Weekly Taxol group
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I had to wait 4 weeks after mastectomy to start Taxol.
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I finished my 12 wk taxol/h on April 17th. Herceptin has been fine so far. About the only side effects I've had has been nausea, nothing major. Working with no problems
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Suladog, how long until you felt like the SE from Taxol started to really go away? I am so over my dry, bloody nose, but only one week out and trying to be patient.
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I have a blurry vision, especially up close. I'm suspecting it's from Taxol, but will it ever go away? Or do I need a new prescription?
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I have that also, BB, and I'm pretty sure it's because of dry eyes. I wear contacts and I frequently have to take them out in the afternoon because they're sticking to my eyeballs.
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Molly, did you go to see an eye doctor? Or are you waiting to see if this passes. I wonder how long it could take. I'm working from home for the time being, soon to return to the office, and I can barely see what I'm doing on the computer. Squinting most of the time.
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I'm just waiting it out for now.
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Molly, I finished Taxol 3/3 and I think my dry bloody nose started to clear up around week three and was gone by week four or five. I had a super dry mouth and that took a little longer but is gone now. My close up vision got worse and has not recovered yet. I also have some neuropathy and that is also hanging on, although my hands and fingers have improved. Good Luck, MJ
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Molly & BB, I too have been experiencing blurry vision up close as well as a dry bloody nose daily. I have 3 Taxols left and figured I'd wait out the vision issue to see if it clears on it's own. My eyes do feel really dry. I usually use drops in the morning and that helps for a while. And the nose...that's just a nuisance so I hope it clears within a week or two following treatment. It probably didn't help that I had had a nose surgery years ago and ever since then I tend to have dry bloody noses more frequently.
My worst SE with Taxol had been constipation - the most severe I've ever experienced. I ended up having the anti-nausea meds removed from my pre -meds and it made a world of difference. Luckily, my nausea hasn't been bad at all without the meds. The nurse said I was the first person she's seen ask to not have it ...but after having such bad constipation I was willing to try anything. I had previously been taking colace, senekot, miralax and even resorted to suppositories that still didn't work. Horrible and painful!
MJ, I hope you see improvements in your vision soon and that your neuropathy gets better. I would hope by this far out, SE would have faded away. Good luck.
Angie
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Going on my 11th Taxol treatment tomorrow and one of my toenails is really loose, an ugly yellow color and my toe hurts, has anyone else had this issue and if so, did you just let the nail fall off or gently pull it off? I would rather not pull it but then again I would rather that it not fall off at all. My apologies if I have grossed anyone out!
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6doggies - one of my big toe nails got purple/darkish brown and the toe hurts a little tiny bit. I'm leaving it as is, no way I'll be pulling anything. My husband said that maybe I should tape it, so I don't stumble into something and rip it off.
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BB, that is exactly what my boyfriend suggested, mine is my big toe nail too and I may tape it up just to be safe. Are you having any issues with the bottom of your feet?0 -
The bottoms of my feet were sore for a few weeks here and there, like how you'd feel after a long day walking at an amusement park or similar. I am a week out from my last Taxol and they are fine now.
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My feet never did hurt. I had a little tingling and numbness for a couple of days, but that is gone now.
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My feet are like plastic on the bottoms, peel horribly and hurt a lot some days. Working 50+ hours on my feet doesn't help, I'm sure. I have been putting lotion on them every night and prop them up when I'm at my desk. My Oncologist said that I'm the first one he has seen with that side effect and thought that it was from the AC still being in my body when I started Taxol. Hopefully my feet will be back to normal soon after my last treatment and my toe nail will stay.
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Molly,
I felt a lot better after a couple of weeks, and then about 3 wks ago people started saying wow, you're back and I guess I really was. I cold capped during taxol so I lost no hair and everything looked the same for three months, or so I thought. Evidently I looked tired and not as energetic as I usually am (I'm ADD). I think my hair fooled me as to how I really felt.
I had diarrhea issues during taxol, really bad issues. Anyway, it stopped after I was just on herceptin though I still have some mild diarrhea, and I still have nausea from the herceptin and I guess arimidex. I'm one of those people who did not gain on chemo since it killed my appetite. But I'm feeling good, running everyday and back working , so it's all good.
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Anyone experience nasty acne or breakouts during Taxol? My face looks worse than it did in my teen years following Taxol #8. I don't know what to do about it as my skin seems easily irritated too. Ideas welcome
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Angiel,
My skin is worse for wear. It's super dry and I have had misc rashes all over. My face so far is good, with the exception of the eyebrows. Really bummed about that.
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My skin is awful, the worst it's been in my life. I think it's the decadron. My MO called in cleosin gel, which is an antibiotic cream. It did clear up the acne but as I kept using it, it dried out my skin terribly and started causing a red whitehead rash to break out on the entire lower half of my face. So I just resigned myself to acne.
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I had the worst acne of my life after the 2nd and 3rd Taxol and I was told that it was most likely caused by the steroids. I used just over the counter acne treatments. As the time went by the acne was getting less angry.
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I also was having some mild acne that I think is from the Decadron. Acne is a common side effect of steroids. It's hard to clear up because I think the Taxol is so drying to the skin and any topical acne creams dry it out even more. I used a small dab of tea tree oil on each spot and that seemed to work well for me.
Yesterday my MO decided to try my treatment without Decadron. When I described my symptoms of fatigue and brain fog that hits me rather suddenly on Saturday (about 48 hours after my treatment), they felt it was not a symptom of Taxol but more likely a steroid crash.They decided to just use the Benadryl and skip the Decadron. I was nervous but they assured me they are very prepared should I have a reaction and felt confident that I would not have a reaction as this was my 4th infusion. I did fine without it, the infusion went well...but certainly felt differently today. Typically on Friday I feel really good with a lot of energy. Today wasn't terrible, but not as good as previous Fridays. Hoping for a better weekend...4 down/8 to go!
Does anyone have ideas for getting better sleep? I don't think I am getting enough.
Hope you all have a good weekend and THANK YOU for sharing your words of encouragement... those who are a few weeks ahead of me- it helps so much to read about your completion of Taxol!
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Kerry, I started taking Ambien for sleep. It is the only thing that has kept me asleep. Before all of this I would use Melatonin. I also liked this other the counter med called Good Nites. It is homeopathic with melatonin and other herbs. I am sure there are some essential oils good sleep but I havne tried. I decided enough was enough and took the Ambien.
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Thank you all for your input regarding the acne. Molly, I will ask about the cream you received although I'm sure a whitehead rash isn't an improvement. I do have some tea tree oil, so I'll try that in the meantime. Today, I used my daughter's acne leave-on mask and now my skin is just red, irritated and bumpy.
Kerry, I also have a Rx for Ambien. It really helps but I still seem to wake in the middle of the night & can't fall back asleep. I think the Ambien CR (controlled release) works a lot better but for some reason that one is longer covered by my insurance. I also use melatonin on nights that I don't take Ambien and find that 3 mg really helps. I have a hard time staying asleep due to nights sweats and haven't found the perfect solution yet.
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Angiel, I have the same issue as you waking up in the middle of the night and then can't fall back to asleep, I woke up this morning at 3:41 with a soaking wet pillow from night sweats and wasn't able to fall back to sleep so I just got up, changed the sheets and started my day.
I'm so glad that you ladies posted about acne, my face has been breaking out too and I thought that maybe it was stress related but what all of you have said makes perfect sense. Number 11 Taxol done yesterday, one more to go, thank God, my poor veins need the rest!
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I am taking xanax to sleep. I try to take a few nights off occasional. But I need sleep. I felt much more tired last round because I was trying not to take anything.
Be careful with Melatonin. Buy only from a reputable source. There was a story maybe 6 months ago about GNC's supplements being tested and a large percentage of them not having in them what they said they had in them. They are not regulated at all.
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I have not had any sleep problems on Taxol, but when I was first diagnosed, the only way I could sleep was with an audio book (I would listen with one ear bud so as not to disturb my husband.) I would pick books that I had read before by authors I liked, and would set the sleep timer on my tablet to shut off after 15 or 30 minutes. If I woke up in the middle of the night, I would just restart the book. This allowed me to fall asleep without thinking about things and thus without the horrible anxiety. If I wasn't able to sleep, listening to the audio book was more restful then listen to my thoughts.0
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Starting Taxol on Thursday....is there anything I can do to hopefully prevent neuropathy.......vitamins, supplements? Also does icing fingers and toes help with saving the nails? Thanks in advance
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Anew,
TTfan, told me to take 3 tsp of Lglutamine 2x a day in 1/2 glass of water to prevent neuropathy. I had no problems with that during chemo and continue to take it to prevent any problems from neuropathy on herceptin or arimidex. I also take 4000 mg vitamin D, (my mo suggested) B6, biotin and 6 drops of biosil in 1/4 glass of water 1x a day for bone, hair and nails. Check with your doctor before doing anything but I had no major problems aside from the usual nausea and diarrhea ( thanks immodium). My MO also had me take a slow release iron pill 1x a day as I was anemic.
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Suladog
Thank you for the information. My MO doesnt allow me to take anything other than a Multi vitamin and Vit D but I am going to insist on the L Glut as I am so afraid of neuropathy. Also does icing the fingers and toes help?
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AnewBeginning, my MO also had me take L-Glutamine 3 x 10 grams, and Vitamin B-6 100 mg to prevent neuropathy. It seems to have done the trick. I never iced toes/fingers, in fact I was told to be careful and not to expose them to cold even while grabbing things from fridge and freezer. No neuropathy as of yet and my nails seem to be fine except for one discolored big toe nail.
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