Anyone on just Taxotere and Cytoxan?
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Hi Ladies. I am hoping you can help. I started my tx of TC x 4 last Thursday. I have been experiencing lots of gas and diarrhea. I am staying hydrated and watching what I eat to not upset my stomach. Anyone experience stomach issues like this? Any suggestions? Other than the stomach issues and some sinus pressure I have developed thrush and have a sore throat. I could barely swallow anything yesterday. My Onc. prescribed diflucan and I am feeling a little better today but my stomach issues persist. I am trying to stay positive though. I could have worse side effects I suppose. I see my onc. this Thursday and I am praying I am well enough not to need that dreaded Neulasta shot. Crossing my fingers.
Take Care Everyone!
Yasmin
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Yasmin, my heart is aching for you tonight, I have been there. The thrush is terrible. Yes, my stomach did that, still touchy at time a few months later. Staying hydrated is really the only thing you can do. Hang in there
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Hi everyone! Is anyone having issues with neuropathy? My fingers and toes have been numb since my first treatment of TC (just had #2 last week) and the numbness feels like it's moving up my arms and legs. I understand this can be temporary but at what point does it become a real issue?
Thanks!
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I had neuropathy in my fingers and feet which got worse with each tx. I had my last chemo on June 16. My fingers are starting to feel better but still have the neuropathy in my feet. I was told it could take 6 - 9 months to go away. Best wishes
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Reporting in after treatment 1 this morning. No drama, no discomfort. Just a little bit out of it from nausea meds. Reading about each of you and having a good laugh at the funny stuff. Also celebrating last treatments for some of you. Way to go, ladies. Yasmin, sory to hear you are having some nasty SEs. Have you tried immodium yet? If that's not working, your onc might be able to prescribe somethting. Hang in there, I bet it will get better in a while. Here's to good luck with your Neulasta shot.
I'm going in for Nuelasta in the morning. Will take a clairitin tonight. QUESTION: Do I take it twice a day for several days following, or once a day? (The package says 24 Hour, so I wonder if you throw that to the wind and take 2X/day it to hold off the bone pain.)
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KarenVW - Have you contacted your onc. about this? I think this should warrant a call tomorrow. I have not heard of neuropathy happening so early. Usually it starts after 3rd tx and gets gradually worse. Please call them.
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Well......I'm finished!!! Had number four this morning and I truly cannot believe it's over. Even though I did really well and did not suffer like some of you have, I am so grateful to have it behind me. As you may or may not remember, I have been on supplements from a naturopath and also receive acupuncture. Consequently I did not need a Neulasta shot as my blood work was really good each time and my SE's were minimal. Number 3 was a little harder, so week two and three following that tx I had two massages which released some accumulated toxins. After massage I soak in an Epsom salt bath to further pull out toxins. I felt amazing afterwards and today have felt much better than I did following number 3....so if you have it available to you I highly recommend massage. Someone was having stomach issues.....L Glutamine powder or tablets work to rebuild the gastric cells so that might be worth a try. Hugs to all who are still going through treatments.....there is light at the end of the tunnel. Patti
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yasminvi -- I have had those same problems with GI -- I take Tums now and then. If you get constipated, Colace works well. If you end up having to take the Neulasta, don't worry too much. I've had it every treatment and I didn't have much bone pain. But if you do, Claritin evidently helps.
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Pap,
Congrats, on finishing your chemo!
I finish 8/19/09. I had good and bad days...I'm anemic and have very low potassium my onc and I are working on. He's concerned about the Iron at 9. If I get to an 8, I may require a transfusion. I am having massages, but need someone to drive me home..I'm tooo tooo relaxed while driving. Getting my last Neulasta 8/20/09 and have been taking Claratin without problems of bone pain. I will try L Glutamine for these gastric pains. So now I wait for 6wks of Rads and will try to build up before then.
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Madge - Thanks for the response. I will try the tums. I have only had diarrhea so far but will keep in mind the colace if I get constipated. Thanks!!
I have another question for you ladies. Has anyone experienced an acne like rash? I have little red pimples all over my face and on some parts of my upper body. I will see my onc today and will see what he says but I wanted to know what your experience has been if you had this side effect. Thanks! I hope all of you are doing well.
Take Care,
yasmin
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Doing pretty darned well at day three of round 1. Drinking water like crazy, and it seems to help. Thanks to all of you for the tips - it HELPS!
Journey NC - Hope the iron issue goes away. Hang in there. Raisins have lots of the good stuff in them - does that sound appealing to you?
PAP - Glad to hear you had your last round yesterday. Are you doing OK? Go, girl! Be strong.
O2B Healthy - How is treatment 2 treating you? (Say that three times fast on nausea medecine!) Hope you are doing well.
KarenVW - Yep. I feel a twinge of neuropathy in the right foot. I'm drinking water like crazy - maybe it will help. Going to work out later today, too. Trying to keep stuff moving. There are some suggestions earlier in this thread about supplements - have you thought about asking your onc if anything might help?
Yasmin - Hang in there. Hope your onc has some rash-be-gone for you. As for the neulasta shot- I can testify that Claritin works. So far, so good. Had the shot yesterday morning and only a slight twinge in the bones. I guess its reassuring to feel it - makes me feel like I'm getting my money's worth or whatever. Won't even take aspirin or advil for it, not that big a deal. Hope the SE clouds begin to part for you and the sun shines through.
Dogsaver - How are you doing? Hope to hear from you. Treatment 1 coming soon if memory serves. It's do-able. Rooting for you.
Shay - How are you faring? Thinking of you.
Laurie (TCGGal) - How are you doing? Hope you ride the wave of this last treatment onto a sunny shore. You sound strong in print, and your messages help. Thanks to you, I'm very optomistic about treatment.
Much love to all of you - what a blessing you are. XO, Mary
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Hello all !
I have been reading you board for a while now and I have found much helpful information. I too am receiving TC X4. Had my first tx on Aug 6th. My SE were minimal I guess except for mild nausea first couple of days which could have been stress and of course the dreaded thrush !!! My Onc prescribed mouth wash and it helped however still have a little white fuzz on my tongue and metallic taste. I believe from what I read, that the metallic taste seems to be something we need to learn to live with. How long after treatments end does that go away ? My hair fell out around day 10 to 14 and I now have very little left but hanging on to it for just a while longer, not ready for the bald look yet ! Will be receiving my 2 tx next Wednesday and I starting to get nervous again. Do SE's get worse with each treatment or should I expect about the same ?
YASMINV1: I too had really bad "Acne" on my chest, back and neck. Have not had acne like that since I was a teenager. It has now cleared up so hang in there it gets better.
Marie
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Thanks everyone for the info and tips on neuropathy. I did call my onco yesterday and he prescribed Neurotin (Gabapentin) to treat the symptoms. My hope was to get something to make it stop or prevent it from happening, but that would involve reducing my dosage or switching off Taxotere. My neuropathy is not that bad to warrant that yet. When I mentioned taking B6 vitamins, etc. they said they didn't want me to start taking something like that.
Thankfully the numbness started subsiding on its own yesterday (and much better today) so I did not start taking the Neurotin. I kind of freaked when I found out it was an anti-seizure medication with a myriad of potential side effects of its own. I am staying hopeful that the numbness simply comes and goes, and does not get any worse. Only need to make it through 2 more treatments! Also when I mentioned I had heard about
Best wishes to everyone for a good day with minimal SEs.
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The rash is from the taxotere - it is not uncommon for you to have it on your face, body or head. It usually goes away after your treatment, but make sure your onc knows you are having this reaction - it's like an allergic reaction. You can clean the rash gently with hydrogen peroxide - helps to dry it out, especially on the scalp.
Good luck, everyone!
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Yasmin - I used antibacterial soap and neosporine(?) cream on my rash (face, neck, upper chest and shoulders) and it did clear up in a few days...This is my first tx with no hair...hopefully scalp will not break out as bad...thats a lot of cream!
Good Luck!
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Mary thanks for checking on us. Yes my first TC tx will be on Sept 10th. this is brachy radiation for me this week and its been a bit rough with fatigue and prongs in me but ill be done on friday, so i will have had the prongs in for 8 days with 5 of the days being radiation days. i wait 3 weeks from end of brachy til beginning of TC. i worked until day 2 of the brachy and then i took rest of week off. I had the PTO and havent really been gone from work much other than surgery and the radiation tube insertion day. Good times, huh? cant wait til winter!
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Today I get my Neulasta shot...bracing for the bone pain..been taking claritin since the last shot 3wks ago. Didn't know my aches were really caused by low potasium.
MAGOB: unfortunately, allergic to raisings...they say more beef, but that would be hard during this last chemo..keeping it light. So, I'm hitting the Google and the books they gave me on iron and potassium rich foods. They gave me prescriptive potassium, so this should help.
Looking for smooth sailing till my 6wks of Radiation Treatment, then found out I'm getting laid off by end of November.
I DO have a lot to be Thankful for...Dolores
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Delores, are you being laid off due to company cutbacks? legally they cant lay you off if its been because of absences due to cancer, you are protected by FMLA and ADA, have you applied for disability? also alot of the major groups cancer society, komen have some financial programs. For sure sign up for Cobra until you get another job, sending you positive thoughts
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Hey everyone, Good to hear how you are all doing. So happy for those of you who are finished!
Karen, on the neuropathy, my naturopath prescribed L-glutamine 30 grams (5 tbs) per day starting the day after each chemo tx for five days (to prevent/minimize neuropathy from happening). My oncologist approved this. You might want to ask yours if it would be ok.
My week after chemo has been okay. The first day, I woke up feeling great, but the neulasta shot gave me a week long neckache/headache. I had horrible throat/esophagus & ear burning pain for a few days, but I'm not sure whether it was from chemo/neulasta, or just a cold caught from my son. Never had bone pain, so I'll just consider myself lucky.
Take care everyone.
Shay
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Patti, congratulations on finishing your chemo! I'm am so happy for you. I finished last Wednesday, had a crappy SE filled weekend but have been on an emotional high all week and feeling better. No big surprises with round 4. Hang in there everyone...you can do it!!!
So I went for radiation mapping today, no big deal at all. Laid on table for CT scanner, put arms over head, they made an upper body mold for my head and arms, took an x-ray, did the CT and that was it...45 minutes tops. She said tattoos would be applied 2nd day of treatment but was happy to learn they are the teeny, tiniest little dots you'd ever see. The therapist gave herself one so she could show her patients. I thought I'd get them around my surgical site but I get one on the left side of torso, one on the right, one on top of my breast and another off to the side. My surgical site is under my arm ??? go figure. She said it feels like a pin prick but after all we've been through, how bad can it be? Nothing will ever top the sentinel node radioactive iodine for me. Just wanted to share. I see some of you are gearing up for rads soon to. We need to get a new September rads thread going. Take care all! Thinking and praying for all of you everyday.
Diane
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Marie111, Chelev and O2Bhealthy -Thanks for the responses! My Onc confirmed today that it is a rash from the Taxotere. He did not recommend putting anything on it but I think I might try your suggestions because I am a bit embarrassed about it right now.
journeyNC - Hoping you don't get too achy from the Neulasta shot.
There was no mention of neulasta so I assume my Blood counts were not too bad. My oncologist was concerned about my constant diarrhea though and weight loss. He wants me to get over a stool sample tomorrow because he wants to make sure I don't have C.Diff (Clostridium difficile). I guess it is an infection in the intestines. Hopefully, I don't have this infection and all I have is just a very upset digestive system from the chemo.
Take Care Everyone,
Yasmin
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Had my last of six T/C today. I've been so emotional about it all day. There is the excitement that it's finally done, but the dread of being so dang sick for the next two weeks sort of takes the thrill away. Had rads simulation on Monday, piece of cake, the seven weeks of treatment start on the 14th.
Diane, you're right, we need a Sept. rads thread.
OXO, Mary
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CONGRATULATIONS ecosalvaje (Mary)!!!!!! I hope you have an easy week with little or no SE's!
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Hi Yasmin - I read something about c-diff last year I think. I'm a bit of a germ-phobe, so I notice these news reports when I come across them. In googling c-diff, I found something about a probiotic that was particularly good at helping with c-diff. I favorited it and when I saw your post, I found it and then googled c-diff again to verify if what I had found way back was valid. On WebMD, I found this under c-diff:
"There is evidence that treatment with probiotics -- good bacteria that repopulate the gut -- makes antibiotic treatment more effective and prevents relapse. Saccharomyces boulardii appears to be particularly effective, although good results have been seen with Lactobacillus species as well."
The original thing I had favorited had said that a product, brand name Florastor, was effective in combatting c-diff and Florastor is Saccharomyces boulardii, one of the probiotics WebMD listed.
I hope you don't have c-diff, but in case it turns out that you do, I thought I'd share this so you can ask your doctor.
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chrisct - Thanks a ton! I will see if a local Vitamin store has Florastor.0
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dogsaver, I am being laid off due to a bank merger. They are doing away with contractors who have worked more than 18mos on a project (project management). Their new law is to work 18mos on then 6mos off . GRRRRR. I have worked at this bank and grown for the past 3yrs.
Since I will start Rads in the next couple of weeks, I will check on the possiblity of getting on disability? I'm not sure how this will apply to unemployment, but that is contingent upon finding work, which I'm not able to do with my condition. I'll check into all of this.... I will sign up for Cobra until I find something. I'm catching your positive vibe here...
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Day number 4 following my last TC on Tuesday. Felt pretty good the first few days, but now feeling kind of punk. However, I remember days 4 and 5 always were my lowest days. I hate not having any taste buds so nothing sounds or tastes good....yuck! I see some of you are already to get started with rads. My onc said 4 - 6 weeks after chemo and since I have a short trip planned the last week in Sept he approved of my waiting an additional week...as long as all the prelims are set and ready to go the first week in Oct. So I see the radiologist in two weeks. On to the next step! Patti
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Hang in there Patti! You can make it - and no more after this round! Hooray!
The rest of us will get there, too. I had TX 1 on Tuesday - Yesterday was crummy. Did great in the morning, and then it hit all of a sudden. Just achy and lights were too bright and sounds echoed in my head. Got moving a little better today. Hope it lasts.
Need help - have any of you had these SEs? Just feel stinko - like I'm under water or something. Puh-leese tell me it gets better in a few days.
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Patti - Congrats on the last TX. I hope you are doing OK today.
Mary - Comgrats to you as well on last tx!
MAGOB - I have had times when it feels like my hearing is amplified and things echo. I also have had moments where someone will talk to me and they sound like the Peanuts teacher. My onc suggested these moments for me were due to Fatigue. I hope all gets better for you soon. Take Care!
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MAGOB - it does get better!! You usually feel like crap around day 3 - I would get mine on thursday and by Sunday, it was horrible, and then you start to pull out of it. It's the chemo kicking butt and affecting all of your cells. Once you get past the "bad" day, it's usually better. you should feel much better by tomorrow or Monday. Just be cautious about getting out around lots of people, your white blood cell count cold be low and your immune system is going to be compromised. Lots of hand sanitizer!! I would always lay low and stay away from lots of people until I had my bloodwork and if I needed the Neulasta shot to raise them.
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