Hi I was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer in December 2023, i have had 2 rounds of chemo so far , I’m going for my 3rd round on 19th April, i just wanted to know how the chemo and the steroids effected you, people call the chemo im have “**The Red Devil”
My experience was not good, for 3 days i had nausea, headache, sensitive to light, sound and smells, I couldn’t sleep at night and i had bad anxiety, i couldn’t stop thinking, i can not get out of bed for these 3 sometime 4 days, it took me a week to feel 100% better.
I just wondered if anyone else had the same symptoms, is it the chemo or is it the steroids that’s making me feel this way? xx
it will be the steroids more thank likely but do speak to your team about the anxiety they are giving you think the steroids had quite a few of us bouncing off the walls but do please speak to your team. It can also make you smell a bit like damp moss I know a few of us on the Oct17 chemo gang had a sort of fusty damp smell about us cased from fec. It also gave me a uti first round and oral thrush so that was my experience of fec, I’m sure others will pop on and share too Shi xx
My symptoms are very similar to yours but without the anxiety, obviously I’ve been anxious but no more so than I was before treatment, hope this gets better for you, I had my second Red Devil on Friday and was feeling not too bad this morning but as the day has gone on head ache and nausea are back and exhausted, fingers crossed I can sleep tonight, really trying to stay up till 10pm to hopefully sleep most of the night, keeping my fingers crossed for a better day tomorrow,
Hope you start to improve too, sending lots of love to you and you’ve nearly ready to complete round 3 that’s fantastic, remember how amazing you are to get this far already, are you doing 3 and 3 ? Xx
Thank you Shi for replying to my message, i feel that bad that i just dont want to go through it again, i scared of doing dose no. 3 as i know what to expect and its awful, with the second dose i was hoping my body would be used to it and it wouldn’t be has bad, but now i know its the same every time im scared. xxx
Hi elle16, thank you for replying, how do you cope as I’m not coping with the thought of having to do this again, its scaring me that much that i don’t what the 3rd dose.
This will be my final dose of the red Devil and then i go on to a weekly dose but i have been told its only a 1/3 of the dose and i should be ok, i will have to have the weekly dose every week for 9 weeks then its on to Radiotherapy xxx
elle16 sorry i forgot to ask how you are, where you better the following day?
Hi Kanapka87, That can not have been nice for you having a seizure i feel for you , i know what its like i have had epilepsy since i was 16yrs and im 53 now, i worry about every tablet i take.
Im going to ask them to reduce the steroids if its possible.
Hope your doing Okay now xxx
Candy do speak to your team about how scared you are they can prescribe you something i think we’ve all been at one point or another during chemo but remember to tick each one off, keep focused and you do what you need to do for you and whatever will help you through i focused on treating myself to big bottle of Chanel when I finished chemo that was my treat to myself for pulling up my kylie gold hot pants and getting through chemo Kylie was our mascot for Oct17 gang that and licky penguins di phone the nurse on the number here and do you the someone like me option too think about joining the chemo threads they will help too Shi xx
Hi @candy3
I keep telling myself each one is step towards the finish line , don’t get me wrong it’s not easy and I’m having my share of tough days, I’ve got three children only one at home , my youngest daughter age 13 and mostly I’m getting on with it as best I can for her, obviously I can’t hide the fact I’ve lost my hair and some days she sees me looking/feeling very ill which is hard to hide, but on the days I can manage it I’m just mom with less hair and will remain positive to keep her from worrying , don’t know if that’s all making sense with my awful chemo brain
I’ve got 1 more EC then I’m having 3 docetaxel still every 3 weeks, so I’m trying to think that once I get to my third EC I will be half way through,
I’ve actually had a horrible day today, just nothing in the tank, headache and sickness on and off and feel like it’s never ending, but tomorrow is a new day and hopefully I might feel a bit better after all the rest I’ve had today,
Hope you are ok , this is a horrible journey but you will get through this , you are already doing amazing , look how far you’ve already come , massive well done you incredible lady
I’m not sure if I had red devil, I had 4 rounds of EC, this was a pink liquid that the nurse syringed in along with a clear one. This made my wee pink. Does this sound like what you’re having? I then had 4 rounds of another chemo. The side effects of the second type of chemo were almost non existent compared to EC! The EC made me feel so ill, I actually didn’t realise how bad I felt until I’d been off it a while. I would say what you’re experiencing is the chemo side effects. I also found some of the anti sickness meds they gave me made me feel worse, so I stopped taking them. It was only one of them. I found cyclizine was the only anti sickness tablet that really helped. Everyone is different though. It is normal to feel awful after chemo so I really wouldn’t worry too much. I would talk to the nurse on your pre chemo appointment about how it makes you feel. I found eating difficult and lived on angel delight for the few days after each session good luck
I’m currently having EC, and it makes me feel vile. I am actually treated as an inpatient now, as im there for a week after treatment. The nauseau and dizzyness are just , and I cant tolerate anything in my mouth (food, drink, medicine, nothing!) for days after. Just had cycle 3 of 6, so glad I’m half way. I dont have steroids, but as everyone reacts differently, it could be a mix of the chemo and steroids? Definitely worth talking to your team to see what they can do to help. They will be ablento suggest or tweak things good luck!
Hi elle16
Thank you, all these messages do help me, i hope your feeling better today? I think you are doing great and having to look after your daughter at the same time you are amazing.
Im going to try and be strong this time as my husband will be working away and my mother-in-law will be coming to stay with me, but im going to try this time, you have given inspiration xxx
Hi sprout78
Yes that is what im having Epirubicin and Cyclopshamide, mine is red and i also pee red when i go to the toilet for a few days. i have 3 round of this and this friday is my last dose of this and then i go one to weekley dose of Paclitaxel (Taxol), they tell me this is a 1/3 of the strenght and i should be ok on this one, i have to have this for 9 weeks. im worried with this one as i have to have the the cold hands and feet gloves and i absolutely hate my hands and feet being cold, I hate it that much u wear heated socks all the time in winter. did you have the cold gloves for your hand and feet and how was it if you did?
I too dont eat much for the first 3 days, i could only eat blueberries and strawberries, i think i will try angel delight a go. Thank you for your message and i hope everything is good for you now
Hi sb_01 ,
I only have 3 does of this and I’m on my last dose left of the EC (red Devil) and this is on Friday and i dreading it, I phoned and told them how it made me feel and they said they would pass it on to my oncologist so im hoping, fingers crossed he does tweak it.
Keep strong and your doing amazing and Good Luck with the rest of your treatment
Hi, I can’t remember the name of the second drug I had but it sounded very similar to what you say. I didn’t have cold gloves to wear, I was however wearing the cold cap and even tolerating that on the second drug was much easier. I would advise to wear warm clothes to keep the rest of you warm, even take a nice warm coat with you. It will help keep the rest of you warm, that way you hopefully won’t notice the cold hands and feet! Also it’s only the initial shock of having something cold on you, you’ll be surprised at how quickly your body adjusts. Try not to think about the cold too, maybe watch a film set somewhere hot. Good luck
Hi everyone, i have another question, did they tell you if you wear the cold cap your hair wouldn’t fall out or it would only fall out a bit? i was sat near a lady when i was having chemo and she said they told her not to bother with the cold cap with the type of treatment she was having as her hair would still fall out. I am having the cold cap and a lot of my hair has fallen out already and everyday im still shedding hair. i wash my hair once a week with baby shampoo, i leave it to dry its self and i brush my hair once a day very lightly. i have now had to ordered a wig from simply wigs and it should arrive any day now, i am not letting this bother me as it is what it is and a lot of people go through this but i was wondering is there any point me still wearing the cold cap or do you think i should still persevere?
Hi @candy3 just wanted to reassure you, you don’t need to try and be strong you are already being strong!! Look what you’ve been through already , you are doing it, remember what an incredible lady you are, well done for already getting this far, it’s not an easy journey and you are facing each day head on, keep going, you’ve got this!!
it will be the steroids more thank likely but do speak to your team about the anxiety they are giving you 
at one point or another during chemo 
good luck 
, and I cant tolerate anything in my mouth (food, drink, medicine, nothing!) for days after. Just had cycle 3 of 6, so glad I’m half way. I dont have steroids, but as everyone reacts differently, it could be a mix of the chemo and steroids? Definitely worth talking to your team to see what they can do to help. They will be ablento suggest or tweak things 
good luck!