Hi, about to start chemo following lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy. Does anyone know if tax is ever used on it’s own or ist always with fec?
New to the board so fairly ignorant.
I’m not sure to be honest, but am bumping your query up as am sure somebody will know!!
Vickie
Hi Marym
Welcome to the BCC forums, please feel free to call our helpline or use the ‘Ask the Nurse’ service for your query, you can access both here:
breastcancercare.org.uk/about-us/our-services/someone-to-talk-to/helpline/
breastcancercare.org.uk/about-us/our-services/our-information/email-our-nurse/
Best wishes
Lucy
Ps. Welcome to the forum! Sorry you have to be here but glad you found it. I had taxotere for 3 cycles last summer. I had 3fec Chemo first. It was pretty yuk but not as hard as I expected. Lots of ladies hAve had taxotrte so you won’t be alone. X
Hi Marym,
I had WLE & SNB followed by a full node clearance. I had 3x EC then 3x Dosetaxel and then radiotherapy which I finished last week.
I’m not sure what the “norm” is or if there is a set regime, but hope this helps
Tracey xxxxx
Hi Marym, again I’ve had 3Fec and am starting on Tax next week. I don’t know if its used alone.
Good luck with you treatment though.
Polly
Hi Marym,
I had invasive ductal cancer diagnosed too in mid December, folloowed by wle and sentinel node biopsy. Then diagnosed as stage1, grade 2 with no node or vascular involvement.Now have to have chemo followed by rads. The oncologist told me he’d chosen 2 drugs for me - cyclophosphamide and docetaxel- as they wouldn’t affect the heart muscle ( I had a stent in a coronary artery last year).So there must be different combinations available.
loula
I had 6 cycles of taxotere and no fec. My BC is a recurrence though and I don’t know if this makes a difference. I can’t remember what chemo I had first time around.
Thanks for your help everybody.Seeing consultant oncologist next weekbut your replies have been helpful x x x
Hi there I’ve only heard of people having tax on it’s own when they have secondaries / recurrence, rather than it being the first line of defense following a primary diagnosis. Tax tends to be added in to initial treatment Mainly if nodes are involved but some oncs give it for high grade or more aggressive cancers (eg triple negs) even when nodes are clear.
Good luck
tina x
Hi Marym
I am having 6 taxotere but mine is a recurrence and my oncologist said that clinical trials have found that it is the best one for us. Have a word with your oncologist and they should explain why they have decided to give you tax alone.
Good luck, there is another thread further down for us having tax and any side effects we are experiencing, which is really useful.
Take care
Annabelle
Hello there, also worth thinking about how drug regimes shift a bit from time to time - while in some ways the drugs remain pretty much the same for years it seems, the regimes and combos change.
Feel free to ask your oncologist exactly why the regime is proposed, bw Nicola
I’ve just had 3 EC (like FEC but no ‘F’) and have 3 tax starting in first week Feb.
I’m worried as people say tax is stronger so I hope side effects are not too stronger too. All I can get from the nurses is that everyone is different. Am I going to be hit harder with all the side effects? I’ve coped but not enjoyed the EC side effects.
Do you def loose all your hair including eyebrows and eye lashes on tax? And does it give people any significant bowel probs?
Thanks
Izzi
Hi,
I had 6 Tax. I coped but not without problems. The first was the worst as there is no way of knowing how your body will cope with it and what side effects you will have.
I was fine the day after the infusion and also for the first half of the next day. Then it hit me and I just had to learn to let it take over for the next few days.
I quickly learned how to cope with the side effects.
Mouth ulcers can be cured by swilling your mouth out with pure pineapple juice 4 times a day.
Thrush responded to Fluconazole.
Diarrhoea started very quickly after the infusion so I took Loperamide on the day and for the next 2 days. Then the constipation starts. I coped with this by taking dulcoease capsules which soften the stools.
Food tasted awful. I coped with eating sweet things including, garden peas, carrots and sweetcorn. Anything with starch I avoided, that included bread and starchy potatoes. New potatoes were fine.
I lost my hair very soon after the first dose but kept my eyebrows and lashes.
I lost my toenails but kept my fingernails but they were not pretty and developed a line across for each dose of Tax. I know that there is one thought that using dark nail polish to keep the light off them is supposed to work. I did not do that, just used a good nail oil all the time. My nails are now back to normal but it did take a year for them to grow back properly.
Just remember that everyone reacts differently to chemo. There really is no knowing how you will react. The basic fact is that Tax is one of the very best chemos and does save lives. It is now 2 years since I was diagnosed.
I was quite well after the first few days and went on several short breaks but made sure that I was within reach of my hospital, those were instructions from my Oncologist and I reckoned he knew best.
Fingers crossed than none of you will suffer too much.
E
Thanks Emmbee
My Onc says to always be within 2 hrs of hospital, preferably less, which fortunately means no visits to the m i l whilst on chemo. Even though we have tried to explain to her I’m off colour on chemo and it goes in up and down patches she still doesn’t get it.
I’ve just not gone out since starting chemo, I’m happy enough staying home and getting tescos to deliver. I have 2 kids, 7 and 11, and spend my energy on them as well as my weekly hospital jolly.
Loosing nails doesn’t sound too much fun. Will toe nails be affected if they always stay in shoes?
Izzi x
emmbee, I had ACx4 and Taxx3 and definitely found the tax easier. Although I can’t say I’ve been feeling great (I’m 2.5weeks past tax3) I’m not totally disabled like I was on AC. I had mouth ulcers, horrible GI problems and loose fingernails on AC but have found tax manageable by comparison. However, it is the constant grind that really gets you, so I think by the time you’ve had 3 EC then anything after is going to be tough.
Get some codeine in preparation for the aches and pains though. Oh, and beware the fuzzy head that makes you feel slightly senile! xxx
Hi
I found tax easier than fec, although by the last Chemo I had def had enough. I found the constant nausea of fec really demoralizing as nothing, no even emend ( and numerous other anti sickness) worked for me. With tax I felt rough for about three days and weirdly depressed for a day but then recovered and was much more back to normal between chemos. I did have mouth ulcers, bone aches and constipation, but I was able to take something for each of these that helped. Some people are hit by the tax truck of tiredness, but I actually was more alert. Everyone is different and it is hard to predict. But it is not impossible to be ok on tax.
Debx
Hi everyone,
Although my bc is primary and was Stage 1,as it’s triple negative, I’m on tax. Went for first dose yesterday - on my birthday too, what a present! It was all very calm and uneventful, no discomfort, felt fine, went to dance lesson at 9pm and did an hour’s tango, rhumba and pasa doble.I was high on steroids though.
My hospital staff play down the side effects too but as I like to hope for the best but prepare for the worst, I’d researched them on this site.I find that I panic less then if I develop any.
Woke up today with puffy red face and chest, but next dose of steroids sorted that. No nausea or sickness so far, feeling tired, difficulty concentrating and definitely senile- can’t remember anything or think straight.Also have lost sense of taste, which was a pity as lovely son and fiancee visited for belated birthday tea and everything tasted bland.However, all this sounds worse than it is and I’m enjoyin being pampered. Have injected the first Neulasta, will see what joys that brings!
loula
Hi loula
I had v low bloods with all Chemo and even neulasta struggled to get them up. Be prepared for bone pain a few days after neulasta. My Chemo was on Tuesday, neulasta Wed and the bone pain would hit on the following Monday morning. Needed codeine and paracetamol to get through 12 hoers of pain. Then I was fine. Hope you are ok.
Debx
I’m on gcsf injections for the low bloods, chemo brain def makes you feel senile and forget everything!
I x