Anyone on just Taxotere and Cytoxan?
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Sassygirl, yes, I was triple negative and I had TC. I tolerated it very well and finished chemo nearly four years ago. Good luck!
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I have a question concerning Texotere amd side effect/result. Has anyone experienced an internal burn of ones veins on the arm receiving the drug. I was told that the dscoloration(brown) on my arm followed by difficulty with inserting IV was due to this drug. I have no proof but have had non-cancer surgery twice since then and each time a phlebotomist was needed for my IV. As they say, just asking. Thank you.
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This thread has not had much going on lately, but I thought I would put this out there and see if anyone has any comments. I am 7 weeks PFT with T/C and still feeling tired and my legs feel so weak when I first stand up. I am trying to walk a mile or two a day, besides around the house. I used to love going shopping or just "looking" at the mall, but I find I have no interest in this. Probably this is because of the fatigue. It is an effort to do most things around the house that were nothing 6 months ago. I am 66 so I am trying to take that into account the. I was very active prior to surgery last April. Comments
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Octoberbaby-I had that burning in my veins; at least that's what it felt like. I'm doing 4x of TC through and IV, so I hope I don't wreck my veins. Did you hear any negative long-term side effects about it?
Mysunshine48--are you doing radiation now? I hope you feel better soon.
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Hi, Good luck with your chemo. I saw on the exercise thread that you are walking 4 miles and had one treatment. Good for you! I also had an IV for my first one, but developed blood clots in my arm. It swelled up and was very tender to the touch. I had to go on Coumedin and get a power line to finish out chemo snd get bloodwork done. Not fun. No, no radiation for me. I had a BMX and will have exchange surgery on September 25. I hope you are able to continue to do well. It is cumulative. I was not doing too ok well after 3 and am trying to recover now.
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mysunshine48,
Thanks for posting your question about fatigue. I just completed 4 rounds of taxotere/cytoxin. I am two weeks post final chemo and the amount of fatigue I am feeling is really startling, especially given that I had no serious problems with side effects during the whole series of treatments. I can't walk down the drive to my mailbox and back without feeling totally pooped.
My oncologist told me that for some people the effects are cumulative, and you don't start to feel the fatigue until later. He said I should start noticing that I was feeling better and my energy levels would start returning starting about 4 weeks post chemo. He said by 6 weeks I should really notice a difference, but it might take a couple more months even then to get totally back to normal. I am really hoping it won't take that long to crawl out from under this! I used to be an avid hiker and I can't even imagine walking 2 miles right now :-(
I hope that others will share their experience with post-chemo fatigue.
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Wildflower, I am now 7 weeks post final treatment and just turned the corner on fatigue.....at least to the extent of being very tired most of the time. I have found that I gained a little more stamina each week, although at a snail's pace. But, when I look back to a month ago, I do see a difference. I have 17 steps in my house and earlier could only do half, then stop and rest, then go on. I can do them pretty easily now. I also walk 2 - 3 miles about every other day. Some days I seem to have more energy than others. I am learning to listen to my body. Even when I think I should do my walking and my body says rest, I rest! I do see how this recovery will take a while. I wish it was faster, but can't rush it........just like my peach fuzz head! You will feel better.
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I read your story and was so moved as I am 66 years old and first making a decision to do chemo or just radiation and a hormone drug. Whereas I cannot reply as to the side effects you are feeling, I do want to mention how courageous I think you are just in putting up this post. IT will help so many others and certainly is clarifying things for me. I hope you keep on posting. I also know you will pull through and thank you again for telling your story. You are always welcome to respond back to me should you choose.
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Thanks for your feedback. I am deciding today about chemo and your ok reaction helps
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Hi All,
I am about to start 4 cycles of TC. I have read all the posts (all the way back to 2007). I can see that most people have suffered dreadful side effects from Taxotere. Is this because steroids were not provided as a pre-medication?
Nowadays we are asked to take the cortisosteroid as pre-medication (1 day before, during and after the chemo infusion) presumably to reduce the side effects severity
Thanks
Rameson
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Rameson - I will have my 4th and final round of TC on April 20th. I take a steroid one day before, day of, and day after as you described. I was told it would help with nausea. I also drink a minimum of 64oz of non-caffeinated liquids each day (plus one cup of coffee because I need a little caffeine) which is also supposed to help. So for these 3 rounds of chemo, I had almost zero nausea. The Neulasta causes bone pain, but I take Claritin as directed and ibuprofren proactively so that really helped after the 2nd and 3rd round (First time, I did not take ibuprofren and had bone pain and did not sleep well because of it).
I am able to go to work the day after (desk job so it does not take a lot of energy). The second and third day after I am really dragging (but I timed these days for the weekend). Then 4th and 5th day after, I feel a little better and able to work. 6th, 7th and 8th days after, I feel a lot better. 9th day after, I really feel back to myself and food tastes much better.
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Thanks for your reply GoKale4320. Congratulations and my best wishes for the final round on 20/04. It does sound like TC's short term SE's can be managed by proactively taking the steroids and pain killers. Can we simply ask for additional steroids tablets for Day 4 & Day 5 and so on? Also I was just wondering if there are any proven way to prevent permanent hair loss widely reported widely by the media
My thanks also to everyone that have posted on this forum which I found to be very helpful and a great source of inspiration. Would be great to hear from the earlier posters (from 2007/2008) to determine if the severe side effects reported were due to steroids not prescribed or provided back then
Rameson
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I had Taxotere and Cytoxan as my chemo in April-June 2015. I received steroids (IV and pill), and anti-nausea meds (IV). I drank about 100 oz of fluid a day and walked on a treadmill every day. I had no nausea or mouth sores. I wouldn't say it was enjoyable or without bone and nail pain, but I found it much easier than I was anticipating.
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Hey Strong B/C Warrior Lady,
I am a high school Sp. Ed. teacher w/ TNBC”, Stage 1, Grade 3 w/ no lymph node involvement (biopsies on 6 though). I am taking 4 cycles of TC only, though the Onc. recommended the dose dense AC-T. I didn’t believe the risks to my heart outweighed the benefits.
I am Day 5-6 of the 1st cycle. I feel that I am hydrated, but my B/P is around 85/50 (normally low, but this is ridiculous).
Now, however, I am in constant pain in my mid-back. I’m so confused about what is hurting me (e.g., bones? Lungs? Liver?).
I believe everyone loses their hair, but it is supposed to come back. Chemo is def. a more difficult thing to do to our bodies (esp. if we try to keep poisons out as a rule). I did just read about a “Taxotere and Hair Loss Lawsuit” if you want to look that up.
Since everyone experiences chemo differently, I just want to wish you an easy journey.
M.
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bumping up this thread
Who is doing TC? I used to post on this thread regularly when I did it 10 years ago. Well, I'm doing it again, ugh, and remembered how great it was to connect with others going through the same regimen. I'm starting in the next week once my plastic surgeon clears me to my oncologist to proceed.
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Sugar77OH NO! I’m so sorry you have to go through this again! I just finished TC and I’m getting ready to start radiation. It scares me that you have it in the same breast! What’s your story?
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Hi Sugar77
Sorry you’re going through this AGAIN! I’m in the April Chemo group with you. I've done the BC thing before, but didn't have chemo (it was 1998 and everything is different this time). I am starting Taxotere and Cytoxin tomorrow and have about three hundred questions. But my big one at the moment is how do I ice my feet and hands? Do they have cold socks and gloves, or do I have to bring ice packs or what? I walk for exercise and the thought of losing the feeling in my feet terrifies me. And I also knit all the time, so I don’t want to lose the feeling in my fingers. Any ideas since you’ve done this before?
Hope this group does ramp up again. I think we can all use the support!
Nan
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I just finished 6 rounds of TC and used NatraCare Cold Therapy Socks on my hands and feet--starting 15 minutes before treatment and ending 15 minutes after. Thankfully, I did not experience any neuropathy. I also wrapped my hands and feet in a cold pack sheet to keep the "socks" very cold, or you can get a second set to switch out mid-way; they do not stay extremely cold for the entire time on their own. Also I did weekly acupuncture through the treatment, so that might have helped. Best of luck!
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Amyhey - please don't let me going through this again scare you. I'm sure mine is a unique case. I had a small triple negative tumour in 2009, which was treated with lumpectomy, TC chemo and then radiation. The treatment was successful but since I still had breast tissue, something completely new developed and was discovered exactly 10 years later. This time it's hormone positive. I had a BMX and my oncologist didn't think I would need chemo but he did an Oncotype test, which resulted in a score of 30 so chemo was recommended. So, here I am again.
Nan - sorry to the late reply. I didn't realize there had been any updates on this thread. The way I've been icing my feet is through something the hospital has rigged up. Ahead of any Taxotere infusions, they freeze ice packs and then wrap them in cotton pads. They form it in a way that slips on top of the toes and the fingers. When I did TC before, the hospital didn't supply these but my sister would put ice from the machine in ziplock bags and place on top of my nails. Back then, we were sort of on our own to ice ourselves as it was something I learned on this website and the nurses didn't really seem to know much about the advantages of it. Chomping on ice chips during Taxotere also helps avoid mouth sores.
Dono7392 - interesting about acupuncture. I should look into that. I've been having reiki done the day before and day of treatment in the hopes it helps side effects.
I've marked this now to check back for updates more frequently.
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dear ccgirl,
I brought a bowl with ice to my chemo treatment and added water when to dip my fingers in when I was getting the Texotere. I bought socks on line that you could freeze and used those as well. I did not get neuropathy. I wish you luck. I do think the ice water for your fingers and the frozen booties work!
Good luck.
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Hi CCGirl, how did your first infusion go? I'm just a couple of week ahead of you and I will go for my second infusion on the 11th. Everyone responds to treatment differently, but for me, the worst days were days 3-8. I also got the neulasta injection and some of my side effects may have been from that. It's just hard to know! Starting on day 9 I felt pretty well except for an awful taste in my mouth until day 13. Thankfully that went away and I have felt pretty normal in every way since then.
Also, my hair started falling out on the 13th day. I'm sure I could have dealt with it for quite a while before it became noticeable but it was a pain. And since my hair was a hot mess anyway (needed cut and colored but no salons open due to covid-19), my husband just buzzed it off. He used the #4 guard on the clippers and I think that was a good choice. It has made the morning routine so easy! It's still coming out, but the hair is much shorter. Haha!
I did not do any ice for my hands and feet and I only had some little tinges of neuropathy here and there and it never lasted long. I haven't noticed it at all for several days now. If it gets worse with the next infusion I may look into doing something for the last two rounds.
Feel free to ask any questions. I don't know everything but I am a bit ahead of you. I know I had a ton of questions, too, and was wishing this thread was more active! I've read some of the previous posts in it but there are so many to sort through that it gets overwhelming after a while!
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PBJ61- so happy you are also posting on this thread! I'm right behind you with my next infusion. You are on May 11 and I'm at the end of the week on the 15th. I agree, there is a lot of very useful previous posts. In fact, last night I took a look back to around the time when I was active on here in Dec. 2009/early 2010 (around page 225) and found some very useful info from my own experience that I wished I had of remembered for this time. Apparently I received a tip about eating Fiber One bars that I followed to ward off constipation from the Zofron. Hmm, wish I had of remembered that. I will be sure to get some for next week.
So glad us "TC" ladies are connecting on here!
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Hi there pjb61 and Sugar77 and mariedelpilar and everyone else on the thread -
Thanks for the well wishes and the tips. I’m such a newbie on chemo. I managed to avoid it last time. Glad to have you here to clue me in. It’s much appreciated!
My first infusion went well. No allergic reactions. My blood pressure (from anxiety) was an awful 210/104 when they checked me out first thing. So I had to meditate a while before it went down and they could start. My usual BP is around 110/70 so it was shocking to say the least. That was Monday. Now it’s Wednesday night. I felt pretty good until this morning. Today I’ve been struggling a bit. I walked twice for a short time which helped. My mouth tastes funny. My joints and muscles ache like I’m getting sick. And my legs feel like lead. But I’m not nauseated, thank goodness, so I can still eat mostly, and no headache or constipation yet. I’m drinking a ton of water and eating stuff with fiber in it including oat bran cereal and Craisins for breakfast. By the way, the Craisins taste amazing!
Oh, and how long did you take Zofran? I have a horrible fear of being nauseated having spent my whole like suffering from car sickness, air sickness, sea sickness, morning sickness, laying down on my sister’s waterbed sickness, you name it. So I’m kind of grooving the anti nausea meds, but don’t want to over do them.
The Neulasta on-pro patch went off on schedule yesterday. Didn’t hurt at all. But I think some of the side effects today could be from that. How long does it take to get over the feeling of ugh? 6 or so days? I’m usually a total energy bunny so I’m missing it.
I’m planning to power watch Game of Thrones over the weekend with my daughter who lives on the west coast. The next best thing to being together, right? Maybe by then I’ll feel at little more like myself.
My next infusion is not until May 26th. I get an extra day because of Memorial Day!
Thank you again for your advice and support. I hope you all enjoy this week of relative “feel good” and coast smoothly into your next session. Hmmm... Fiber One Bars. Those sound good...
🤗
Nan
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Nan, oh my! That IS a very high blood pressure! You must have been super nervous! Glad it came down!
I was given IV Aloxi before my chemo meds were given. It's supposed to stay in your system for 3-5 days to help with nausea. The Zofran was given to me to be taken as needed. I think I only ended up taking it a total of 3 times. But I still struggled with constipation. I started taking a daily Colace on day 3 and by day 6 I added Miralax once a day. It took until day 9 but I finally got relief. I'm pretty sure I spend the better part of an hour on the toilet. Lol. My plan is to start taking Miralax the day of my infusion and use it daily until it seems unnecessary.
My bad days (3-8) were not fun but they weren't intolerable either. It felt like a bit of a roller coaster. There were times it wasn't bad and other times where I was miserable. I never knew how I would feel from hour to hour. For the next round, I will just plan to not accomplish anything in that time period and enjoy those moments when it's not as bad!
I did discover that Tylenol was amazing for bone pain. I also took Claritin but when the pain would break through anyway, the Tylenol did the trick every time. And this is coming from a person who has always declared that Tylenol was a worthless drug. The only reason I took it is because I had one evening where I was so miserable. I had a fever and was nauseous and hurt all over. My daughter (she's a doctor) suggested I take a Tylenol for the fever so I did. And I was amazed when about 30 minutes later, the pain went away. I used it a couple more times for just the pain and it worked both of those times, too.
One other note...this one about nausea. I tried to avoid the Zofran because I didn't want to make the constipation worse. One of my daughters had gotten me some Ginger drops and I found that those helped a lot. So I always tried that first and only used Zofran if they didn't help. Also, eating a little bit helped the nausea, too. I didn't seem to tolerate an empty stomach during the bad days. I had planned to try to do daily intermittent fasting through all of chemo but I couldn't tolerate it. So I give myself grace because getting through chemo is just all about getting through chemo! Whew!
Sugar77, glad to see you here, too! I'm curious...was your second round similar to your first round? The PA that I saw last week for my follow up said that with TC therapy, the level of side effects usually stays about the same. Except he said the fatigue does get worse. Have you found that to be true so far?
Patti
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Patti
Thank you! That was so helpful. My daughter is at Whole Foods right now and I’m hoping I caught her in time to get the ginger drops! I don’t want to keep taking the Zofran indefinitely because I’m concerned about all of the drugs I’m taking. I usually take nothing at all, maybe an Aleve if I have a headache, that’s it. My sister is a naturopathic doctor, and has been indoctrinating me for 20 years, so going against all of that is hard. But she too had breast cancer about 10 years ago and we had long talks about how the end goal was to live. Once we got through the chemo and treatments, then we would detox our bodies and feel better. I think that philosophy helps me a bit. That said, I’m feeling pretty good today. I took a Tylenol (absolutely awesome stuff!) a while ago, and I almost feel okay. What a treat! Today is day 4 if you count the chem day as #1. I’m going to go for a short walk with the dog soon and try to get some fresh air and sunshine (it’s been really rainy here lately, so I have to take advantage).
How are you feeling? I’ve never heard of Aloxi. Were you okay with it?
I think I’d rather have that since setting an alarm for 1am to take Zofran really makes my insomnia kick up. I’ll ask my MO next time about it. I make a shake every day with two scoops of fiber in it. So far between that and the water it seems to be working. I was a little cautious of doing it at first thinking about all of the accounts of diarrhea but nothing like that yet.
I’ve been putting tea tree oil on my fingernails. Are you doing that? It’s supposed to help with the fungus thing that causes the nails to fall off. I had a little bottle of it that I bought at Trader Jo’s a while back. I like the way it smells, too, which is a bonus as things smell and taste weird right now.
Only another 4 days til your next round. I hope you coast through it. It’s a strange experience for sure. I am rarely sick, so the thought of several months of up and down is a bit daunting. But one day at a time, right?
Hugs,
Nan
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Nan - you'll get through it. Lucky that you didn't need it last time. For me, last time was a no brainer because I was triple negative. I was hoping to avoid it this time but my Oncotype Score came back at 30, which is right on the cusp of high so I decided to go ahead. My oncologist said he wouldn't think I was crazy if I said no to it but I agreed to proceed. Figured if it's being offered, I'd take it. Regarding Zofron, I only every get two pills. One given at the hospital 30 minutes prior to the Taxotere infusion and the other one to take on chemo day at bedtime. The doctor gives a prescription for Prochlorazine to take as needed for any nausea or vomiting. I've never needed to take it so I don't know the side effects of it. I do know the two Zofron's that get on chemo day constipate me. I'm going to try the Fiber One bars from the advice in my old post and see if it helps this round. I'm definitely putting the tea tree oil on my nails daily. I really think it helps. I actually put some on my scalp last night. Hope it helps there too. Regarding diarrhea, I find it's a fine line between it and the preceding constipation. My experience is once the fast growing cells in the gut are affected, the diarrhea follows. So, I do the fiber at first, I quickly switch to bland diet around day #4 (bananas, crackers, rice, chicken, etc) for the rest of the week. Do keep up with the water a walks as much as possible.
Patti - curious what Aloxi is? I've been taking the Claritin but am going to make a point of also taking Tylenol regularly for a few days after I get the Neulasta shot. The ginger drops sound like a great idea. I've been drinking ginger tea during the week after chemo but I'm getting sick of it and think the drops would do the same thing without having to drink it. I guess I'm associating ginger tea with chemo. I'm an avid tea drinker but prefer white or green but with all the antioxidants, the chemo pharmacist says I can't drink it until my chemo schedule is completed. Darn! I used to drink of pot of white tea every day. I also love maple black tea but can only drink it in the last week before the next treatment per the pharmacist. So that basically leaves me with herbal, fruit or ginger tea. My second round was actually better than the first. I think the reason is the walking I've been doing and all the water I drank leading up to the second. When I went into my first treatment, it was less than a month from emergency surgery to remove an area of necrosis and the tissue expander on my right side and a seroma and infection that developed. And, it was two months from my BMX with reconstruction. I had just finished my fourth round of antibiotics less than a week before chemo and two days before had just had the staples removed from the emergency surgery. Going into the second treatment, I'd started walking again and was much stronger from the surgeries. I tolerated TC very well 10 years ago and round two this time was consistent. Round one, on the other hand, was worse for me.
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Wow Sherri,
Your situation is similar to mine. I had an OncoType of 27 and after a lot of testing and retesting for HER2+, they finally got a negative reading. My MO is a doll, and he did a lot of checking back and forth with colleagues up at Dana Farber before starting the chemo. So I feel very sure that I'm doing the right thing here. It's not fun. But it's worth it to be as sure as possible to live into the future. Are you going to have radiation this time? I had it last time, so the MO says no. I'm just as glad as it really messes with my body.
Sounds like I could stop taking the Zofran tomorrow. I've never heard of Prochlorazine, but if you haven't even taken it, maybe I don't need Zofran any more either. I have to stop being such a baby about the nausea. As long as I don't let it get ahead of me, I can always take it if I need it, I guess. It would be nice not to have to worry about 1) taking it on schedule especially in the middle of the night and 2) being able to poop/or not as the case may be.
Plus I really don't want to over medicate myself. I think my body would like the break.Going to get some Fiber One bars. They'll taste good (I hope) and get things going. My husband is going to the store tomorrow evening, so I'll ask him to get them. I haven't been in a store since mid-March. It's so weird! And I hardly ever drive my car. Hopefully it'll start the next time I need to go out. It's so crazy how life has changed in the last couple of months. I'm hoping that later this summer I can sit far away in a corner of the yard and watch people have a cookout or something. Not expecting to participate. Just watch.
And oh, I'm so glad your second round was better than the first! You had an awful time didn't you? And all of those antibiotics make you feel terrible anyway, just to add to the general fug. So happy you're mending and back in the groove.
Hugs,
Nan
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Hi Nan - I had radiation last time so I can only have it once. I think the radiation is what's behind all the skin healing issues I had after surgery (necrosis, seroma, etc.). It's the gift that keeps giving. I had absolutely no issues whatsoever on the left side. The mastectomy incisions healed beautifully and the tissue expander has given me no trouble at all. It's even droopy like my old breast. I honestly forget it's been removed. Right side is a different story. About the Zofron, it was exactly the same before too. I get one pill given 30 minutes before chemo infusion at the hospital and have a prescription for one pill to take a home for each round. It's kind of weird having a bottle with only one pill but that's all they prescribe here. I don't think I took any of the Prochlorazine last time either because I remember turning in a full bottle to a pharmacy to dispose of afterward. I absolutely hate the idea of a bunch of medication and I cringe when I have the steroid, Zofron and Neulasta shot each treatment. I throw the bottles out as soon as I'm done so I don't have to look at them and feel like I'm living out of a medicine cabinet. Before we know it, we'll be ringing the bell at the conclusion of chemo!
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Hi Sherri
I stopped taking the Zofran yesterday to try it out, and so far so good - yay! You’re so right about the radiated tissues. I have a thick rope scar from last month’s mastectomy on the left side where I had radiation 21 years ago. It healed okay, but looks like pie crust complete with pinch folds compared to the nice thin scar on the right. I didn’t even try to have reconstruction because my sister had BC 10 years ago and had three failed attempts. The last one went septic very quickly and almost killed her. I figured it would be better to live with a flat chest. It’s a tough decision though. I look at myself in the mirror in the morning and think oh wow, who is that? I don’t mourn my breasts exactly. I think I’m just adjusting to my new me. If that makes any sense.
I feel the same way about the drugs. Cringing every time a new one goes in. The Neulasta things was just weird. I’m glad to have it I think. White and red cells are a good thing. But every drug has a laundry list of side effects and some of them are just terrifying. I mean, really, ruptured spleen? What the heck is that all about? Will be so glad to ring the bell at the end of chemo!
Stay well!
Nan
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Nan - so glad to hear you are okay without the extra Zofron. It's so strange that we only get two on chemo day where I live and so many others get a prescription for multiple days. I should add, I had a tough time crashing off the steroids when I did this regimen before and the oncologist tapered me. I'm tapering again and it's working. I don't get any extra pills but instead of taking four on the day after chemo (2 in morning and 2 at night), I space them out over two days. In the end, I don't feel as wonderful as I could on the day after but feel better than I would two days after and the crash is less apparent. Works for me so I thought I'd mention it in case you've crashed and felt like mentioning to your doctor. This week I feel great. Back to my old self and I get my next treatment a week from today. So I'm savouring this week by exercising and eating and cooking whatever I feel like making. My hair is pretty much gone just some stubborn grey hairs that don't want to leave my head. Hope you're doing well.
Anyone else on TC? Please stop by and post here. We're all in this together!
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