Re: Taxotere

[Guest guest]

Hi Laurie, As a matter of fact, I started on taxotere yesterday. My

oncol gave me a special mouthwash for mouth sores to rinse with, a

daytime anti nausea medicine and a drug for neuropothy- the big bad

side effect of the tax. The latter drug is just a 3 day, 6 dose

regimine after the chemo. I had had 2 doses with no side efects (of the

neuropothy drug) I wish u luck. I will only have 4 rounds of the

stuff, thank god.

all my blessing, sister-girl

Juli

>

> Hi;

>

> I have just ended a 3 round regimen of chemo which included three

> drugs. On the 15th I start Taxotere. I really want to go back to work

> but am not sure what to expect as far as side effects. Does anyone

> have any experience with this? It would be great to hear from others

> who have been given the Taxotere.

>

> Thanks

>

> Laurie

>

[Guest guest]

>

> So my wife transition from her AC to Taxotere with Herceptin the

week

> before last.

>

> This was suppose to be much easier then AC and while it started that

> way it took a strange twist 3 days in and from there out was not

much

> fun.

>

> So here is what she suffered with and I am curious if anyone else

had

> any of these symptoms and if anyone has solutions they tried that

> worked.

>

> Saturday night she started having pain she normally gets from the

> neulasta shot. These shots generally make her feel like she has been

> dropped on the pavement from a tall building and she has muscle pain

> which Advil generally helps.

>

> But this time she had a feeling like her spin was " squishy " combined

> with a feeling like a ping pong ball was bouncing around the inside

of

> her body causing pain where it went. This was combined with

extremely

> painful headaches.

>

> At the worst Saturday night as she was coming to the end of her 6

> hours on Tylenol (so little of the medicine was working) she said

her

> pain was 10+ on a scale of 10 so I pulled out the Percocet 2.5 the

Dr

> had given for pain and gave her that and she said it improved things

> to about an 8.

>

> The week has been hard with most of the symptoms lasting all week.

> Ultimately we kept her comfortable with 500mg of Tylenol every 5

hours

> (so it never completely wears off).

>

> The roving pain (ping pong ball pain) stopped on Wednesday but the

> headaches continued (abated by the Tylenol). She also continues to

> have the squishy spin and squishy organ feeling (Pressure in her

upper

> abdomen and in her chest) continues as well (this I am beginning to

> think might be gas pressure).

>

> My wife is upset since she felt this was suppose to be easier and it

> is proving harder. More then a week later she still does not feel

up

> to going out or doing her normal stuff.

>

> The DR and Nurses seem a bit baffled and can only suggest that she

> take the dose 1 per week (smaller dose) as opposed to every 3 weeks

> but she feels then she will never get to feeling better.

>

> So any similar experiences or advice of what worked for you in the

> face of Taxotere would be appreciated.

>

Hello

My name is Sandy. Sorry, i don't have any information, but " LOTS OF

EMPATHY " !! i would like to ask what were her side effects from the AC.

and then Taxol.I am to begin Ac for 4 weeks every 21 days and taxol

for the last 4 months, on Dec 1st. Hope she's drinking alot of fluids.

Was she plaqued with mouth sores?

I wish her well,

Sandy

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I did not take taxol - went straight to Herceptin after AC.

The nurses in the oncology dept. said they found that women who took

taxol weekly had fewer side effects until closer to the last few treatments.

-

[Guest guest]

Laurie,

I had 4 treatments of Taxotere. The first one was given with too much steroid so

I had a reaction to the steroid, it wasn't fun but I made it through. 2nd

treatment was much better as they upped the fluid and halved the steroid. After

that it wasn't such a big deal. Only real problem I have is the neuropathy which

I hope to talk to my onc about in a few weeks. It hasn't been real bad, just

very annoying. I found I had a first time reaction to the A/C and a first time

reaction to Taxotere. I thought the A/C would be the worst, but another onc told

me Taxotere is a nasty little drug. Every one of us is different. You'll do just

fine.

Barb

Michigan

Taxotere

Hi;

I have just ended a 3 round regimen of chemo which included three

drugs. On the 15th I start Taxotere. I really want to go back to work

but am not sure what to expect as far as side effects. Does anyone

have any experience with this? It would be great to hear from others

who have been given the Taxotere.

Thanks

Laurie

[Guest guest]

i had a terreible time with the steroid - it was intolerable for me -

even with the lowered dose--so last week, we started taxotere with

no premeds...so far so good...

side effects - from the tax? for *me* (everyone's experience is

different) they are muscle and joint pain; and my eyes are a

mess...but just three more to go...

good luck

marisa

>

> Laurie,

> I had 4 treatments of Taxotere. The first one was given with too

much steroid so I had a reaction to the steroid, it wasn't fun but I

made it through. 2nd treatment was much better as they upped the

fluid and halved the steroid. After that it wasn't such a big deal.

Only real problem I have is the neuropathy which I hope to talk to

my onc about in a few weeks. It hasn't been real bad, just very

annoying. I found I had a first time reaction to the A/C and a first

time reaction to Taxotere. I thought the A/C would be the worst, but

another onc told me Taxotere is a nasty little drug. Every one of us

is different. You'll do just fine.

>

> Barb

> Michigan

>

> Taxotere

>

>

> Hi;

>

> I have just ended a 3 round regimen of chemo which included

three

> drugs. On the 15th I start Taxotere. I really want to go back to

work

> but am not sure what to expect as far as side effects. Does

anyone

> have any experience with this? It would be great to hear from

others

> who have been given the Taxotere.

>

> Thanks

>

> Laurie

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

joel--i had similar experiences...the a/c for me was relatively easy

(indeed, i was bringing my son to jazz clubs and drinking a frozen

margheritas when i wanted...)

I think what did me in with the taxotere was the dexamethasone

premed--that's the steroid they give to help prevent edema---but it

played havoc with me...

without it now, well, it's still quite rough...bone/joint and muscle

pain; my eyes are a mess...I don't have the ping-pong ball pain

you're describing, but I *do* feel like I've been slammed by a two x

four

as far as medical staff being baffled...I've had that

experience...and it pisses me off, to tell the truth...these drugs

are so powerful, and the body such a complicated machine, really...

I started taking glutamine - in powder form - a teaspoon or two in a

glass of water - 3 times a day...that seems to be helping with the

bone/muscle pain...I've also started to take foolic acid and *have*

been taking b6.

I take the taxotere once a week---not sure how that dosing would

effect your wife - you're done sooner; but you never get a break

either...

jeez, soory, this email sounds like such a downer...I was bummed too

when I thought that the taxotere was going to be easier, and it

turned out to NOT be the case...but now I have only three more

left...then my body will start to recover...

peace to you and your wife...

marisa

>

> So my wife transition from her AC to Taxotere with Herceptin the

week

> before last.

>

> This was suppose to be much easier then AC and while it started

that

> way it took a strange twist 3 days in and from there out was not

much

> fun.

>

> So here is what she suffered with and I am curious if anyone else

had

> any of these symptoms and if anyone has solutions they tried that

> worked.

>

> Saturday night she started having pain she normally gets from the

> neulasta shot. These shots generally make her feel like she has

been

> dropped on the pavement from a tall building and she has muscle

pain

> which Advil generally helps.

>

> But this time she had a feeling like her spin was " squishy "

combined

> with a feeling like a ping pong ball was bouncing around the

inside of

> her body causing pain where it went. This was combined with

extremely

> painful headaches.

>

> At the worst Saturday night as she was coming to the end of her 6

> hours on Tylenol (so little of the medicine was working) she said

her

> pain was 10+ on a scale of 10 so I pulled out the Percocet 2.5

the Dr

> had given for pain and gave her that and she said it improved

things

> to about an 8.

>

> The week has been hard with most of the symptoms lasting all week.

> Ultimately we kept her comfortable with 500mg of Tylenol every 5

hours

> (so it never completely wears off).

>

> The roving pain (ping pong ball pain) stopped on Wednesday but the

> headaches continued (abated by the Tylenol). She also continues to

> have the squishy spin and squishy organ feeling (Pressure in her

upper

> abdomen and in her chest) continues as well (this I am beginning to

> think might be gas pressure).

>

> My wife is upset since she felt this was suppose to be easier and

it

> is proving harder. More then a week later she still does not feel

up

> to going out or doing her normal stuff.

>

> The DR and Nurses seem a bit baffled and can only suggest that she

> take the dose 1 per week (smaller dose) as opposed to every 3 weeks

> but she feels then she will never get to feeling better.

>

> So any similar experiences or advice of what worked for you in the

> face of Taxotere would be appreciated.

>

[Guest guest]

The only premed I had was the steroid.... ended up in the hospital for 4 days

when my white blood cell count bottomed out. Was also dehydrated. That's when

they decided to cut back on the steroid (by half) and then add more hydration.

It helped. Did better the second time. Never got anti-nausea meds for Taxotere,

nor did I need them. My stomach got very sour and painful but once they dealt

with that I was fine.

Forgot about the eye problem.... I had one that just wouldn't stop tearing. Took

several weeks after last chemo for that to clear up. Felt like I was crying all

the time. I'm still having joint problems and the neuropathy (2 months after

last treatment).

Barb

Michigan

Taxotere

>

>

> Hi;

>

> I have just ended a 3 round regimen of chemo which included

three

> drugs. On the 15th I start Taxotere. I really want to go back to

work

> but am not sure what to expect as far as side effects. Does

anyone

> have any experience with this? It would be great to hear from

others

> who have been given the Taxotere.

>

> Thanks

>

> Laurie

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

barc - what the nurse told me about the tearing eyes was this... " it

might SEEM like they're producing alot of tears, but they're really

irritated " ...especially since I (we) have no eyelashes...i use

articifial tears, and try to wear sunglasses when i go outside...

barb--are you takin glutamine? ever so slowly, i'm noticing a

difference...

peace - marisa

> >

> > Laurie,

> > I had 4 treatments of Taxotere. The first one was given with

too

> much steroid so I had a reaction to the steroid, it wasn't fun

but I

> made it through. 2nd treatment was much better as they upped the

> fluid and halved the steroid. After that it wasn't such a big

deal.

> Only real problem I have is the neuropathy which I hope to talk

to

> my onc about in a few weeks. It hasn't been real bad, just very

> annoying. I found I had a first time reaction to the A/C and a

first

> time reaction to Taxotere. I thought the A/C would be the worst,

but

> another onc told me Taxotere is a nasty little drug. Every one

of us

> is different. You'll do just fine.

> >

> > Barb

> > Michigan

> >

> > Taxotere

> >

> >

> > Hi;

> >

> > I have just ended a 3 round regimen of chemo which included

> three

> > drugs. On the 15th I start Taxotere. I really want to go back

to

> work

> > but am not sure what to expect as far as side effects. Does

> anyone

> > have any experience with this? It would be great to hear from

> others

> > who have been given the Taxotere.

> >

> > Thanks

> >

> > Laurie

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

I am on AC+T for 6 rounds. Round 6 is Tuesday.

I have had neuropathy but not too bad, I drop things sometimes and

sometimes have problems getting my mouth around a word with my lips a

bit numb. It goes away within a week of chemo.

I take emend and aloxi for the nauseau and dextamethasone to

counteract some of the bad effects on the organs. I also get

neulasta a day after chemo and that is really good stuff. No

infections at all and my counts at day 10 are better than day of

chemo.

> >

> > Laurie,

> > I had 4 treatments of Taxotere. The first one was given with

too

> much steroid so I had a reaction to the steroid, it wasn't fun

but I

> made it through. 2nd treatment was much better as they upped the

> fluid and halved the steroid. After that it wasn't such a big

deal.

> Only real problem I have is the neuropathy which I hope to talk

to

> my onc about in a few weeks. It hasn't been real bad, just very

> annoying. I found I had a first time reaction to the A/C and a

first

> time reaction to Taxotere. I thought the A/C would be the worst,

but

> another onc told me Taxotere is a nasty little drug. Every one of

us

> is different. You'll do just fine.

> >

> > Barb

> > Michigan

> >

> > Taxotere

> >

> >

> > Hi;

> >

> > I have just ended a 3 round regimen of chemo which included

> three

> > drugs. On the 15th I start Taxotere. I really want to go back

to

> work

> > but am not sure what to expect as far as side effects. Does

> anyone

> > have any experience with this? It would be great to hear from

> others

> > who have been given the Taxotere.

> >

> > Thanks

> >

> > Laurie

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

Marisa - I am not taking glutamine, but I do have some. Thought I'd wait to see

what the DR says before I start on that. Wouldn't you know I now have an

infected tooth (dentist is out of town this week) so I'm on antibiotics and

vicodin. I'm trying to cut back on so much medication and it only seems to

multiply. Yikes!!!

Barb

Michigan

Taxotere

> >

> >

> > Hi;

> >

> > I have just ended a 3 round regimen of chemo which included

> three

> > drugs. On the 15th I start Taxotere. I really want to go back

to

> work

> > but am not sure what to expect as far as side effects. Does

> anyone

> > have any experience with this? It would be great to hear from

> others

> > who have been given the Taxotere.

> >

> > Thanks

> >

> > Laurie

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >