Okay - I have just finished 4 x EC and coped okay - only ended up in hospital once with newts of 0.01. All finger and toe nails intact. Only hairs remaining on me are on my forearms.
I start on Tax on the 21st of September - and after reading other posts on here I am beginning to worry about how I will cope with the side effects.
What I need are posts from people who didn’t suffer too much.
I need to get some positive thoughts into my head about this before I start.
Hello Supertrouper - me too!
am having my first of 3 TAX on 23rd Sept. Have been on 3 x FEC so far.
Hoping tax wont be too taxing!
Have been ok on (feccing!) fec - ok - but by no means s.e. free… and am bald everywhere except forearms, eye lashes and brows.
Here’s hoping Supertrouper!!
Best wishes to you,
Cannoliwings
Hi there Cannoliwings - I have some eyelashes and patchy eyebrows - everything else apart from the forearms has gone.
I keep reading about being hit by the Tax truck!!
fingers crossed that not everyone has a bad experience. First one seems to be the worst?
Best wishes to you too xx
Hi ST
I’m one of the boring ones that you don’t hear too much from! I had 3 tax - last one was on 19th July.
I had no major bad SEs - Have lost most of my brows and lashes (that had survived 3 x FEC intact!) and these haven’t started growing back yet - head hair has.
Very occasionally I get a mild tingling in one foot if I’ve been sat too long.
Didn’t use dark polish and (so far) haven’t lost any nails.
Had a horrible taste in my mouth most of the way thru and tongue went white and furry for about a week each time, but staved off any ulcers, etc with mouthwash.
Ached a bit and just felt a bit rubbish for a week or so each time - some of that will have been from Neulasta jabs. Also got v tired and quite emotional as the steroids wore off.
Worst SEs were from the steroids. After the 1st cycle (where I hardly slept for a week and was climbing the walls) these were reduced and all very manageable after that.
HTH and that all youre SEs will be as mild or better!
Dx
Thanks DJ007 - this is what we need to hear. I had problems with the steroids whilst having the EC - also didn’t sleep much for about a week and then emotional and tired as they wore off.
Hope to get more replies over the next couple of days and then I will print them out and pin them up where I can see them.
Hi Supertrouper,
I had tax in 2008 and found it quite hard (but dosages and side effect treatments may well have changed since then so I won’t bore you with my experience)…BUT …I was in the chemo unit today getting my abraxane, and the woman next to me was just having here fourth and final tax, looking great and saying what a breeze it had been compared to the FEC she had before! Hopefully it will go as smoothly for you.
Best wishes, Julie x
Hi
I had 4xfec and 4xtaxotere 2006.
found side effects from both really different - fec hit me straight away, so i took myself of to bed - tax took 3/4 days and on first treatment i became quite blase and went to my sons footy presentation and ended up laughing and soaked with all the other parents in a summer thunder storm and then in hospital - all I would say is rest and be aware, it seems to creep up on you. and dont read too many posts - its usually the bad ones people want share.
I did wear dark nail varnish and really looked after my feet and mouth.
good luck - and listen to your body Debsx
Hi
I found tax much easier than fec. The pattern was pretty much the same rah time. I had it on the Tuesday. Fine apart from the odd random stabbing pain til the Friday. Would feel down and depressed on Friday ( end of steroids I think) ok Saturday. On Sunday/ Monday I would get bone pain as the neulasta jab kicked in- would last about 12 hours, needed codeine and on tax one got mouth ulcers. By Tuesday I would feeling better and by Wednesdsy I was pretty much ok apart from unpleasant taste in my mouth. For tax two and three I looked after my mouth better in the lead up and didn’t get the ulcers.
I used dark nail varnish, but my nails still became thickened and some split off. My hair started to grow back on tax two, but I didn’t lose all of my lashes until after tax three.
Fec I found much harder as I felt v sick all of the time between cycles and many other side effects. it is v hard to predict as I have friends who were completely hit by the tax truck. I wish you well and hope that it does it’s magic on you and gets id of any stray floaters .
Debx
Just to agree with the other girls above… I had some bone pain due to the neulasta jabs which are given to boost white cells but nothing that a few over the counter painkillers wouldn’t sort.
Eyebrow/lash loss as the others said and yes, I too got hair on my head returning after Tax 2 (lost it very soon after FEC1)
I did paint my nails and kepy them all - they went thick and yukky (to add to the FEC yellowing) and had definite ‘beau lines’. Nine months on all my finger naisl are fully normal and only my two big toes nails have any residual yukkiness
White mouth and no taste for several days but no thrush or ulcers
Slightly watery eyes
Full energy levels throughout, so felt better in myself.
Mega doses of St Eroid the patron siaint of sleeplessness worked perfectly in keeping my awake!
I was OK with both but actually think Tax was a tad easier for me.
Hope you’re one of the ‘lucky’ ones too
Hi - Sorry but i sailed through fec and suffered with tax. I had my last one on Tuesday though and i am coping better. Take pain killers before the expected pain from Neualasta and the chemo . so i start straight away and so far i am fine. The last 2 treatments by today i was really sore with nerve pain , I top up my prescribed painkillers with co codomaol and paracetomol which has really helped . The worst is the come down from sreroids as the dose is 4 times higher to combat side effects . Most folk are fineon it by the way .
Good thing is my hair , lashes and brows are growing…legs have been shaved !!! So it also has its benefits
Good Luck
Lorna x
Hi Supertrouper,
I’m day 6 post my first Docetaxel (I had 3 x FEC first) I too was nervous after reading some of the posts here.
You’re probably aware you get to start your steriods earlier (and more of them) I had to spend the day in hospital as it was also my first dose of Herceptin. So… I’m not sure which side effect to attribute to which drug but I thought it might help to give you another account.
Following hospital on the Friday I felt on top of the world at the weekend, I spent Sunday thinking ‘wow this is easier than FEC!’ Hmmm… Sunday night was agony with stabbing pain in my joints, especially knees and ankles. I also suffered from very sore throat, painful lungs and swollen back of my neck (but I think that might be the Herceptin).
Today I feel the same tiredness as I would day 6 post FEC, only differences are some soreness at the end of my fingers and aching joints (which I’m taking painkillers for). Same mouth soreness and emotional ups and downs.
If I knew then what I know now I’d definitely be prepared with some pain relief (but as you know not everyone gets the same side effects so you may be totally fine). I’d also take things much easier in the first couple of days.
Hope that helps. Best of luck!
Jenna
Tax was *much* easier than EC, didn’t need Neulasta.
Only had one day slightly nauseous; refused all the TTO meds after the first session.
No thrush, no ulcers.
Felt well enough to do star jumps at times (honestly!)
Was able to do some jogging at first.
Hair started coming back on head while on Tax; still growing.
Got Tax Trots on day 5 & day 7 but Imodium (advised my chemo nurse) really helped that.
Didn’t do the nail polish thing as polish always dries out my nails horribly; did lavish creaming instead; didn’t lose any finger nails. Lost one toe nail but didn’t cream those…
Had some peripheral neuropathy but only residual is on soles of feet; still improving.
I had to give up eventually but that was just because I have fibromyalgia and after 10 shots of Tax, it eventually gave me the fibro crash from hell, but if you don’t have FMS, that won’t happen to you!
Done 4 FEC and 4 TAX. To be honest, I preferred TAX to FEC. Well, except for the last TAX where I’d got bloomin’ tired and didn’t cope that well (but arguably that would be the same whichever way round they did it).
I took a good vitamin and mineral supplement and extra Vit D as well as lactoferrin supplement and manuka honey. My blood test results were pretty much fine all the way through…so much so that the nurse wondered if they’d been giving me any chemo at all. (!)
On TAX I also got them to give me cold gloves to wear during chemo, and took in my own frozen veg to put my toes on. It helps stop nail problems in half the people who try this, says the research.
I had big painful digestive troubles each TAX for a few days - bit like bad IBS, but coped with tablets. Bit achey. Toenails and fingernails hurt a bit. Other than that, not too bad. More to the point, it worked for me and reduced the lump to “gone completely!”.
Is that positive enough? Have a virtual cuppa…
Ann x
ST - you know my feelings about TAX. Minimal side effects for me. A bit of joint pain after the neulasta, but nothing to stop me from walking my dog. No bowel problems, but have achey nails, flakey feet, eyebrows, eyelashes and nasal hair have all done runners. BUT NO queasiness and lots more energy for me. Had my fourth and final one yesterday. Huzzah!
PS I always feel a bit sheepish posting minimal side effects when so many others on here suffer BUTthink it’s good to show both sides of the story. My advice is to be prepared for the worst (look after yourself and take it easy for the first week and stock up on ibuprofen, paracetamol and immodium) but then you may well be pleasantly surprised. I do hope so!! X
ST I had 6 tax, and quite simply it was hard going , if you manage the SEs its not too bad, make sure you take anti sickness, some say you don’t get it but I did on my first, after that I took meds sooner and had no problems with nausea and minimal digestive probs.Nails on hands have been slightly affected but still in place, toenails took the brunt and some are black but only lost one.
Tiredness is the worst but you sleep a little more, no worries !
At the end of the day its the gold star of treatments and for me it has worked far better than I could have hoped, its been 8 weeks since my last infusion and I am pretty much feeling normal and apart from the fact I have just had my Mx I feel good,tax is a distant memory now.
Jean
The most positive thing about tax is you will get through it.
We all get different side effects and different levels.
I am in thailand staying as hubby is working here and was reading all the posts in preperation what to get etc. it was like Boots the Chemist in the cupboad. LOl.
I really didnt use half of them as my SE were bearable compared to some. Only the firat one was kinda scary.
You will get through it. No matter what. We’ve all been there and will be there for you if you need us. I actually laugh now at some of the things that happened to me and thing did , like putting boiled eggs on and forgetting and only remembered when they were exploding over the ceiling LOl.
Good luck it is scary and tiring but there will be light at the end of the tunnel
I had my 3 TAX starting in Dec 09. Pre chemo I used to have really bad hard skin on my feet, I had tried everything including the chiropodist, nothing worked. I had the skin SE of TAX and my hands and the lovely soft new skin just like a new babies bum.
My hard skin has never returned, that is definately a bonus!!!
I had a TERRIBLE time on Taxotere, if you’ve read any of my comments!
I knew quite a lot of ladies in the chemo unit who had hardly any.
People don’t come on here to say they’re having a fine time, they come on and post when they need support. So it’s unbalanced, I was scared as well (turns out in my case I was right to be LOL)
Taxanes are the “gold standard” and achieve some amazing results, so if you are unlucky with them, remind yourself that you have to get through it as best you can to get the best results. None of us want this back! xx
I had 3 x FEC followed by 3 x docetaxol. To be honest I hardly noticed any difference and, if anything, tolerated docetaxol rather better. Big advantage was that the time spent in the chemo suite having docetaxol was so much shorter with it only being 1 bag of gloop rather than 3.
Docetaxol affected my nails but nothing painful at all just brittleness. The fingernails soon recovered and are as strong as ever now. My big toenails still look a bit yukky but I’ve heard it’s advisable to put ice pack on your toes during delivery and this lessens the impact (a bit like a cool-cap for your feet).
My eyebrows and eyelashes thinned as a result of docetaxol but having lost all my head hair this seemed like a minor issue and they grew back pretty quickly anyway.
Do hope you get on OK.
Have just finished 3 FEC and starting Taxotere on 7th Oct. Thankyou for all the comments as I am dreading this next lot, good to hear of all the positive comments.