Weekly Taxol group
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Looking good seaster, congrats on #4 and so happy for you that you are not having SE!
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Hi Seaster-pretty much walking the same timeline as you. You dont appear to be taking Herceptin. What does your ONC say ? I buzzed my hair after 5 Taxols and have never looked back.Cold cap didnt work for me. Stay strong-this is do-able .
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Hi everyone. I'll be starting taxol/ herceptin soon so figured I should join in here. My MO said it's the gentlest type of chemo. I hope that's true. She said I can drive myself to and from treatments, will probably only have some nausea and maybe weight gain due to the steroids she'll give me before treatment. She said I can try cold capping if I want (I'm just now starting to research that). Still, I'm scared to pieces. It goes against everything to knowingly put this into my body, but the fear of a recurrence is weighing me down.
One thing that's been pointed out to me is that usually when people have no issues, they don't post on forums like this, so I should remember that just because I read about people having issues here doesn't mean I'll have issues.
I can do this, right
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Hi Seaster-pretty much walking the same timeline as you. You dont appear to be taking Herceptin. What does your ONC say ? I buzzed my hair after 5 Taxols and have never looked back.Cold cap didnt work for me. Stay strong-this is do-able .
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Interestingly, I didn't get particularly sleepy from Benedryl, but got a weird, fluttering feeling in my chest with the pre-meds so the nurse administered it at a slower rate. If you feel an odd sensation don't be shy about letting the staff know in case a minor tweak to the infusion rate can keep you more comfortable and less anxious.
Lyn
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Aquarian, Yes I am getting Herceptin too
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Hi, had Taxol #6 last Friday. No problems until Tuesday & very bad leg & body pain set in. Doctor prescribed tramadol but it doesn't help. Been taking it with advil. Any suggestions? My blood was just below normal last week. Is there anything to take to help that?
Thanks in advance!
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ouray - I heard people talked about Aleve
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hi ladies, I will take my last AC tomorrow and will start Taxol after two weeks, they say it is easier than AC , I hope this is tru
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Maryan - I'm going to join you. I'm doing my last AC today will start my taxol in couple weeks.
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PauletteK, I wish both of us luck and strength and full cure , Amen 🙏
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I'm getting confused again. My MO said taxol was a gentler chemo (oxymoron?). She said any SEs would be mild and manageable. She said I would likely be tired and perhaps nauseous, but that would be the worst of it. She even said I could drive myself to and from chemo, Now I'm reading on other threads I'll lose not only my hair, but probably my brows and lashes and I'll probably get neuropathy as well.
What SEs are common with taxol? Were they mild and manageable? Just when I think I'm getting a handle on this, I get confused and overwhelmed again
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Maryan - I got through my last AC I'm doing fine. Hope you do well.
Brightness - I got the same message from my ONC also I asked about nueropathy my Onc told me I'm having mild dose that should not be a problem and we willl monitor it. Meanwhile I stock up vitamin B6, 12. He said they help.
I can use alll the suggestion about nueropathy, would not like to be crappy by chemo 😅😅😅
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Brightness456, I only had two weekly Taxol so far, will have a third one on Monday. I had a mild anaphylactic reaction the second time, my chest felt a little tight and I told the nurse that I could feel my picc-line and she said. no, I don't think so, we will turn it down. A lot of people came into the room, they checked everything, gave me more cortisone and then ran it slowly. The SE are cumulative and I have only had two infusions so it is too soon to tell but everybody is saying it is doable. You will not have all the side effects that are listed under Taxol. Compared to what I read on these threads is attributed to Taxotere or AC, Taxol seems to be an easier regimen but it is still a very powerful taxan and the sign in the toilet said: while doing chemo flush twice, so healthy people will not get it to their systems through the fumes. We are getting it because we have bc and it takes these powerful drugs to kill the aggressive cells that may still be left there. I see you are Her2 and will be getting Herceptin that is only given along with chemo to increase its efficacy. I know it is scary, I got my pathological analysis a month ago, when I saw the treatment plan I had a breakdown in the BS office they called a psychiatrist. It is hard, all this bc is hard, I am sorry you are going through it, as we all are. These boards are amazing in terms of support. Cherry
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Hello PauletteK
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Brightness, I had a friend drive me to my first AC and first Taxol to err on the side of caution, but drove myself to all the other infusions. I did find Taxol much easier to tolerate than AC.
Yes, sadly, you'll probably lose your hair, including scalp, brows, lashes, pubic and nose. Some women use cold caps, but the results are very mixed and the process is quite cumbersome.
The good news is that neuropathy is temporary for most women, one study showing 70% no longer having the issue by 3 months, another showing 50%. I'm nearly six months out from my last Taxol and, unfortunately, still have neuropathy in my dominant hand and both feet impacting balance, strength, endurance and ability to grip, hold and lift. It's a nasty potential side effect, but one has to balance that against improved survival odds.
I know the news just plain sucks, but your oncologist is doing the right thing by letting you know what to expect. These forums will be a great resource. Let us know how we can help!
Lyn
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Cherry once you get your red dates you can make red dates water. Boil the red dates for 20 minutes then drink it you can use 10 dates for 3-4 cups water.
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Thank you PauletteK, I will send my husband to the Chinese store. Do they sell those dried or fresh?
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Cherry -They sell it dried one of my relative has the date tree so she dried it herself. She gave me a bag last year and I almost used them up. Red dates supposed to help our red blood cells I will do that when I do my taxol.
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Maryan I start taxol on Friday. Will be trying the dose dense. Will post after
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Tpralph, good luck and will be waiting for the updates
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Hello Everyone,
I"m 8 weeks PFC and thought I should post an update. I lost almost all my hair the last month and the month after weekly taxol. I also lost eyelashes and eyebrows about a month after. My eyebrows are growing back thick and black. I used to be a dark blonde. Hoping they change, but am grateful to have them. Eyelashes are growing back thick, but are very short. Lots of hair growing, but very short. My side effects were minimal during Taxol. Fatigue, GI issues, slight headaches, no appetite near the end, etc. No toenail, fingernail loss. One toenail hurt, but that seems to have resolved itself. Lots of aches after chemo ended and really sore knees. They are much better now. My energy level gets better and better and I feel good. I walked or hiked almost everyday during treatment and continue to after. Also drank water, water, water. I think this had a huge impact on SE and warding off neuropathy. I had surgery to clean up my margins about a week ago, but no cancer was present. Yeah! I feel fortunate to have had an "easy" time on chemo and hope everyone is as SE free as possible. I'm on to radiation next and Herceptin to finish the year. Good luck to everyone. I've really appreciated having these forums for reference.
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I brain - hooray!!!! So happy to read your sharing !! That give us hope .... will stay my taxol in couple weeks. I'm preparing for this new battle. Hope it is easier than AC as my Onc said.
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I_Brain, my brows came back much coarser and I had hairs in areas I'd not had to pluck in years, like the uni-brow area. I've now had a partial second "shedding" so don't know what the ultimate surviving brows will be like.
I drink so much water that I have to be careful of low sodium and I still developed nasty chemo-induced neuropathy. I think staying well-hydrated is a great idea in general during chemo, but it didn't seem to protect me personally. :-(
Lyn
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Maryan- It is way easier, good luck
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PauletteK- I finished up my 12 Taxol treatments on August 25th, the neuropathy started about a week before that. My doctor put my on Gabafentin 300 mg twice a day and I also purchased a rubbing oil for neuropathy. I found the oil at Walgreens for $16.99. It says Frankincense Murr Neuropathy on the box, I also soak in epsom salt. It's getting better but, this has been the worse SE for me. I sleep with my feet elevated at night, this seems to help. I hope this helps the ladies that are starting Taxol now, good luck to all of you ladies
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Tony - it sounds like taxol is harder than AC. I will get the oil so I can start that beginning of the treatment. And we are getting the mild dose I can't even imagine people get the dense dose. 😕 .
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tonyaberryman, thank you so much for the updates. I hope it goes easy, I am afraid the most from fatigue, because in AC I spend about three to four days until it goes away. So I was afraid to get the same with Taxol since it will be only 7 days between sessions. Good luck to all of us
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had 4 dd of ac...the first taxol was way easier...like up alert doing dishes same day! Next day felt close to normal but a little fatigue in afternoon.
No nausea or appetite loss.
Take care everyone
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I_brain, thank you so much for posting. I am about 5 weeks behind you (currently 3 weeks PFC) and I really appreciate knowing how you are doing. Most of my hair is gone too; the shedding hasn't seemed to let up. My brows and lashes are still hanging in there, I'm watching them VERY closely and crossing my fingers.
Brightness, your confusion may stem from different dosages of Taxol. Taxol can be given to patients as a "dose dense " treatment every 2-3 weeks with some serious SEs. The standard treatment for early stage bc (and it looks like that is your case) is LOW dose Taxol every week. The SEs for low dose Taxol is not nearly as severe as our "dose dense" taxol sisters. I have just finished my 12 low dose weekly taxol treatments. Also, I received benedryl as a premed which made me loopy enough that I didn't want to drive; you may want to arrange a friend to give you a lift the first time or two and see how you do. I posted about my Taxol experience in weeks 1-9 in this forum on page 265 near the top: https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/69/topics... Hope this is helpful. You can do it!
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