Australian Sisters
Comments
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Thanks Sue
Would Polarime work as well as Claratyne do you think? I'm alergic to a lot of the antihistamines because of the pseudoepherdrine (or however you spell it) but I have Polarime as it's one I can tolerate. Is Somac a gastro stopper? I do have some Loperamide - which is Gastro Stop. But I wasn't given any digesics - I do have some left over from the port insertion - but only two tablets left, but do have panadeine forte which is pretty strong.
Trish0 -
Glad all went well Trish! Like Sue said expect to hit rock bottom in two days. I found it hit hard for 2-3 days - no nausea just felt ick, then would gradually start to feel better aided by the fact that I was desperate to leave the house after a couple of days being stuck not doing anything. I had mine Friday then I found my off days were Mon-Tues and Wed would start to feel better and if I didn't leave the house that day I would certainly find an excuse to leave the house Thursday haha.
Drink heaps of fluid and rest up when needed, hope all goes well in the coming days :-)
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I spent 10 days after the first treatment lying around crying. Don't know about polaramine - my onc said Claratyne dissolvable which I couldn't get but he said the normal tablet was ok. Somac is for unsettled stomach eg reflux, indigestion. I had bad bowel cramps and it fixed it. Also, I forgot to tell you not to get constipated - take Sennacot asap and take it every day!!! I got badly constiapted one time and it's not something you should experience - it was like giving birth again!!!
Make sure you check with your onc first - you'll need scripts anyway. Not sure if strong panadol will be enough.
You might get the runs after about a week.
Claratyne should be ok for you - here's the list of ingredients
CLARATYNE tablets contain:
- loratadine 10 mg
- maize starch
- magnesium stearate
- lactose
They do not contain sucrose or gluten.
Sue
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Trish - one thing is that you may not get these SE's. I had TCH, so I don't know how much of it was caused by the Carboplatin.
Sue
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Yay Trish ..one down - only two to go. Like Suepen I did TCH. The worst side effect was the constipation which was not pleasant. I love the comment about giving birth lol. I took Nulax with senna which I picked up from my local supermarket. You'll know better what to expect with your second dose of chemo and can start taking meds in preparation. Don't forget to drink lots and lots. I found that chilled sparkling mineral water was easier to drink. Most things tasted yukky for about a week to 10 days after, I could still taste citrus for some reason so I used to eat tinned pineapple and drink half orange juice and half sparkling mineral water. Wash that chemo out girl !!!
Hugs to all
xx
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I found white chocolate tasted good - KitKat. The giving birth comment was no exaggeration either. God I was so stupid. After that I took sennacot as soon as I had a treatment and kept it up for several days. Same with the other SE's - took the stuff before it showed up and it worked well.
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Thanks for all the advice girls. I will be some Claratyne today - I already have senacot, but I only had constipation once, and have had terrible trouble with diarroeha (sp?) and the onc said that would probably last through the Taxotere - so have a lot of gastro stop. If I don't have a bowel movement for 24 hours will start on the senacot straight away, which is what I did last time and went from constipation to diarreoha in about 5 hours lol - did try the nulax but couldn't stomach the taste - at least the senacot is a tablet!
Feeling ok so far - taste changes aren't too bad - not like the FEC which was terrible straight away - funny the taste change for me this time started as soon as I started on the dex! Don't worry - I'm drinking lots of water - have gotten into that habit from the first FEC treatment - had to flush all that crap out of my bladder.
I have Salpraz for heartburn - that's been something that I had all through the FEC treatment, and that started again last night. I assume that would be similar to the Sonac Sue?
I also have to take a sample of my next round of diarroeha in to get tested - my bloods showed an elevated something (my memory is still gone) could have been red blood cells or white (?) and they think the diarroeha could be caused by a bug, so will have to have it tested when and if it rears it's head again.
Having the Herceptin treatment today - but not so worried about that one. Will be prepared for the crap to hit in a day or so, as it has with you girls, at least if I know it's a possibility then it won't be a big surprise - especially since I feel quite good at the moment. If I wasn't having another treatment today I'd be going into work - at least tomorrow is a public holiday:-) And tomorrow is when I'll probably be feeling that steroid downer - last ones are taken tonight!
Love to you all - and thanks for being there for me
Trish
xoxoxo
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Oh - and forgot to tell you all - I painted my nails black last night! lol a real goth look, along with the bald head and receding eyebrows. My DH says all I need now is a nose ring to complete the look lol
I read that Taxotere can be hard on the nails and along with nail hardener applied regularly the black nail polish may aid in keeping the nails - so I thought why not - I actually have quite nice nails, and would like to keep them that way if possible.
So a new look Trish today lol
xoxo
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Trish - did they get you to put your hands in cold gloves yesterday? My treatment centre provides them when you have taxotere. You take the claratyne as well as a pain killer - the 2 combined fix the leg pain. You probably should wait and see if you get it though.
Sue
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Hi Sue
They did offer the cold gloves - but it sounded so severe - the minus 35 degrees and numb hands, that I decided to not try it this time and see how I went with the black nail polish and hardeners. If I have a problem, then I'll try the gloves next time. I wasn't happy with trying contolled frost bite, but time will tell if I've made the right decision lol - did you try it? Did it work for you?
Trish
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The gloves are fine - they don't freeze your hands. I still lost most of my nails as I didn't do the black polish - just hardener. I didn't lose the whole nail, they lifted and tore off 2/3rds of the way down. I was a nail biter but grew them so I could paint them. Boy did I make a mess - it had been ages since I tried painting them. I have kept up not biting them and have had to cut them several times as they grew so long. Still haven't tried painting them - something I must try.
Sue
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hey im from Australia Melbourne have to more chemos Taxol and and 6 weeks of rads to go ... hope to keep in touch have chats
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Hi Angelice welcome to the Aussie thread! I don't post too often here but I read every day. The girls here are a great bunch. Oh, I'm from Burra, country SA. Goodluck with the rest of your treatment!
Peace, strength, love n hugs. Chrissyb
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Hi Angelice, I'm from Melbourne too. Looking foward to many chats. There's also an Aussie forum on bcaus.org.au where many great ladies are available for chatting. Good luck with the rest of your chemos!
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Hi Angelise - welcome. I also now have only two more chemos to do too! Yay!
Did my first herceptin today- and no problems. Feeling very out of sorts tonight though - and no idea why. Maybe because nothing tastes very nice and I'm having all sorts of cravings grr.
Think I'll go try some chocolate :-)
Trish
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hey chrissyb my inlaws from S/A nice to meet you
hey LuvMyLab thanks for the link nice to meet you
hey Trisha-anne nice to meet you enjoy your choclate i know what you mean bout the taste buds
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Trish - Chocolate was the one thing that still tasted ok all the way through my chemo (must be one of the reasons I put on so much weight!!!). I didn't do the gloves but I painted my nails all the way through chemo - they definitely weren't as strong, still got the ridges/lines but I managed to keep my nails. Had one accident where one fo them nearly ripped off but as it was only half way damaged I managed to keep it together with nail polish until it grew out enough to chop it off. I didn't do anythign with my toe nails and I think I'm beginning ot see effects of that now (when I finished chemo in July last year!). Looks as if there is actually a new nail growing underneath and pushing the old one off as it grows - they haven't actually come off yet but they are a bit dodgy at the moment, time will tell!
Angelice welcome - I'm from country VIC so not too far away from you :-)
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Hi Angelice -welcome
Trisha-Anne I came home from my first TCH and painted my fingernails and toenails black. My teenage son raised an eyebrow that his middle aged mum had painted her nails black and was going to get a couple of tatoos for radiation in a few months. See I'm sooooo trendy and didn't realise it !! I kept all of my fingernails (just a couple of horizontal ridges growing down) and one toenail turned black but didn't drop off. I did however have a bit of neuropathy in my feet but not my fingers. I finished chemo in Oct last year and I've still got a couple of numb toes but it's definitely getting better.
I sat down and had a really good cry yesterday. i think it's hitting me as to what I've actually experienced. Whilst doing surgeries, chemo & radiation, it was a constant whirl of doctors appts, blood test etc. Now that I'm only on Herceptin every 3 weeks and a Tamoxifen tablet every night, it hit my like a truck yesterday. I wasn't prepared for it but having checked on this website it seems a common reaction. I'm kind of glad to get the emotion out of my system. Today I feel a lot calmer and more like my old self in a new body if that makes sense.
hugs to all
xx
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Pirate Girl, I think it takes a while to recover from the 'experience' of cancer. You've been through so so much and it's true what you say, whilst you are in it the whirlwind sweeps you up. You give your life over to total strangers and hang on as tight as you can, then when you are on your own you realise what you've been through. Rest assured dear lady that you should have no doubt in your mind that you are a strong and corageous woman that can accomplish absolutely anything!
Let yourself have a good cry when you need, nothing wrong with that at all. xoxo
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Well chocolate tasted ok - sort of, and the cheese and onion chips tasted like cardboard. It's after 10.30 and i'm usually in bed by 9.30 and I'm wide awake and still feeling very out of sorts. These steroids are really bumming me out - but I've taken the last lot for this cycle - I'll probably crash tomorrow.
Pirategirl - I can just see the look on your son's face - sometimes you just gotta laugh don't you. I haven't done my toenails yet - will have to do them tomorrow - I don't want to lose any of those either. It's good you had a good cry yesterday - I did that after my last FEC treatment and my DH was wonderful - just held me - had no idea why I was so upset (neither did I so I won't hold that against him) but sometimes it's good just to sit and let it all out.
Sorry girls - raving a bit at the moment - just blame the steroids - why on earth would anyone want to take these things without a good reason? Or do the body builders/sportspeople take something different.
Will try to get some sleep I think
Night all - hugs to you all
Trish
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Hope everyone has a great Australia Day,,,,weather not too great in Melbourne at the moment.
Good that the chocolate tasted ok Trish and fingers crossed you got some sleep.
Hugs to all
jezza
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Happy Australia Day girls!
Finally got to sleep at 1.00am this morning! At least no more steroids till next treatment, feeling a bit shaky today - but not too bad :-)
Trish
xoxo
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Happy Australia Day girls!!!! Hope you enjoy your day what ever way you decide to celebrate!
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chrissyb
I just noticed the number of posts you have made in just a few months....thats amazing!
jezza
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jezza, I like playing games.....lol
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Oh thats your secret! I was beginning to feel inadequate !!
jezza
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Wow, look at this. I have just logged in after a long absence and noticed an Australian connection - how apt seeing it is Australia Day. Wonderful to have this thread, but particularly crap that we are all here ... you know what I mean. Hi Jezza. Got to love this place. Big hugs everyone. Helena xx
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We went on a picnic to Mt Glorious - the breeze was wonderful - not good to come back down to the heat.
Trisha - I noticed you were up late last night - those steroids sure do keep you awake. I asked my onc if I could take the night time one in the afternoon - he said ok to do that. It helped a lot with getting to sleep.
Sue
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Hi Helena! Nice to catch up again and I hope you're doing well. Yes it is great to have an Aussie thread here.
Was planning on having a quiet Australia Day but my neighbours teenage kids are having a very noisy one! Parents are away....hmmmm Hopefully they will burn out by my bedtime or maybe their parents will come home...can't complain doesn't happen often.
Takeaway Malaysian food tonight...not very Australian but very yummy!!
jezza0 -
Teenage kids burning out by your bedtime - good luck with that Jezza!!!!
I'm great thank you, I hope you are also doing well. We spent a few hours at the beach - very hot - and having Snapper stuffed with prawns for dinner (my husband is cooking). Nice. big hugs
Helena
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