Ibrance (Palbociclib)

pearlady

Nancyh.  Keeping my fingers crossed.  For you and for all of us.

Romansma

All good news. Anyone else seeing their counts ultra low? I wasn't anywhere near this low on chemo. Red counts falling too. A bit worried what cycle 2 will do starting with such a deficit

pearlady

My counts were a bit low this week and I opted for the neupogen for two days.  I am getting the counts checked again tomorrow and hoping that it has done its job.  Just finished my first cycle last night so hoping all is good by next week.  Definitely looking forward to a week off.   Getting my TMs checked tomorrow and really hopeful. 

Romansma

I get bad bone pain with the shots. May have to resort to them if counts keep dropping

pearlady

Have not had that.  I guess I'm so used to small aches and pains that I haven't noticed anything different. 

3Holly

NancyH, glad you are stable and can keep going on Ibrance since the side effects seem reasonable as long as the blood counts don't fall too low. Good luck with your next round.

I don't know if Neupogen is like Neulasta (took Neulasta shots when I was on chemo - small shot to the leg, not a big needle). I don't remember getting bone pain from it - that was 6 years ago, but I'd remember if it was anything major and I don't remember any problems with Neulasta (hoping that it will be a similar shot if my WBC are low after next week when they check after 2 wks on Ibrance).

I'm praying this drug will work for everyone, and the results sound promising so far.

Romansma

Yeah, I got intense back spasms from Neulasta and bone aches. Wasn't fun, but it worked.

3Holly

No, back spasms don't sound fun - never had those, just had terrible leg and toe cramps at night for a long time, but I don't know if that was caused by the Neulasta or the chemo or what. Anyway, you're right, the Neulasta did work to bring up the WBC counts.

pearlady

Never had Neulasta, only Neupogen.  I haven't had any issues with Neupogen.  I'm not sure what the difference is between the two.  Will have to find out.

Romansma

I believe a new generic for Neupogen has been approved to lessen the cost. Wonder if the side effects are any different.

nancyh

Hope - have you tried Claritin with neupogen? It isn't perfect, but helps quite a bit with the bone pain. I've had dozens and dozens of neupogen/neulasta shots over the past 5 years and can usually tell a difference with the Claritin.

car2tenn

i am now 16 days on Ibrance and Femara. I have found taking the meds midday with lunch has spared me nausea. I do have a little difficulty with sleep but that I can handle. Now to see if the Tm's go down and the next PET shows regression....I am so thrilled to be on this med combo and hope for the best..In addition, it has not affected my energy. Carolyn from Music City

Myra1211

I am 11 days in and so far my energy seems somewhat better. Yesterday I was out and about from 8am til 4 pm without my usual nap. I take my meds after dinner and have been fine with nausea. Sometimes a bit of nausea in the morning when I awaken. As I stated TMs and alkaline numbers down. WBC also down some. MO wants blood work every week. I hate the stress of all these numbers. Guess this life in my world now.

Romansma

Good to hear you are all doing so well. I will have to remember the Clariton if and whe I need a Neulasta injection. I had good energy untill about day 17-18 of the cycle. It surprised men becauseI had been feeling so well.

I picked up some Zinc and B complex today to give my body a fighting chance on the counts. I'm feeling better, but not exactly energetic yet. Still hard to get anything done.

justjudie

Hello.

Still hanging in, sad little platelets and all. Actually they are better than had been by far. 56 this week. Have a new development, big bad thrush infection in my mouth. White gunk everywhere. Not pleasant. Doc put me on the swish and swallow mouth wash as well as Nystatin. Taking awhile to respond tho. I hate thrush infections, painful when I try to eat anything. Oh well, onward and upward

Romansma

Wow, Judie, I'm sorry. Your poor body is under attack. Hope the thrush calms down soon. Too much!

Myra1211

I started using Sonic care toothbrushes on my first round of chemo. Keeps your mouth super clean and don't forget to sanitize your toothbrush in straight listerine after you brush. Germs will stay on your brush for 48 hours. Hope you feel better really soon!

Romansma, I bought zinc too and started eating lots of green leafy veggies. Hoping to fight off those dropping blood counts. These posts are so helpful! Myra

3Holly

Judie, Sorry to hear about your infection and praying things improve for you.

Thanks everyone for all this useful information, it is good to have an idea of what to expect on this drug, makes it less stressful to at least know what might be coming. I have only been on the Ibrance for a week, so I don' t have much to report except that the red bumps/bleeding and itchiness I had on my arms and legs from the Faslodex have so far improved a lot after being off the Faslodex a while and on the Ibrance/letrozole (will see what happens after another week, though, since some have said it's the Ibrance that causes red bumps for them).

Lung pain seems to have moved to the other side, not sure if it's how I'm sleeping, hopefully it is not spreading. I think exercise improves it, need to motivate myself to go out and walk. Snowing again here, can't wait till we get some Spring weather!

Romansma

Hi again, Judie. I was half asleep when I responded to your post. I had a thrush infection last year when I was having radiation to my spine and hips, along with starting Afinitor. Doc gave me Nyastin, but I also wanted to share something I came across that helped. Coconut Oil. I use it in smoothies, cooking, etc., but I also tried Oil Pulling with it. You can google it if you a are unfamiliar. Also, probiotics to help restore balance in your digestive tract.

http://www.thecandidadiet.com/candida-fighting-foods.htm

Myra, thanks for the reminder on greens. I juice and make smoothies, but my juicer is broken and I've been too weak to shop as much as I usually do for fresh greens, etc. think I will head over to Amazon to find that broken part!

pearlady

Nancy how many doses of Claritan do you take with the Neupogin ?

nancyh

Pearllady - the dose of Claritin depends. For neupogen, I'll usually do one 24-hour tablet for each day that I have a shot. For neulasta, I will take one 24-hour tablet daily for maybe 4 - 5 days. One thing I've noticed, it seems like the lower my counts are, the harder the neupogen/neulasta has to work and thus the pain is more severe. Some rounds are totally debilitating, while others are pretty mild.

Judie - I'm so sorry to hear about your thrush, that is so miserable! I had a mild case of it on taxotere a couple months ago and it was absolutely awful. I hope it gets cleared up quickly.

So, is anyone else tired? I feel pretty wiped out.

justjudie

Hi everyone,

Yes, NancyI would agree that tired is definitely the name of the game over here! I have spent two full days (and nights) in bed, mainly sleeping. Just getting up to shower. Thank you all for the advice and comments re: things I can do about thrush. I will definitely follow up. I don't know anything about Oil Pooling, Romansmama, but I will google it for sure and give it a try. I do like coconut oil in various things. Hopefully it might help. Might see about it in Jamba Juice? I do hope you can start to feel better too. In some ways this Ibrance is a tough one but in others it is not so bad. When I think back to Taxotere and so forth, this is definitely more doable.

I have also had Neupogen problems, and have found Claritin to be helpful. I mainly used the dosage schedule on the bottle for bone pain relief. Be careful, you can get too much Neupogen and it is very unpleasant. Count how many days they are giving it to you. After that I have always had to have the dose adjusted to less than I probably would take before. I don't know, there have been so many things with these various drugs, I tend to forget half of them.

Romansma

Glad you are getting rest, Judie. Hope that thrush resolves soon. I had a tough weekend with my very empathetic dog, Micki Bird. She was vomiting blood, lots of it. Blood from the other end too. Spent 6 hours in emergency with her Saturday night and back again yesterday. Thought I was going to lose her. She's doing a little better, but not out of the woods yet.

I haven't gotten all my energy back yet, but some. I was up most of the night Saturday night, so very tired. I woke up this morning soaked. Hoping it isn't a fever. I have had a headache for a couple days too. I think it's SE from the Xgeva injection since my calcium hasn't been optimal.

This is my girl hanging out with me in bed this morning. Can't imagine losing her.

Myra1211

beautiful dog. I love my dog too they are so full of unconditional lov

pearlady

Romansma hope your dog is okay.  What a beautiful girl. Do they know what is causing this?  We have a dog and eight cats, so I know the attachment and love that these family members provide.  One of our cats, Lotus, is 13 years old and is going through chemotherapy for breast cancer.  They say it will give her another quality 12-16 months.  Can't believe that I'm sharing this experience with one of my cat family members. 

On another subject, does anyone have nauseau with the Ibrance?  I am really not that tired, but I find my appetite is less than usual.  Not really nauseau but more of a yucky feeling sometimes. 

Myra1211

The same with me. Not really tired but kind of off sometimes. Smaller portions sometimes and very hungry others

pearlady

Thanks Myra.  Yes off is a good way to describe it.  Sometimes I actually feel kind of a yucky feeling when I am hungry.  I feel better when I eat, but then if I eat too much feel off again.  But if that's the worst I get, I'll take it.

Romansma

Sorry about your cat, Pearlady. Not sure If I would sign my girls up for chemo (we have 4 dogs, 3 labs and a Jack Russell), all based on how much I hate chemo. It's so hard because we know the medicine is to help them feel better, but all they know is that they feel bad. Hang in there, hope your cat does well

They couldn't figure out what was going on with her. I guess there are many things it could be. She had blood tests and X-rays and nothing showed up. Good and bad. At least there were no huge tumors causing it. No big ulcerations are blockages either. She is very tired, but seems she is getting a little better.

I haven't noticed any appetite changes. I lost weight on Afinitor because I was never hungry. Not happening on Ibrance. Also, a little nausea,but I was attributing that to my pain med change. I'm taking the Ibrance right after dinner each night. I think it's important you take it with a good size meal. The trials confirmed that. I take it at night so I can sleep through any nausea. Not sure if that works, but seems to be.

pearlady

Thanks Romansma.  I have been taking the Ibrance before bed, but I think I will switch to taking it with dinner. Maybe that will help. 

I actually wasn't going to do the chemo for Lotus, but then after speaking at great length with the vet and speaking with other people, we decided to give it a try.  The dosage that they give is apparently much less when taking body weight into account of course.  Cats do very well with chemo, probably better than most people.  After her treatment she has a bit less appetite the next day and then two days later is back to normal.  Interesting that they also don't lose their hair.  I lost all my hair on Adriamycin and Cytoxin, but not cats.

Hope your dog is doing better.

3Holly

Sorry about Micki Bird, what a beautiful dog and looks very healthy, hopefully it is not serious. Can't imagine a little cat having chemo, that sounds tough.

I am taking the Ibrance at lunch and have not had any nausea. I am not that hungry at dinner but maybe that's because I cooked it and am sick of looking at it!