Glad to hear you are feeling slightly better, I have been on Xeloda for two years and although suffer from the hand and foot syndrome it certainly is a drug that can be tolerated to most. My hair did get very thin when I had been on it for a while but my onc put me on B6 tablets and that certainly helped my hair is quite thick now. I gave up work to have time to myself and do the things I wanted to do rather than work, but if it works for you and takes you mind off things thats great.
Just to thanks you again for your support Started Xeloda 2 days ago and seem OK so far Still going to work which is helping me stay ‘normal’ and focused I hope anyone reading this who is going through a bad patch will take heart
That’s really good to hear. What dosage has he started you on? I think most people who find xeloda impossible to tolerate have bad side effects almost immediately, so it does sound promising for you. I did find the hand and foot problems built up over time - didn’t have much of a problem until my 3rd cycle.
As I said in my last post, it has worked very well for me and I’ve been able to keep on working etc - I too find that gives me focus and also makes me feel less like a “cancer sufferer/patient” (whatever you want to call it) and more like a normal person who happens to have cancer. Subtle difference in some ways but matters a lot to me.
I had a bad reaction to my first Xeloda which was 2000 twice per day, I ended up in hospital with no immune system etc. I was in hospital for 2 weeks and it looked unllikely that iw ould be able to take the Xeloda. However after my scan results showed a 48% reduction in my tumours (off which every one of them had shrank) my oncolgist decided that it was worth another shot.
She started me on a 50% reduction - 1000 twice per day on my 2nd cycle. I am on my 3rd cycle at the moment which is 1300 twice a day and everything seems to be fine so fingers crossed long may it continue as my cancer obviously didn’t like at all.
It’s just a reminder that even if you don’t manage to take it the first time there is always the possibility that your dose just need adjusted.
I’m on 2150 mg twice a day. Getting used to taking the tablets and have followed everyone’s advice about taking them straight after eating I have been having a bigger breakfast than normal to make sure I don’t get any side effects in the morning
Also been putting lots of cream on hands and feet and wearing socks in bed I started that a couple of days before starting the chemo and ‘touch wood’ seems to be ok It’s stuff from the Body Shop for very dry skin and I’ve also bought some other types as well for cracked heels, just in case.