly here on bco. Experience from many patients really adds up!
I'm sorry you are freaking out...I was too. We'll help you through it, just as the many before us helped us through it. And we all made it! I was a basket case many times on this thread and these ladies were a godsend!
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P.s. don't forget to chew on ice throughout tax as well. Helps prevent mouth sores, and I also think it helped preserved my taste (I never lost sense of taste). Or, I could have just been lucky on those SE's. Still, it never hurts to do it.
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Omaz, thanks for the link.
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Omaz,
I will show the article and clinical trial info to the nurse practitioner!
Thanks for the links.
Cheryl
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Cheryl - It helps to have some backup info! No one at my center was doing the icing but I just said that I needed to do something for myself, that it made me feel better and they all were supportive (and curious!).0
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I too did the ice chips in mouth as recommended by my onc after I got a mouth sore. Never got another one. My taste changes were pretty minimal. I had some but I still ate everything. Pepper and nuts were a bit bitter. That included peanut butter.0
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I too have been taking Clariton with my Neulesta shot. Knock on wood I have not had any really bad side effects from the Neulesta. My Onc office has been prescibing Clariton for their patients for the past month and also seeing positive results.
I too freaked out at side effects of this regime. So far, aside from the stomach cramps that I suffered as result of the steriods, it has been very manageable!
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