Hi all, I have secondary breast cancer and have just been told that I need to start this new regime of chemo. Is anyone else on this? Any advice, any info on how it affects you. Can’t say I’m looking forward to this- reading about the side effects- doesn’t sound like fun.???
Hello mags
Welcome to our little family …hope you get some good advice from the more experienced ladies here but I will send you some hugs xxxxx
Hi ladies, I’m on these two at the mo, statrted the first cycle four weeks ago but low bloods have stopped me having cycle 2 at the mo. Waiting to have a portocatheter down so that bloods can be take/ chemo infusions etc easily as my arm veins are shot ay from previous chemo! Got sec tnbc diagnosis almost three months ago with the little buggers spreading into my lungs. I had lumpectomomy, chemo and rad which ended March, recent diagnosis from a CT scan in May.
Hi Mags! So far the overriding side effects has been tiredness. Feel weak compared to when I was on previous chemo cycles last year. No hair loss, a bit of odd taste regarding food and drink, poor sleep pattern ( maybe blame steroids for that) but overall not too bad. I have a day 1 then day 8 then start agin on day 21 for 6-8’cyles. What are they planning for you?
Hi Mags and Wesh girl, good luck with the chemo and any s/e.
am not on that regime, but I found that filigrastin injections have been helping me…i suspect its the reducedwhite and red cells that add to the tiredness…i was shattered on my first cycle of Eribulin and now feel pretty great with the added filigrastin…worth asking about.
Moijanxx
Hi mags…i have had 6 cycles of carboplatin. My onc didnt want me to have gem as well as they are both ery toxic apparently. I have had the odd day of nausea but no hair loss, have felt weak at times but always seem to be tired. I have just had a really bad bout of sickness but think it was a bug rather than chemo s/e.
My platelets dropped to borderline after cycle 5 so had to have reduced dose but apart from tht have coped well. I have tnbc…skin, pleural and bone mets. My onc is making me have a break from chemo now…have had 5 in 2 years…so am getting very scared. Overall it was certainly do=able…i’m sure you will be fine. x
Morning ladies out there! Had day 1 of cycle 2 yesterday after having successful procedure on Monday to have port fitted ( third time lucky after bloods not being good enough!) so feeling tried but ok, quite upbeat as I didn’t want to have a long gap between treatments. Last time, it was the day8 gemcititabine that made me very weary for at least four days…unlike me to be inactive, but I felt I couldn’t get off the settee! Hair seems to be beginning to thin a bit and my taste buds are definitely changing, affecting food choices. Don’t like the steroids I have to take…making me have a moon face and eating is at the forefront of my mind, even though it tastes odd! Anybody the same? X
Hi moijan I’m starting erubulin in about three weeks time…any tips or anything else about it appreciated …thanks Sharon
X,
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Hi Sharon, I have just finished my third cycle of Eribulin.
its given on day 1. Then Day 8 then a rest week
Cold caps and Eribulin.
my hospital does not use the cold cap for that chemo as there is no evidence it helps… i was quite depressed when i began, as Dad had just died…so they did let me try…but it didnt work
The other thing is, the cold caps, were run on a machine which keeps very, very, icy cold air circulating. It has to be on 1/2 an hour before the eribulin is given and remains on for around an hour afterwards…my hair was already thin and the cold was almost unbearable. The whole process took almost two hours from start to finish. After the first cycle, I opted to not have it as I was feeling better in myself. Nowadays, im in and out of the i/v room in about 20 minutes.
If you do opt to try the cold cap and they allow it…you need to take with you.
1/…baby spray hair conditioner, as they damp the hair down before putting on the tight cap.
2/ a head band to place round the edge of your head to protect the skin at the edges.
wether you go for cold cap or not, be very kind to your hair, use baby shampoo and conditioner- or actually I use Simple shampoo and conditioner. Dont vigorously rub your scalp, just pat and smooth each product on gently and shower it off. I dont wash mine very often, i let it dry itself and dont brush it…I just gently comb it once a day. three cycles down the line, my head itches, I run my hand through my hair and about 8 hairs come out each time. I have had it cut short. So as to lighten the weight of it. Nb. When i first had chemo years ago, i made the mistake of vigorously massaging and my hair clumped in a large tangled mess and fell out…very upsetting.
my experience of Eribuln.
i was started on a 60% dose, as my liver function results were very high.
Sore Mouth
My first cycle, i had a sore mouth for a while, i rinsed with bicarbonate of soda, about a teasp to a cup of water, and it really helped. The soreness went away. Dont swallow it, but you can gargle with it. Some people think rinsing your mouth after every meal is helpful. Use a soft toothbrush.
Anti-emetic prior to chemo
they give this as a matter of course, 30 mins before the Eribulin. I found that once on the drip i started panicking and feeling claustrophobic. this last week, my staff nurse said she had noticed a few ladies getting panicky when they had the anti-emetic and asked if I would like to try it without. I did try it without and I was fine, no panicking at all. I also found I didnt need anti emetics afterwards.
Immunity
My white cells fell quite rapidly, Eribulin is well known to do this. I got very tired indeed on days 2 and 9!
I now have Filigrastin injections to keep my white and red cells up and as a result, have felt very well and less tired.
Constipation,
Even tho I drink 2 litres of water/diluted juice a day, it still makes me constipated. Recently got some movacol from the gp.havent tried it yet. Feel less hungry too.
Hopefully this ‘essay’ might be useful to you Sharon and Helen too. There is also a thread about general preparation for chemo under ‘treatments’
love and hugs. moijanx
Hi all - I realise this is an older thread but I thought I’d bump it up to see if there are any others currently on the gemcitabine/carboplatin regime who want to share their thoughts.
I am about to start on this regime on 11 April so I’m interested in any advice, tips, experiences, etc. It would be nice to support each other while going through treatment and share our stories.
From what I understand, it’s pretty hard on your white and red blood cell counts. My doctor said I might need to have some blood transfusions from time to time to get my red blood cells back up. Fatigue will be the most common side effect, risk of infection because of the low white blood cell count, but hopefully no nausea and hair loss. I’ve been pretty fortunate with nausea with previous chemo treatments (AC, Taxol, Capecitabine, Eribulin) so I’m reasonably confident it won’t be an issue for me.
Hope there are others out there wanting to chat!
I have had 3 cycles of GemCarbo, number 4 is on Tuesday. I am in my fifth year since diagnosis (fourth with secondaries). I had two long runs on Cape and Taxol which kept me stable.
For cycle three the anti sickness was changed to Domperidone and the steroids (Dex) were halved and I felt fine, no sickness at all. I have an active lifestyle and walk about six miles a day with my dog. I have not had any fatigue on this (or any chemo actually) however I have had two blood transfusions recently, have managed to avoid them until now!!
My hair is growing back too - have not had hair for two years so should be interesting!!
It is definitely doable, nowhere near as bad as I anticipated, I hope you have good results on it xx
Anyone currently on this combo, thought I’d bump the topic as im starting it on the 8th, any advice or success stories on this would be welcome. Its my 4th chemo since March 2016 and 6th over all, starting to panic my options are decreasing rapidly. X ?
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Hello alley cat
Welcome to the forum …I have no knowledge of this chemo but wanted to just say hello and hope there will be some ladies here that can help out with advice.
Hugs xx
Hi all, I’m new to this forum but I started Gemcarbo today, it’s my 4th Chemo so I’m interested to hear how others are getting on?
Xx
On my 7th month on GemCarbo. Scans in late Jan. No spreading and multiple lesions have decreased. Anyone know in the world of chemo…am I nearing the end of possible other chemo meds?
Hi everyone,
Just bumping this thread up a bit, as I’m about to start gemcarbo and would love to know if anyone else is on it! Cheers.
Me to got secondary in nodes triple negative starting gem and carboplatin next week worried
Didn’t ask will I need steroid jabs after each cemo
Hi Pinkaboo,
I’ve had one cycle of gemcarbo, it wasn’t bad at all! I had IV steroids as premed and two days of anti-nausea and steroid tablets after, but no injections. That was only for the Day 1 stuff when you get both drugs. Day 8 is gemcitabine only, no steroids and only anti-nausea tabs to take home just in case, which I didn’t need.
Felt a bit groggy on days 4-5 when the steroids wore off, but otherwise fine.
Unfortunately by day 21 my blood hadn’t bounced back enough, neutrophils were too low, so I had to wait an extra week for round two. Crossing my fingers for tomorrow!
When’s your first dose? Good luck, it’s really not the harshest chemo as it goes, you’ll be fine!
Hi Tatyana I have my first on the 20th then 27th then I think a week off if I’m reading it right was hoping to have my second cycle at my local hospital but because I have had carbo b4 they said you are at a higher risk of a reaction was fine last time gutted it’s one thing after another but hey heard it’s a very affective combo so if needs must xx