I am 7 out of 8 chemos down and should be feeling great that the end is in sight, but Tax has physically and mentally floored me. Has anyone else found the same ?
I was really lucky with first 4 EC chemos no nausea or sickness and mild other side effects except one “allergic” reaction when cyclophosphomide was administered too fast.
Tax is a whole different ball game, I cope well for 3/4 days post treatment then everything collapses and it seems to be getting much worse with each treatment.
Worst is ulcers in nose, so sore and permanent nosebleeds which have now spread to throat so cannot swallow and now as a final indignity all through tubes to bottom so going to the loo like giving birth.
Because or on top of this I cry at everything and spent yesterday thinking it would be nicer to go to sleep and not wake up !!!
This is not me I have EVERYTHING to live for but cannot get my positive switch turned back on.
Any tips to help physical symptoms would be appreciated, oh and whilst I moan I ache as if someone has attacked me with a baseball bat.
THnaks fo letting me rant, I only get online every few days but will look out for your comment.
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Best wishes
Katie
Know how you feel, I only had one Taxotere before they took me off it but I felt like I’d been beaten up and as though I had really bad flu.
My onc gave me Difflam mouthwash which really helped with sore mouth - it contains a local anaesthetic so numbs your mouth for a while. He also suggested gargling with soluble aspirin (don’t swallow it) to help with sore throat.
Must admit that the week or two following Taxotere was my lowest point emotionally so far, mind you I also had a really low blood count and was in hospital on IV antibiotics and in solitary confinement which didn’t help!
All I can say is that at least the end is in sight, and I promise that you do feel better again once they stop giving you the drugs! I had Taxotere on 20th Nov and was feeling tons better by the time I went in for WLE and node clearance on 17th Dec - the nurses on the ward all commented on how much better I looked!
I also hated taxotere and by the 4th (having had 6 AC before surgery) I too wanted to shut my eyes and not wake up. I was lucky cause I found that I recovered most of my strength within a couple of weeks of finishing tax, and radiotherapy then for me semed a breeze.
Don’t be hard on yourself…no one is positive all the time…be a bit odd if they were.
Bless you, I know just what you’re going through, but just hold the thought only one more!! I know it seems one tooooo many, but this chemo is the best and you’ll soon be done with it.
I had 4 x AC then 4 X tax and finished mid Sept and I’m feeling great - Christmas was just the best - and hair is actually growing now, bit grey, but what the heck - its hair!
All I can say, is just take each day as it comes, the aches are really awful, I remember barely being able to crawl to the toilet - today I did my half hour power walk - you will feel better and not in the too far distant future. Start planning a nice holiday for when you’re finished, treat yourself on your “good days” allow yourself a good cry (but not too often), you’ve been so strong and now you’re on the home run, just hang in there.
Hey Bluetongue, know how you feel! I had my last Taxotere on Nov 21st and 6, 7 and 8 were progessively worse BUT they do the trick, I was diagnosed in June last year (3.6 x 1.4cm tumour with 1 lymph node inflamed) and had chemo first (4 x EC & 4 x Taxotere), the lump reduced so much that by the time I had surgery on Dec 10th they had to put a guide wire in so they knew where to operate. Even better, when the results came back, the lump was a small fibrous lump with only “a few random, suspicious cells around the lump” and the lymph nodes were either shrivelled or clear - so keep at it girl!
I can completely sympathise with you about the side-effects, hence me calling you Bluetongue, my mouth was so bad that my husband threatened to call the vet to get me tested (he is a farmer!) and the bottom issue - well, say no more, the combination of constipation and then the other extreme! I took the dog for a walk down the field and I had that feeling that I needed to go, and good god, that seemed like the longest walk back to the house!
Together with Difflam, I also found that Aloe Vera juice helped (you can get it from Health food shops or Waitrose stock it), it tastes rank but a measure full swilled twice a day helped. The nurse also gave me Antepsin liquid (aniseed flavoured thick stuff - also rank) which also helped.
Hang in there - it is worth it,
ps I did a thread a few months ago called “POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE - HOW TO GET THRO CHEMO” which was a bit of mickey take of all the side-effects, perhaps you can search Catflap or the above title and find it if you want a laugh.
Most importantly, keep smiling and if you can laugh, it does help
Take Care
love
the Bogbrush (how I now look as my hair grows back!)
Hi Thanks eveyone for your love and advice, today feels better than yesterday and tomorrow will be better again.
I am already doing aloe juice which is great (except as you say catflap the taste!)
Good to know that the sde effects will clear, I cant wait to taste my food again I can fantasise for hours about what I am going to eat.
On the plus side the weight I put on on the AC, just an easy stone and a half in 3 months, is now slipping away as a mouth full of ulcers and no sense of taste seems to be a very effective diet !!
A retired GP mentioned today that the depression might be down t comming off the dexamethazone a bit too fast rather than the Tax, I get 16mg for the day of chemo and day after then 3 days of 2mg, what doses if any is anyone else getting??
Bye for now and thank goodness for this website !!!
Hi , just to add to this . I had the same as jackie and Tracey
16mg a day for 3 days starting day before tax. Had the tax wednesday but really felt low and lethargic starting friday night through saturday and it started to lift sunday night. Felt pretty lousy , aches and pains continued .