Nails and chemo

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I’m hoping someone can give me some definitive answers/advice on finger/toenails.

I’ve seen references to nails peeling off etc, but want loads of info now on exactly what happens - does the whole nail come off, or just layers? Is it painful? And so on…

I’ve had 4xFEC and 2xTaxotere so far. The chemo has been unremittingly horrendous - I seem to have a very low tolerance for medication and have suffered just about every side effect know. (Maybe I’m just pathetic)

Strangely enough, my fingernails have been absolutely fab, probably from doing no house work for 6 months - we just live in squalor now. After the last Tax my fingernails got really really painful, felt like they were slowly coming loose at the top, which eased when I cut them. They are getting a kind of stripey appearance, but you have to look closely to see it. Then this week I walked my kids to school in comfy trainers and both my little toe nails are so sore I can’t wear anything other than slippers or a pair of dodgy old mules which should have been tossed long ago.

Can anyone tell me what’s going on and how to prevent any further damage.

Jane

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Hi Jane,
I am also having trouble with my nails, three of my toe nails are coming away, they don’t appear to be infected or anything,
so I will be interested to hear if anybody else has this problem. best wishes Jeanxx

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Thats Taxotere for you! A fairly common side effect I was told by my oncologist.

You are doing the right thing - keeping them short and clean

I was put on antibiotics because mine began to smell (YUK!) They are slowly growing out now and so far no nails have come off completely.

So that’s all I can tell you at the mo but if anything changes I will let you know

Sam

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The good news is - 1 year after surgery, 9 months after chaemo, 5 months after radiotherapy - fingernails have had a mad surge and last week had a prof manicure to make the most of them.
YET have been in DESPAIR - taxotere ruined my fingernails: they were ridged and weak, splitting in both directions, with “milky” patches. TOENAILS were worse - went black. Local médecin gave me a treatment which slowly cleared up allexcept the big toes. they were fungal and peeling and thick layers peeled off - but they never came out at the roots. they are normal colour now but only “half-way up” leaving a tender looking pad of flesh unprotected.
I wore those icy gloves during chaemo and the radiotherapist advised me to wear thick opaque varnish on my finger nails “to avoid contact with light rays”. This did not make sense to me as toenails were never exposed to light.

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Hiya,

I can totally sympathise with you regarding the nails

I had 3 EC & 4 Taxotere. The taxotere made my nails & fingertips go hyper sensitive. They were sooooo painful it wasnt funny. I could hardly do anything (not even scratch myself!)
My nails had & still have the black stripe down them (I finished chemo 5 weeks ago) and very deep ridges across every single nail. Most of my nails had also lifted off the nail bed but didnt get to the point of falling off.

I had read on here from quite a few ladies to paint your nails with dark nail varnish and that should help protect them.
I did this with my toe nails (which have been fine…no problems at all) but sadly didnt paint my finger nails so im presuming this is why I have the nail issue?

Luckily my nails (and hair) grow quite fast so the ridges & stripes are now half way grown out.

Anyone who does not know me and that I have been going thru cancer treatment will think my nails are well yukky!

Ps…I suffered very badly with my 1st taxotere, had every side effect going except sickness, it turns out the dose they were given me was far too strong so they reduced the dosage by 20%, this helped immensly and I then suffered very few side effects. Maybe this is something you can ask about?..redusing the dosage?

I wish you all the best with the rest of your treatment.

Julie x x