Hi all
I have just finished my 4th FEC. My regime changes next time. I am to start Docetaxel and herceptin (providing my ECHO is ok) I have been told of the side effects of docetaxel - manky nails, joint pain - joy. Just wondered how any of you have found it. Any other side effects? I have been told to paint my nails with dark colours which is cool cuz I like all the dark colours. Any tips ladies?
Cheers.
xx
i had 3 taxotere, which i think is either the other name for the same drug, or is at least in the taxane family of drugs. It was quite different to the fec, but i think on balance the tax was a bit harsher on the body generally but i would probably choose that rather than fec if they told me now i had to have one more cycle, as the nausea on fec was the worst.
My nails stayed intact, bit ridged and yellowy, more brittle than they used to be, but look ok now without polish ( my last tax was 12 august). I wore dark polish throughout, was good excuse to buy a chanel dark purpley black one! Keep your nails short as less likely to snap. Get gp to prescribe big box of painkillers up front for the muscle pain. Mine wasnt too bad actually, just flu type achy shoulders and neck. Hot showers got me through some tricky times with tax, cheered me up and soothed me. expect to be exhausted and tearful so its a bonus if you arent!
Good luck, you can do it!
Vickie
Hi Bird
Some people sail thru tax but I wasn’t one of them! Be prepared for muscle and joint pain, a manky mouth, more hair loss, if you have any left and generally feeling parts. One good thing is that it doesn’t tend to cause much nausea. However, you may get none of this! I fair breezed thru fec so I spose it was only fair I got struck down with the tax!
Julia xx
sorry, thats meant to say ‘feeling pants’
hey julia, i was wondering what tax you wangled out of your onc then, as mine never involved me getting to feel any parts!
Hi Bird
I am just going to whisper this as I dont want to tempt fate but… I much prefer tax to fec.( had 3 fec and 2 tax so far)
The side effects can be nasty but dont last as long ( for me).I could give you lots of tips on how to deal with them but we are all so different. With fec I never found anything to manage the awful nausea and I tried everything even the holy grail emend. But with tax I have found something to help everything and feel so much better quicker.Hope you are ok on it. It aint smarties but it was nowhere near as bad as I feared. Debx
My onc told me that generally if you find FEC quite manageable, Tax will be hard - and vica versa. I didn’t find FEC too bad, minimal nausea, but Tax hit me like a ton of bricks - there were days when I could barely walk.
Re the nails, I took ice with me in a flask and kept my fingertips in ice water for as long as I could, and had virtually no nail problems - months later a ridge developed, but that is all. I also sucked on ice, and my mouth problems weren’t as bad as some others seemed to have.
Good luck xx
Cheers ladies!
I would like to say I feel better about starting a new drug, but I don’t! Apart from extreme tiredness, slight joint pain and bowels that refuse to work for a week - I haven’t found the side effects of the FEC that bad. I guess I have been lucky as I have not had a single moment of nausea. So it sounds like I am due a rough ride with the tax then! So I’ll build myself up to it being horrendous and then anything less than that will be a bonus I guess! Better make the most of my nails looking good at the moment then. As for more hair loss well I have a skin head now and really can’t tell if more is falling out or not. It seems to have actually grown a little on top!
It’s two weeks until my first tax so I will let you know how I do.
Hope you are all taking good care of yourselves.
Chat soon
xx
Hi Tors
Sadly, I haven’t done any feeling of parts for some time now!!
Julia xx
Hi
Just to add I had my first docetaxel last Thursday. Friday & Saturday I felt good so left me thinking this is not going to hit me hard!. I had no major side effects with the fec just tired for the first couple of days.
Sunday arrived and the only way describe how I felt it was if someone had tied tonne weights to my legs, also had sharp pains in my feet, my nails are ok at the mo even though very sore to touch !
The pain started to ease yesterday , so I have felt good to get and out about and take my mind of it.
Best of luck.
Sal x
Hot showers highly recommended & I found a hot water bottle helped.
Hi
Had my first Tax yesterday - all went well. Had my first Herceptin on monday to - again all went well. I hate the unknown element it drives you nuts! I have also had to begin a week of injections to boost my bone marrow. Joy! I managed to give myself my first injection - wasn’t that bad. Took a bit of talking to myself first though! Wuss!! LOL! Just starting to feel the effects of the tax this afternoon. That slight brain wandering and feeling a little odd has begun! Hope the worst is over by the weekend cuz I got a ceiling to paint!
xxx
Hi
Ok so have woke up this morning feeling quite pants! Sore throat, again. Have had a sore throat after every treatment so far!! Aching spine, hips, legs, knees, buttocks and generally feeling a bit like I don’t want to get out of bed!! But no nausea - hoorah! and the injections are not that bad to give yourself either. So I think its a day of pain killers for me, dvds, internet shopping and a nice hot soak in the tub later on.
Julia - got to say that I too would much rather be feeling parts rather than pants! LOL!.
Hope you all doing ok
xxxx