Weekly Taxol group
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rodeogirl I finished Taxol a little over 3 weeks ago. It was not an easy go for me, but it could have been worse. I know that's no help to you but it varies so much from person to person. My dosage was high in the beginning but was reduced twice because of neuropathy. Sorry you're having such a hard time. I would let my doc know about everything you're experiencing, certainly about shortness of breath and your heart rate.
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My dose is 148ml each week. I get short of breath when hiking uphill or going up stairs.
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thanks lady humps. I am hoping it doesn't happen again either I still have 8 more to go
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I have received four, one hour treatments of taxol for stage III breast cancer. My last treatment was Tuesday of this week. Yesterday, the knuckles on both of my hands have a red, bumpy, itchy rash. Now today, the back of my head has the same itchy rash. I've left a message with my doctor and waiting for a message back. Just wondering if anyone else has had this rash and if so what should I expect.
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MWR, I don't have a visible rash, but my knuckles have been itching, as well as the first joint on my index finger. My nurse said to try some cortisone cream on it.
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hi lady lumps- i have been to hospital 4 times on chemo- couldnt breath again last night= day 5 first weekly dose- im not having anymore- too scary- i waa given 6 months and have spent the last 3 demolished by chemo- at least the ancer dosent give me head pressure sinus and heart probs
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mwr I had an itchy red rash on my knuckles up to the first finger joints, nowhere else. I used a cream I had for dermatitis, it took away the itch.
rodeogirl I am sorry you're having so many issues with chemo. Hopefully your doctor can find something to help. Best wishes to you.
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I just noticed red inflammation of one of my knuckles . it hurts if I touch. I only had one dose of Taxol next one due tomorrow. Its after hours for my MO. Is this something I should be concerned and call his emergency hotline or it's ok to wait for tomorrow? Anyone has the same problem?
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First Herceptin/Taxol infusion down, 11 (Taxol) to go! Just a few SE's so far-some slight tingling in toes with really dry eyes so far. I went home and slept for 13 hours, I guess sleep can go either way-so glad I slept. I am going to try and go for a run today, just a few miles. Hoping that SE's don't get any worse as the week goes on. Have many of you noticed that additional SE's pop up a few days afterward?
Have a great weeks ladies!
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Hi Slapp, It seems you are a week behind me. I am going for my second Taxol infusion in a few hours . It was a good week was able to exercise daily. Had a few SE before but they gone now...You can read my posts above . Just came back from 3.5 mile run.
I also wish there will be no more SE after my second infusion.
Good luck to us all!
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Good for you Viktoryak! Yep-I am one week behind you. So glad the first week is behind you, it looked like it went pretty well for you. Glad you were able to run-I am looking forward to that today! Hoping your second infusion goes as well as the first, I am sure it will.
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Hi ladies: regarding RASH: I have had two Taxol/Herceptin treatments so far (third is this Friday), and just yesterday started developing a mild rash on hands, sort of knuckles and in between thumb and finger. I at first thought it was mild eczema or irritation from so much hand washing and sanitizing, but reading your comments , maybe it is from the chemo. I will put prescription cortisone on it and see.
As for side effects increasing or staying the same, my MO told me that with weekly taxol, they do increase. My eyes weren't dry first week, that I noticed, but starting yesterday they were feeling a bit dry and today I needed moisturizing eye drops. I have continued my exercise, though moderated it or skipped on a few days..but I am very overwhelmingly tired at times, but luckily, I have taken time off work and can nap at will. My Herceptin is part of this and I can't really segment out what is what. (It does cause flu like aches and pains and I have those too, but not too terrible so far...)
Hope that helps!
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Feeling excited cus yesterday I finished 6/12 so I'm officially half way done with Taxol. T has been so much easier for me than AC. With that said I've experienced the flowing SE's:
Significant thinning of eyebrows, lashes and loss of all nose hair
Runny noses, some bleeding when I blow
Horrendous night sweats...sometimes 3-4 night. I'm pre-menapause so MO blaming taxol
Significant hair shed in spite of cold capping. Think I'm at 50% loss so far...especially on crown.
I as surprised to find peach fuzz growing on my legs. First hair since feb. Still no bodyhair anywhere else tho.
Some weight gain and moodiness from steroid. Moodiness occurs on Fri after Tues infusion.
Chemo brain...hard time coming up with right words
I think that sums it up for now. Here's to hoping final six rounds are just as manageable with less hair shed.
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DEACONLADY - CONGRATS!!!!!! So happy for you!
For those of you just starting - You can do this!! I just had #11 last Friday and will be going for my final #12 this Friday. Triple positive, post menopausal with diabetes. If I can do it you can too!
Days 3-5 are hardest for me. Body aches and pains, weakness and fatigue would make me short of breath when expending myself too much. OUCH My Feet! That's when I could tell it was all starting - Day 3 the dreaded CHEMO FEET! Burning, stinging, numbness in the toes and heel on my left foot. Day 4 is usually the all over flu-like feeling with headache and restlessness.
The key for me was drinking at least 10-12 eight ounce glasses of water a day and taking naps. I swim daily for exercise and its amazing what floating around in the pool will do for you mentally. I hit a wall on week #9 and #10 where I seriously questioned getting to #12. I had gotten lazy with keeping track of the amount of water and rest I was getting. Went back to it and I have my second wind this week! Very few SEs post #11 - drinking lots of water and at least a 2-3 hour nap daily with going to bed by 9. Took my granddaughter shopping for her birthday and while it was exhausting, I enjoyed it tremendously.
One other observation - I have also had problems with severe diarrhea through out the weekend after every Friday infusion. So bad I couldn't leave the house for 1-2 days every week. It took me until week #6 to figure out my diet to help with that. I eat cottage cheese with applesauce every morning, a banana as a snack and every three days I have an Activia yogurt. The Activia keeps me from getting constipated. Problem solved!
And yes, there is the dreaded hair loss. I finally had my husband buzz mine off since it was so thin. It was actually fun sharing that with him (he's bald lol). We've been married for 32 years and we have been through it all! Now my eyelashes are falling out and I suppose I will lose my eyebrows at some point. I am so shocked that it hasn't mattered to me. I was raised to never leave the house without your face and hair done and physical beauty was highly valued. I think I was more interested to see what I would look like without hair than fretting over the loss of it. Once I buzzed it, it was out of sight out of mind and I moved on to other things. I do love that showers are shorter and easier and I can be ready to leave the house in 15 minutes! For those of you out there with the hot flashes - a bald head is much, much cooler!
Hang in there - I'm pulling for you! You are in my thoughts everyday!
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Had my fifth Taxol yesterday and showed my rash to the Doctor. She does think it's from the Taxol. I'm now putting a prescription cream on it two to three times as day. It seems to be a little better. She also told me to take zyrtex to help with the itching. So I'm taking a half of a zyrtex in the morning so I won't be sleepy and a Benadryl at night to help with itching and sleep. The rash now has spread to my left elbow and is spreading up my right hand and arm. If it doesn't improve or gets worse she will send me to a dermatologist. It's bearable now but I want to really keep a watch on it so it doesn't spread anymore. Other side effects have just been: hair loss, sleeping problems at night with lots of hot flashes, very tired during the day because of this, and I now have noticed my first mouth sore. I'm going to stay on top of that too. Starting to swish with baking soda and water. I've heard horrible stories about them and don't want that to happen either. As a whole the process hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be. I will have to have 4 treatments of AC after I finish the 12 taxol treatments. I know that might not be as easy. Then four to six weeks of radiation. I retired this year after 28 years of teaching, it's not how I thought I would spend my first year of retirement but at least I don't have to go to work after chemo. I'm not sure how some of you do that.
One last question: What exactly is chemo brain?
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mwr- Chemo brain is a common term used by cancer survivors to describe thinking and memory problems that can occur after cancer treatment. Chemo brain can also be called chemo fog, chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment or cognitive dysfunction.Jan 15, 2016.
For me, with chemo brain I tend to lose my ideas half way through...I'll start a conversation and then completely forget what I wanted to say. It's very weird. It's interesting you are doing AC after Taxol. I thought it was most commonly done the other way around. I don't want to be a downer but I found AC to be more difficult...still manageable though. With AC I had horrendous heartburn, metal mouth and chronic constipation.
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I have the itchy knuckle and rash on my right hand and a little less on the left hand. My head it itching like crazy all of a sudden and when I looked for a rash I found I'm spouting white soft fuzz on my head , no rash on my head. I am just using some OTC cortisone cream for now and sometimes take a Benadryl at night if itching real bad. I'm on 9th of 12 taxol and had DD AC first
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Trixie just also had my #6 on Monday wohoo :-) Half way is done. After #5 I was sick because the Dr changed my pre-med to a lighter one as I had serious constipation in the previous 2 weeks and she said that one of the pre-med caused that. So on #5 I got another one and the week after was my worst so far with Taxol. Not as bad as with AC though. Constipation has been solved but I was sick and had horrible pain again in my joints and bones as well as a very sore throat infection and flu symptoms. I felt well only on Sunday (my treatments are on Mondays). So when I went to get #6 I told to my Dr that I dont mind constipation but give me back my stronger pre-med coz I dont want to have another horrible week like that. So now I am ok so far. I drink prune juice and it solves the issue:-) My hair is still growing (sending a pic that was taken on last Sunday) hope I can keep it (lost it with AC). No neuropathy at all and nails, eyelashes, eyebrows are ok. Ladies I also had rashes on my knuckles on week 5 it was very itchy and painful on Day3&4 I used coconut oil and from Day5 it disappeared. I havent had it before and dont have it now either so presume the pre-med change caused that as well.
Also what I noticed on my #6 is that I was hardly able to be awake. I felt extremely tired however on the previous treatment days I was always awake until 2-3am.
Good luck Ladies I am thinking of all of you
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Hi keepongoing and welcome to this incredible Community! We're happy you found us!
We look forward to hearing more from you soon!
--The Mods
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thanks . I had been looking a while but had some issues with my email. I have gotten some great hints reading the posts
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Hi Ladies,
I'm about to graduate tomorrow from Taxol 🎓. Can't wait, mainly b/c I am cold capping, and 12 times has been hard and expensive.
My main side effects:
1. Bloody, scabbing nose - it's just gross... I used saline spray and coconut oil, and this helped.
2. Rash- it seems to pick a new body part every week! (Taxol must have a sense of humor). It started in my knuckles and then moved to elbow, head, neck, and chest. Hydrocortisone cream does the trick.
3. Tummy issues- if I stuck to my probiotics every day, then I would be OK most of the time. Caught up with me this week though.
4. Exhaustion- rest, rest, rest
The more water that I would drink, the better!! Best of luck to you all! It actually flew by for me. I'll be on Herceptin through February '17, and still have SGAP flap reconstruction to do this summer.
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Nolagirl, I'm also graduating from Taxol tomorrow, not a moment too soon! I've been on chemo for 5 months and the Taxol stretch has been really hard. Even though I still have a long road ahead (surgery, rads, Herceptin, reconstruction), I'm so relieved to finally be done with chemo.
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first and second day good- 3rd ringing in ears - blocked sinus- heart irregularity- trouble breathing -day 8 still ringing in ears- didnt go back- sometimes i wonder if people in this group are real due to so few side effects- i dont get it- thats stuff is crazy poison and no one seems to get the bad se like me
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My vision has a weird focus/haze thing going on. I notice it more when driving and trying to read signs.
I am constantly fighting constipation or diarrhea. I think I have some odd feelings in my hands but hard to tell.
My chemo pause may be going away to an extent. I am getting acne again. But the hot flashes are not.
I have had fuzz growing back since before my AC treatments ended. Hoping the lash/eyebrows just stay thinned. They were not affected by the AC.
I get treatments on Friday mornings. My MO added an extra dose of steroids before my infusion last week to see if the itchy eyelids would stop after tx. It seems to have worked! My sleep here lately isn't as good. Last Thursday I was exhausted and could barely function to pick up/take my kids to their German lessons. Will see how I do today. I have a therapy appt at 2pm. The stress of my son having anxiety and sleep problems has gotten to me
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MWR - happened to see your post - I went through Taxol 4 years ago - my sister went through just a few months ago. We both had bad rashes - mine was worse than hers. Mine was all over my face like teenage acne, hands, arms, etc. I used topical cream from my MO. Within 2 weeks after completing Taxol, it cleared up.
My sister had the same experience. Within 2 weeks, all rashes gone. Hope that is the same for you!
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I had my second weekly taxol dose on Tuesday. Today I noticed having pimples all over my face.. It is depressing. What should i use to stop it? Acne meds?
Other then that so far not so bad.. but it is only day 2 after second chemo....
I was able to run/walk about 4miles every day. Yes, I get tiered and need some rest during the day but overall it is not so bad. I know based on what I read it will get worse the more chemo i do but I am just praying maybe it will not be so bad. I also noticed I already gained 2lbs with all these daily running:( .. really ...Must be steroids. Is there any way to avoid gaining weight? I know it is temporary "only" 10 weeks left for me. But still... my son's elementary school graduation coming up , he is exited and I promised to do a party for him . I also feel his anxiety what if mommy can't come to my graduation celebration what if she looks horrible... He is very afraid of me loosing my hair. I am doing cold caps, but who knows if it will work to early to tell.
As for sleeping , I found a solution, first 2 days after chemo I can't sleep. So i take xanax before i go to bed. It makes me sleeping through the night!
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At my last Taxol right now ! Yay! Now on to Herceptin every 3 weeks until Feb 2017. Can anyone advise what Herceptin only is like ?
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Congratulations kymberly! Had my first Herceptin only yesterday. I did just fine. No steroids, benadryl, zofran or zantac! Just Herceptin. I'm a little tired, but I'm doing radiation too. No ill effects so far!
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Finished taxol number 5 today. 7 more to go.
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Hello all, I'm due to start weekly Taxol on Thursday--just finished AC--and am very concerned about being able to continue teaching. I missed 3 days after each AC, but that was every three weeks. What is your experience with working/stopping work? My tx are Thursday (I don't work Friday) but could be slightly adjusted I think if that would help. Which days are the worst?
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