All about Xeloda
Comments
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Thanks Chick. It's hit hard this cycle (number 3).
Good news is the itch and pimples have gone.
Pain is such that I took pain relief today. Ribs, back, shoulders, neck.
I'm hoping it will pass as quickly as it arrived x0 -
Just stopping by to say hello and hoping everyone is ok.
Chickadee, hope you have done some fun things this weekend.
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Yes, I have a new pixie haircut and my DH and I just came back from chips and margaritas! Completely drifting down the river of De Nile and loving it.
Bring it on Monday!0 -
Has anyone ever experienced a rash? I just woke up from a nap and the bottom of my legs are red and they itch like crazy. It looks like all the blood vessels in my legs have come to the surface. The other day I noticed the same thing on my butt cheek but I blamed it on the heating pad.
I have been on Xeloda for 37 months and never experienced this before.
Thanks
Gigi
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Hi leftfootforward - my oncologist has had to give me an extra week off three times now just to get the side effects under control.
Definitely ask yours about it.
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Gigi- I definately got a rash from my Xeloda on one of my cycles. It hasn't come back but it was awful. I itched for 2 weeks straight. I got away by applying gold bond or benadryl creams to it. I think rash is one of those SE that comes and goes. I hope yours goes away soon.
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Hi
I had the craziest itch for about 10 days and then it just disappeared.
Then I had pimples all over my face and they disappeared.
I am now on week 2 of cycle for and am tired. I spent the entire day in bed and I'm still tired. I hope that this passes. In the meantime, I'll listen to my body abd rest.0 -
Hi all......does anyone know why we have to eat something when we take our Xeloda?
Is it because it may cause nausea on an empty stomach or that it just won't be as effective?
I have mornings where I just can't stand the thought of food but have to force something down.
I'm on day 6 of cycle 2 & still no H/F syndrome......could I be lucky enough to escape that side effect? Feeling a lot more tired & a bit more nausea this cycle though....
Hope everyone is doing ok....:)
Karen xox0 -
You could try something simple like a piece of toast. In the evenings I did pudding cups.
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I guess the Xeloda is working. My scan results are back and they were good. My biggest liver tumor is down from 3.3 cm to 0.6, my second one is down from 2.6 cm to 0.5 and the third is down from 1.5 cm to 0.5. NO mets in the lungs or bones. I guess the quirky SE of Xeloda are worth it. I meet with my MO on friday to talk about what comes next. I think I will be headed to a liver specialist to discuss targeted treatment now that the mets are smaller.
thanks for being there everyone
Karen- there were days all I ate was a piece of toast. You don't need a whole meal.
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Karen - the Xeloda support nurse told me that you need to eat with it to slow down the absorption - otherwise you get too much, too fast, and it increases the chances for side effects.
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Great news leftfoot!
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That's GREAT leftfootforward!
I'm wussing out - going to 7on/7off. Can't stand the HFS anymore!
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Well, I hope Vitamin X is going to do for me what it has for you, LeftFoot! That is great news! I had my dose reduced after round 1 since my SE got too bad. I got through round 2 with less extreme SE but still had petechiae (paticial hemorraging) on the tops of my feet and ankles. I also had actual peeing of my hands and feet. I've spent a ton on lotions and creams but found that Gehwol med. Lipidro Cream from Germany with a layer of Prevex Protectant cream overtop of it seems to have helped my fingers and hands. I use Burts Bees Foot Cream on my feet but I may need to use some of the Lipidro Cream on my feet too. I also use Now brand pure cocoa butter with jojoba oil and shea butter. Whatever works. I must say the hyperpigmentation of my first knuckles on both hands and on my palms isn't very pretty but if I can have a scan in three weeks that show Reggie has returned, I'll be fine with the SEs!
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Thanks Luv for that info......I've googled & haven't been able to find out WHY the food with pills! Good to now know though...
I've got a few tiny bits of red on the palms of both of my hands & I've been waking in the middle of the night with dreadful pins & needles & numbness in my right hand.....so I'm guessing this is part of it...
I'm only cycle 2 but feeling very fatigued.....oh well, the things we have to do, will be worth it for some stability of this crap disease....:)
Hope everyone is feeling ok & luv to all.
Karen Xbox0 -
Leftfoot, great news; good to hear some good news.
Chickadee how did your Monday go?
Chele, so the HFS does better on the 7/7 cycle?
I was just told to take the Xeloda with food; that it was easier on the stomach. I eat something before I take my night time Morphine dose also. After a while, all these meds have seemed to work on my stomach.
My time off Xeloda - fatigue has been worse and I'm still having lots of nausea and joint pain- all joints. Is the joint pain something all of you have experienced?
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Leftfoot it is great to hear that your tumours have shrunk that much.
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great news Leftfoot see nuro and radonc tommrow will see what they say keeping finger crossed! love and blessings to all
chris
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Nanium, the SE's are supposed to be reduced with 7/7. So far, so good; yesterday was my first day off, hands were red - like they do to build to a very painful Saturday (which seemed to be the peak - I start Xeloda on Thursdays) but today they must have realized the poisen stopped. I'm wearing gloves to keep them moist. I seem to be sensitive to chemicals, especially in the paper at work, so I'm protectiong my hands from it. I've gotten my best results from keeping my hands moist using Aloe and Lemon, then a couple times a day and at bedtime I use Shea Butter on top of the aloe/lemon. Peeling like crazy, but I'm at least starting to feel with my fingertips again!
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Chele - glad you have feeling in those fingertips. I don't have and not sure when I will again. It is such a weird feeling when you know you are touching or picking something up but can't feel it.
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Chele, happy to read that you are feeling with the fingertips again. The lack of feeling in my fingertips has not improved since I stopped the Abraxane in mid-November. Hate the thought that problem could get worse on the Xeloda.
Saw the oncologist today and she wanted to see the radiation burn and wasn't happy with the size of it. She wants me to wait another week before I start Xeloda again - only then if the burn is completely healed. I gather that Xeloda slows the healing process. She also didn't decrease my dosage of Xeloda, kept it at 4300 mgs. daily and kept me on the 14/7 schedule. I was hoping for a decrease and the 7/7 schedule.
Saskie, I agree with you on the fingertips. Had to put on jewelry too.
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Nan, did you get some Sivadene or something similar to help heal that burn?
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Not the Silvadene but some other cream. It has formed thick scabs that are still very sore. Can't believe having to wait to restart the Xeloda. I just get nervous being off treatment. Really, since stopping the Abraxane in mid-November and then surgery in mid-December haven't been on anything consistently.
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Finished second round of two weeks on and one week off. Had my scan a few days ago and tumor has shrunk 50 % in my liver. No changes to my spine so I o see radiation doctor on Friday. My onc. Stopped my xeloda for a month and put me on steriods. Has anyone had their xeloda stopped for radiation?
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Summer ... why the steroids? I'm reading this thread as it may be my next tx because Faslodex failed and now I have liver mets
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Dang saskie and Nanium, that sucks that you don't have feeling. Mine is kinda coming and going. Oddly I find I'm most comfortable wearing the nursing gloves. (not all the time, gotta give them some air.) I wear them when my fingers turn to hard drawn prunes. I put some Aloe in them to keep my fingers moist. When I do that I have more feeling.
Ouch Nanium! I had radiation burns, I sooooooooooo feel your pain.
Summer, glad to hear your liver tumor shrunk so much!
Hi SyrMom!
I'm on my week off. I'm finding it's a different deal every.single.day. Weird. Some days I can use lotion, some days I can use aloe/lemon + shea butter, other days I do best with Lanolin. My feet had a hard ridge running around the sole. It's peeling off in hard chunks that will pull to the quick. ouch.
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I believe to help shrink the tumor on my spine before radiation therapy. I just thought I could do both. I really don't want to quit taking the xeloda since it did so good. And to think six weeks ago I was having a hard time swallowing that pill. Lol
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I can't find who said it first (I'm too lazy to scroll through all the pages) but EXFOLIATE!!! She was sure right. I'm also wearing nurses gloves to keep the aloe juice on. My hands feel almost normal while wearing gloves. Without them the shrivel and get hard and painful.
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I've been on Xeloda for almost a year, 2 weeks on, one off. I only recently got the drippy eyes and nose. I'm wondering if allergy medicine would help. For my hands and feet, every night before bed I put Burts Bees Almond Hand Cream on them then put aloe socks and gloves on over, and it's helped, and made it bearable. It was getting to the point I couldn't hardly type at work.
I only take 3 pills twice a day, when I took 4, I couldn't get through the work day, I would have to go home and take a nap and come back, it was awful. 3 are working, so hopefully I won't have to go back to 4.
I'm so grateful for this medicine that has been working so well.
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Hi ladies! So I just found out I'm going to be starting Ixempra April 1st and they are bumping up my Xeloda to four twice a day instead of three for two weeks and one week off. Does anyone have any input on Ixempra with Xeloda? Deyla
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