Hi all, hope youre all surviving. I am starting my chemo on 29th Dec with Epirubicin for 4 cycles, then a triple combo for another four. Stage three with no lymph involvement. Feeling well but just worried about how I’ll cope with side effects. Any advice please ! c x
Hi I started my e-cmf on 30th December last year. Everyone has different side effects and you can’t predict which you will get. For me the worst was the bad taste and I still can’t have milk in my coffee now. The best thing that I can suggest is to wait and see how it affects you and cope with it as it goes. The big thing to remeber though is that no matter how it feels it is doable. It feels now like it will take forever but the summer and the finishing line will be here a lot sooner than you expect. This time last year I thought it would never end and now i don’t know where the year has gone.
Take care of yourself.
Nickyx
Hi Cassy
like Nicky says everyone is different.
I had to stop taking Epi, long story I wont go in to, but the SE when I was on it I found ok and very doable. Physically the worst for me was the awful smell/taste I had. Sickness tablets and steroids stopped anything else. I ate little and often, slept lots and drank loads of boiled water and pineapple juice. I was able to go to work from the Tuesday, all be it for short days, following each chemo day (thursday) out of it for only 4/5 days… Friday was my dippy day and there was no point in talking to me, Sat went out for a coffee, Sunday went for a walk and Monday walked my little one to school then sat around all day. By the end of the week I was back on my bike for short cycles.
I was lucky, lots of people are but don’t take it badly if you feel rough. It’s not a sign of weakness just we all react to the “poisons” in different ways, I had terrible chemo brain (like baby brain!) during and after and others are perfectly fine, and remember you’ll not be taking it for ever and it is a necessary evil!
Fingers crossed for you.
Good luck
Katie
hi cassey
i did 4 lots of epi this year…my worst side effect was constipation…ouch!!..so soon learnt to eat proper and drink plenty…chemo nurses were great…gave me so much stuff to help with it…
as they say everyone is different another girl on it with me had diarrhea…so??..
good luck.x
I had 4xfec which I didn’t find too bad at all- even hung on to my hair (with the help of the cold cap) Good luck with the chemo Cassey, I know we all react differently but apart from the night of my first one when I felt as if I had the mother of all hangovers I was fine!
Josie x
thank you so much everyone for your kind words and support. its a crazy few days coming up so much to look forward to first. brought our wedding forward to 22 Dec to avoid being Miss Alopecia Bride 2010 (was due to get married in the summer) so will be shoehorning myself and my still sore bits into the full dress next Tuesday. Running around like a looney doing all the table plans and stuff but so excited. Will keep all you all say in mind about the treatment and keep an open mind. love to everyone x
Cassey may you have many happy married years ahead of you…all the very best xx
Hi Cassy
Started my Epi on 8th December (so 1 week in) I have had a wee bit nausea and quite a bit of diarrhoea yesterday and today - couldn’t leave the house today was supposed to pick up my wig but couldn’t take the chance! I am hoping thats it but I may just be a bit optimistic. My next bout is the 29th so I will be thinking of you that day. Good luck with the wedding, may you have many, many years of health and happiness ahead of you.
Jean
Just remember not everyone gets all the side effects or if they do they may get them mildly. Have had 3 sessions of Fec and have only had very mild side effects. Tiredness and the nasty taste of metal that lasts about 10 days. I have been able to carry on almost normally, given that I am much more tired than normal. Oh almost forgot almost no hair left, but I have got used to wigs and scarves. Drink plenty of water around the time of the chemo and make sure you take enough rest and let others do the work for you if you can. Be pampered by friends and family let them help you, don’t be a martyr, you will need your rest so as not to overload your immune system, it needs to fight of infections, not your tiredness. Eat well (well most of the time) and try not to worry chemo is do-able.
hi cassy,
i’m just coming to the end of E-CMF, started in july. The first 3 cycles of epi for me were not that bad, hardley any SEs except those already mentioned. On cycle 4 the fatigue set in but then was reversed with the CMF - i found it hard to sleep on this. Had a slightly worse run on the CMF but still manageable - though the fatigue has just set in again this past 2 weeks. I recommend you keep as active as possible and rest when you need to.
It IS like having a major hangover, combined with being pregnant - even down to food cravings! (i guess that could be the chemo messing with the hormones!)
Best of luck with your wedding and the rest of treatment.
xx
am so touched with everyones comments and loads of luck to you all too It sounds like there is a lot of strength out there. have been for dress final fitting today for 22nd, looks good, and going for wig fittings tomorrow in readiness for the new year, but still very optimistic about it all. From what you all tell me sounds like we get some good days in with the bad, so Think I’m going to mix the blonde bombshell look for going out with the baseball cap for the gym and bandanas for the back of the motorbike, that’ll confuse em all 
Will let you all know how I get on in a couple of weeks. meanwhile on with the shotgun wedding, and all the cancelling new year holiday hassle,
Cassy just want to wish you a lovely wedding day and many happy years ahead of you - its the least you deserve!
be thinking of you on 22nd
monica xx
im just a wee bit ahead of pixielox and have just finished epi-cmp…
started losing my hair about day 14… lady garden goes first! was prickly and had headaches before it fell out my head… losing my hair wasnt an issue for me and i happily went to asda in the ‘buff’ so to speak… but have wigs for special occasions or if im cold, fluffy wee hats which i wore most of the time and scarves.
got knackered veins on about day 10 of 1st epi… some people get sore veins but isnt so often after the first dose… but my veins are a bit sensitive… only had one lot in right arm in june and still cant stretch properly.
slight nausea, insomnia, furry dry flaky mouth and funny taste for a few days after epi… oh yeah and red pee for about 24 hours following epi… felt quite knackered week before and week after chemo but middle week was ok.
my side effects were fairly minor and was a lot better than i was expecting.
the cmf is meant to be more gentle but i found the effects of it worse… i didnt have the down and up that i had on epi and just felt flattish all through but by that time id been on chemo a few months so it could just be the accumulative effect… but your hair does start to grow back on the cmf… my pic was taken today and had my last cmf exactly a month ago… so have almost 1 inch long hair now.
congratulations on your wedding sounds like loads of fun and excitement organising it all.
best wishes
Lulu xx
Hi Cassy,I too had Epi/CMF and felt fine on the Epi but lost my hair
around day 14,I had a wig but found it irritable so left it off.
Epi was much kinder to me than the CMF I was even able to cook Xmas lunch for the whole family and that was just after the 3rd dose.
I wish you well and have a wonderful wedding day on the 22nd.
Jackie xx
Hi Cassy
I am also starting Epirubicin on the 29Th DEC. I go at 12.30 and too be honest I am also worried about how I will feel with side affects.
I have been reading the posts on undergoing CHEMO and will be using a lot of the tips, i don t post a lot but read a lot of the posts and i belive they have kept me sane. thank you everyone.
Good Luck with your chemo i will keep an eye on your posts to see how you are doing and we may be able to help each other with tips of getting through it.
Wendy xx
I’m just concluding my last Epi of 4 and the side effects that I have had most trouble with are sickness - try to get very good anti emetics - I have ended up with Donperidone, Nozinam and Ondanestron (sorry about the spelling !), oral thrush is a bugger too so see if you can get something from either the hospital or more likely your GP so that you can nip it in the bud cause that too will make you feel seedy, constipation - v hard to take a laxative but … best advise I can give you is to get the epi out of your system as quickly as possible I drink loads (and I mean loads) of diluted orange juice after chemo and pretty quickly the red wee goes away and you know that you can now get on with recovering
Good luck - I’m sure it will be fine for you - keep smiling
Hi
I have just finished 3 cycles of FEC, my side effects have been fairly mild, the worse for me so far as been the fatigue, dry mouth lack of taste, and sleepless nights, I am due to start 3 rounds of taxotere , Jan 6th, any one been through the same course of treatment, and did they find the side effects worse.
good luck to all !!
Hi Angels12
I have had 4 Fec and am now on Tax. I am due my 2nd Tax on New Years Eve and my last one should be on the 21st January (I hope)
Side effects were different (for me anyway) I did not feel as sick, I had muscle and joint pain, very sore mouth and unfortunatly on this occassion I ended up in hospital as I had nutropenic sepsis (again, this is me) I read lots of posts on Tax and I scared myself silly to the point that I didnt want to have the treatment. We are all individuals and what side effects one person gets many others dont. All I can say is take one day at a time, if there are things you can take to relieve the side effects take them. If you have any questions please ask and if I can answer them for you I will.
Take care
Karen
Dear all,
how are you getting on? I got married last Tuesday, was a lovely white wedding in every sense of the word, will post a pic when I get chance. Thanks for all the kind words and messages.
had my first epirubicin today (the day we were originally flying out to Tenerife but never mind!) and picked up my wig this afternoon, so ready for the fall out!!! not feeling too bad just now, just a bit spaced out and queasy. Do let me know how youre all getting on. I am thinking about you out there.
best wishes
Cassy X
newlywed and very happy!!!
Hi Cassy
Congratulations on the wedding and look forward to the piccie!! I intended to post last Tuesday but was feeling a bit rough having had 1st FEC on the 17th - like you are today queasy and spaced out is a pretty good description!! It will pass though. Keep drinking loads, nibble when you feel like it and if the furry mouth happens keep gargling and brushing them teeth, boiled sweets help and a good old fashioned ‘duvet’ lie down whenever any tiredness overtakes. And don’t worry about the red pee - its an interesting colour change from the ‘teal’ of WLE/node excision
I’m just ahead of you day 12 and head sore - hubbie is going to shave my hair off tonite so its more comfortable. Am also prepared with wig. Let the fall out commence!
Take care and stay a happy newlywed (am sure it will help in dealing with any SE’s)
Love and best wishes to you both Leigh xx