Weekly Taxol group
Comments
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I've developed a cough over the last 10 days or so. Not a bad one, just kind of irritating. I think it is sinus issues since I don't have an nose hair. Has anyone had a cough, and if you did what did you take for it? If I every get a cough I usually take Robitussan DM and Nyquil (sp). I might call the office tomorrow and see. It seems better today, but I hate coughing.
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home mom, I had a cough this past week...deep in my chest, coupled with an overall stuffy head. My MO put me on an antibiotic and I also tool plain Mucinex. It did. to supers the cough, it helped me get it all out. Maybe a different kind of cough? I also sucked on ricolas and cherry ludens and drank a LOT of water/tea.
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I got the head cover from hopescarves.com. very cool organization.
And at my last treatment today I got to choose a piece of jewelry from operationblingfoundation.org. another very cool organization.
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I'll have to check it out. I don't think anything special happens where I am getting treatment. I don't even see that bell a lot of places have that you can ring when you're finished with your last treatment. This week is 2 of 4.
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The cough has gotten better. Still there but not as frequent and more of a throat clearing then a cough. I think it is alergies that went right to the chest, doubt I need antibiotics, just fluids, rest, and possibly mucinex or something similar. Even chewing pepermint gum stops the cough
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HomeMom, I had a cough through out chemo too. It's gotten better now but I think it was from sinus congestion which I had that varied in strength. Had and still have the stupid snoring.
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I can tell it is my allergies, I just want to know what I can take. I don't know if my usual otc meds are ok. I meant to buy some richola drops today. I chew gum or suck on my sugar free candy. With no nose hair it just went straight to my chest. I blow my nose every morning and bloody boogers come out.
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Hi, I just finished weekly taxol number 3 on Tuesday. I'm finding taxol much easier than AC, but am easily fatigued if I try to do too much. I have developed a hypersensitivity rash on my arms and legs, not pretty for shorts and t-shirt weather, oh well, pants it is. I have a prescription cortisone cream. Has anyone else developed a blotchy, itchy,kind of scaley rash? If so did you find anything that worked to reduce or get rid of it? I need help and can't get into see the dermatologist for two weeks. My primary care doc prescribed the cortisone.
About the cough and allergies, I had them too. My MO allows me to take otc zyrtec and prescription flonase nasal spray. Controlling the allergies really helped to get rid of my cough.
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blueberry
I had a non itchy rash that was all over. I took Benadryl and it went away. Maybe a combo of that with a topical would do the trick. I also think there's an Aveeno oatmeal soak that could help. Sorry you're so uncomfortable.
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Jenwith4kids- congratulations!!! Love your head covering! I finished on Monday. Such a relief! No bell, or piece or jewelry or anything for final chemo where I go.
Ladies- was wondering for those taking L-glutamine, what dosage are you taking? Also, has anyone developed skin discoloration on that back of your hands? (Not the palm side). I have what looks like really, really bad sun damage or sun spots but my MO and nurses say its discoloration from the Taxol (similar to what happens to the nails). They said it might go away but takes a long, long time. It looks horrible.
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I'm taking between 24-30 grams of L-glutamine powder a day. I split morning and evening. I've also heard it's good to split three ways morning, lunch, evening. I bought Pure Encapsulations brand. It's expensive, but it works!
Good luck!
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Thanks linzer, I will try adding benadryl to the mix today, and hopefully this rash will subside.
Congratulations to those finishing!
What do people take L-glutamine for? Neuropathy? I am on b12 and b6...
I'm sorry about your spots, CMP. I feel for you, I am battling rash spots up and down my arms and legs, on my hands too. I wonder if the lotions for fading spots and evening skin tone could work on your hands?
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I am taking the glutamine but not sure I'm taking the correct amount. I am taking it with me to the MO's tomorrow to verify I am taking it correctly. No issues with neuropathy after one DD treatment.
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HomeMom, you can probably take Claritin. I did. I had bloody noses too.
Cmp106, yep the discoloration is a normal Taxol side effect. Sorry!
As to the L-Glutamine, most ladies take 30mg and take it in 10mg doses, 3 times a day.0 -
Does anyone know how the mg translates to tsp or tbsp?
I was told the palms of my hands may darken, not the tops.
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I take the glutamine for neuropathy and as a pleasant "side effect" it has allowed me to not have to take Immodium - yahoo! I think each powder probably has its own dose that equals mgs. The one I take (Pure Encapsulations brand) is 3 grams per tsp. so I have to take 10 tsps. a day to get to 30 grams. I average about 8 tsps. a day, some days I chug down the 10 tsps. 5 morning / 5 night.
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Thanks, everyone! I'll look into the L-glutamine powder. That's a great question about translating the mg into tsp or tbsp. Anyone know how that works? My hands hurt pretty bad from neuropathy. My doctor is talking about prescribing a medicine but I've heard mixed things about it so I was hoping to take something a little less harsh to see if it would help with some of my pain. Ugh, chemo, the gift that keeps giving!
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I'm taking the jar I have of glutamine with me tomorrow to treatment so they can figure it out. It says on the label that 4,500 mcg (45 mg)equals one heaping tsp and I was told to take 10 mg 3x a day. They told me that 10mg equals one Tbsp, that sounds like it is too much.
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cmp, hoping the glutamine does it for you!
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Le sigh....up early tomorrow for round 2. Get the tylenol extra strength ready!
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Hang in there HomeMom and good luck!
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Slept for 30 min in the chair today and I'm still sleepy. Met a nice woman next to me (Gator fan too!), she has Her2+ so different treatment. She will go on Thursdays to Winter Park for treatments, so I won't see her again.
I had a conversation with my MO about icing. She said if someone wants to do that and it makes them feel better, she will support them. Then she asked me a question. She said, do you think that the chemo is only going through your fingers and toes while you are getting the infusion? She said it flows through your body, including your toes and fingers, for the entire time between treatment. Otherwise you would get chemo everyday. Hmmm, makes sense to me. I asked her if the glutamine and B6 were to offset the neurapathy and she said yes. If I start to feel tingling I will let her know and they will adjust the taxol treatment. It is cumlative so I may not feel it until after the 3rd treatment ( I only get 4).
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Jenwith4kids....CONGRATS!!!!!!!
Just wanted to leave a lil update...3 weeks PFC and my over all fatigue is pretty much gone, (back down to my pre-cancer fatigue level, lol). my appetite is slowly coming back, I dont have to force myself to eat, taste buds are improving, occ metallic taste. Achy legs and nueropathy in my feet are going strong and occ gets worse...UGH.
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Hi everyone - wow I did it - finished with A/C as of yesterday. Never thought I could get through this. Didn't have any real problems on A/C - maybe two days that I needed to rest but I sailed through pretty easy. I am grateful! Now I am petrified of what Taxol is going to bring - very scared of an allergic reaction. Any one want to give me some insight - much appreciation! Hope all of you ladies are doing well! Thanks, VeraAnn
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Funclassygal - I think you will find SE's for Taxol are all over the charts. I have had very few and others have had a rocky road. I am stage IV and will hopefully be able to tolerate for a long time.
Here is my dose protocol. I go for my blood work at around 8 AM and usually see my Onc at 9:40. I am usually in the chair around 10. They start the IV saline and the anti-nausea bag, followed by the steroid and benadryl. The Taxol is next. The pre-meds take about 1/2 hrs per bag and the Taxol now takes about 40 minutes. When I started out the process took longer because they wanted to make sure I was tolerating.everything well.
I am on a three week on one week off schedule and had my 12th dose last Wednesday. My hair has thinned quite a bit. I wear a wig when I am going someplace festive, a hat or scarf when I am going to the store, etc. and I go natural at home. I have transient neuropathy in my right toes and restless legs quite a bit. I have bone pain but remember that I have bone tumors so you may not have that. Fatigue is a factor for a day or two after treatment. Lately I have had the steroid high and don't sleep well or not at all the first two nights after treatment and the last time I came down from the steroids I had a crying jag.
My advise would be to read through this thread and just roll with the treatment until you have to deal with something. There is a great list of coping options on the website and I will post it for you if I can find it.
Good luck. You can do this.
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Thank you so much Briga, I really appreciate your reply!
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HomeMom- fellow Gator fan here!! I did not ice, I tried holding a cold aluminum bottle a couple of times because my fingertips were throbbing. I got neuropathy really really bad....my. MO encouraged me to grin and bear it through Taxol, so I did. I took Gabapentin for the neuropathy and it eventually calmed down. It was really painful, though. I have a little tingle in my first fingers and thumbs and all my nails lifted. One of my big hoes nails looks like it might fall off, it's pretty bad.
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Thanks for the feedback on the glutamine. It's still confusing to me (powder vs. capsules) so I'm going to ask at tomorrow's appointment. Tomorrow I will be one week PFC (I still go for Herceptin and Perjeta every 3 weeks).
My nails are a mess and my fingers hurt so bad. I can handle the discoloration since I know it will eventually grow out but the pain and sensitivity is another story. I've talked to my MO and she said she would prescribe Lyrica or Gabapentin for pain but I'm having a hard time determining if my fingers hurt from neuropathy or from nail changes. The meds will work for neuropathy pain only. In the past week and a half, my finger nails have started to discolor starting from the tips working its way down towards the base. Does the discoloration mean the nail is dead? If so, are my nails sensitive due to the nail dying or could this be neuropathy? They only really started to hurt when the discoloration started so I don't know what the pain is from (which sounds crazy, I know). It hurts to do things with my hands and if I accidentally bang my hand (nails) it hurts. Also, two nails are lifting- does this mean I will lose them?
I have some numbness in my feet and toes and just hope this neuropathy resolves itself. For those of you who are PFC and had some neuropathy issues, on average, how long until you noticed some resolution? I knew I wouldn't start to feel great immediately after PFC but I'm struggling with SE's getting worse each day before they get better.
Hope everyone can enjoy the weekend...
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Woohoo! Gators! I live in Seattle now but we moved here from Orlando. I have a neighbor around the corned that are 'Noles fans. Found it funny when I saw their flag. I'm a bigger Knights fan! We're treating the kids and flying back home at the end of October for my son's 6th birthday and hitting Disney World. My BF works for the Satanical Mouse (as I call him) so she gets us in for free. Never realized just how damn costly the parks were until I lost my resident perks. LOL
Hope everyone has a side effect free weekend! I start rads on Monday. Dun dun dunnn! ;p
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Xrayalli - Go Gators!
I haven't had the first bit of tingling in my fingers or toes. Did you take Glutamine and B6? I've been taking the B6 for about a month now (two weeks before I started Taxol) and the glutamine is mixed with juice 2 times a day for the first five days. Not sure if that is why. I have just two more treatments - Sept 5 is my last one. Funny things - yesterday I decided to look closely at my legs with my reading glasses on and saw I had about an inch of hair! I never lost the hair on my legs apparently. Then this morning I noticed I am growing eyebrow hair below my eyebrows. I almost have to pluck! I haven't had to pluck my eyebrows in about 4 years!
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