I desperately want to keep my toesnails anfd hand nails but can’t quite grasp what exactly everyone is on about in regards to nail varbish and painting nails darkly?? Can anyone explain the theory behind tis as if there is a chance it will work i will do it!! Also I ache beyond belief and my legs keep giving way on me (not good with two babies!!) and can’t sleep due to pain and restless legs - taste buds are beyond help also and even water tastes soapy/horrid. This is way worse than the tax for me as had an allergic reaction to it also with fat tongue etc and had to stay in hospital so wnat some normaility back!! Only two more to go so don’t want to get so bad so near to the end!!
I had 3 lots of Tax (after 4 FEC) and finished the last one end March. The nail thing is horrible - I too was advised to wear dark nail varnish (no idea why). I did it the first time then kept forgetting. My nails are all still in tact but look awful and have been very tender and are a bit loose. I didn’t have the aches you’re getting until I had a GCSF injection to boost the immune system. I can relate to the mouth problems - have you tried a mouthwash? I found ribena was about the only thing that tasted normal. I think the lasting effects of Tax are worse but I didn’t feel as unwell generally as when on FEC. If you are on steroids (ondansetron?) that might be another reason for not sleeping.
I would like to reassure you that it gets better, but unfortunately it doesn’t. The only positive thing for me was that my hair started to grow back while I was on Tax.
Good luck with the rest.
Well thats good news at least as i am not a short hair girl and am so excited at being able to wear a ponytail again - god it should be so irrelevant sghouldn’t it??!! I wil paint my nails dark but only if i know why otherwise i don’t know what i am doing it for!! Got clear on now but who nows - i had that injection to boost cells so maybe that was it, i keep stacking it at home and my husband gets quite concerned but to be fair its just one of a list of many things we have to go through isn’t it??!
May buy some Rouge Noir today for my tootsies…
Hi Lolabelle
I have just finished 3 TAX last one yesterday and 3 FEC. I have painted my toenails and finger nails black (kept toe nails on removed fingers after week. I was told that the TAX is sensitive to light so by having black nails it helps with the finger nails and stops them coming off, 3 or 4 of mine have broken but I have not lost any. I was very ill on FEC and I feel better on TAX.
Like Shazza says the hair does start to grow back on TAX. as for the aches and pains I take very strong painkillers for the first 5 days, I have been prescribed a lot of steriods 8 a day for three days starting the day before TAX then a phased out going to 6, 4, 2, 1, although they stop you sleeping at night average 3 hours they hold you together and the phase down stops the cold turkey feeling I had on the first one very woozy.
I have 3 lots of anti sickness too and I had very bad thrush I was prescribed Fluconazole by GP then the ONC prescribed it the last twice to start on day 4 for 5 days. I was also prescribed NYSTAN and DAKTARIN, by my GP for the sore mouth. My advice is don’t suffer with it I did the first twice on FEC and could not eat anything once I got some medicine from 3 onwards the mouth was bearable.
It is awful and I know what you mean about water tasting vile I normally drink 2 litres of water a day anyway they told me to drink 3 for the first few days as it helps flush it out of your system I also drink loads whilst it is being administered and eats sweets as this helps. I drink a lot of bitter lemon, squash, lemon, pink grapefruit, strawberry and kiwi I have found each time one drink tastes better, some people say pineapple too to suck or ice lollies I just think you have to " suck it and see" what does it for you.
I found the fatigue gets worse with each one. I hope this has helped I have had other symptoms you have not mentioned too!! But I can honestly say that out of FEC and TAX I would opt for TAX yet it was the one I was dreading as I was told it was more aggressive than FEC but is the best for BC. Good luck and let me know how you get on. Just keep ticking the days off, keep a diary and then when you see your ONC tell them all the symptoms they really do not want you to suffer.
I don’t normally like taking loads of tablets but if they help I think why suffer?
Good Luck
BIG HUG x
Well ive had 2…my toenails are paintin black and seem to be hangin on in there even though my feet over the past week are abso killing me feels like im wearing shoes too tight and my feet keep ballonin up like mad! My fingernails have a clear harden nails stuff onthem but will paint them black for tomorrow…Which is number 3!
I know im half way thru after tomoz but im knackered! Soooo much more then on FEC- I actually wasnt that bad on FEC! and kept most of mya hair…i lost all my hair to TAx 2 nights ago.
Im not having the tastebuds thing either…that may be the FEC still in your system.
Im having alot of trouble with pain im on 60 mg of mst twice a day (thats slow release morhine) and im stil in agony esp round my back so swigging oramorph which is making me sick!.
Ive just started my steriods for tomorrows dose so my back pain is away for now my only god send in this whole nightmare…im so fed up with it all at the moment and have 3 more to go…whilst trying to work…maybe getting hit by that bus was a better option??
Anyway good luck ladies…glad this thread has popped up didnt want to start another
Lynncxx
Hi
I finished 3 tax in march.Nails on toes mostly off.Still have swollen feet although easing off and restless legs at night.Find it difficult at times to stand up from a seated position.I have been told it will get better when the chemo is out of my system
Mary
xx
I used several coats of very dark red nail varnish all through 4 Tax and I never took it off,just touched it up.I kept all finger nails and lost only big toe nails.I recommend chilled sparkling water and fresh pineapple for mouth;paracetamol and ibuprofen together for pain;still have numbness in fingers and toes[after a year].Breathlessness and weakness got better quickly after treatment[3 months]though still not totally back to normal.Rest as much as you can and be very careful to monitor your temperature twice a day.Good luck.Valxx
I too painted my nails in dark colour, and although they all ridged and went flaky and yellow, I didn’t lose any of them so I assume nail polish worked!
Suffered severe contraction-like pain on Tax, and only thing that helped was diazepam, which helped relax muscles. None of the pain killers worked at all, so that’s a little bit of advice that might help?
As for drinking and sore mouth etc, lime juice cordial worked for me.
Good luck, lolabelle, it does all come to an end eventually!
Good luck lollabelle-you’re almost there!
I had my third taxotere and herceptin last week. No problems so far with nails, but will be extra alert from now!
Main problem for me is exhaustion-I feel as if I’ve run into a brick wall-one minute ok, and the next , simply worn out beyond belief (have just awoken after sleeping for 2 hours). Sickness isn’t too bad, which is great, as I have to use anti-emetics sparingly due to bowel problems. Most of my hair has gone, and I’m close to shaving off what remains. Taste is virtually non-existant, and I keep adding salt to food, which is something I rarely do.
I’m having this treatment for advanced breast cancer, as I have mets to my lung, and for several days post treatment I have some pain in the area of the tumours-anyone else experience this? I’m hoping that it may indicate that the drugs are working!
I’ve just finished my 6th Tax and it wasn’t as bad as I expected Chemo to be.No sickness at all(which I was dreading)!
My nails are ridged and little fingernail on one hand has come away from nailbed but is hanging on in there!
Toes and fingers a bit numb and get tired quite easily.I did get DVT in arm though and had terrible pain in chest due to acid reflux, which is a side effect of steroids.
Stay positive.
Alli x
God where do i start?! Spent 72 hours with barely no sleep (2 hours in total!) and nearly collapsed whilst out shopping and went to bed yesterday and can’t get up!! Legs are on fire with the pain they ache so much and the exhaustion is beyond belief. My lower back aches and i just can’t get around easily and my 1 and 3 yr old need a fully functioning mum monday morning! I have been so ill now for 9 days and if this gets wose i don’t know how i’ll cope??
Nails hurt but i will paint them tomorrow just in case i can salvage them but those steroids actually csare me as i literally didn’t sleep at all - and i started hallucinating through sheer exhaustion and broke down sobbing outside m&s because i couldn’t stand up from the bench!! God it can’t get worse can it???
Lolabelle
I found Taxotere easier on the 3rd and 4th ones as far as initial symptons were concerned, but I got more fatigue. But then it was towards the end of 6 months of treatments.
I painted my nails with clear strengthening varnish, and have kept all of them but they are pale to halfway down the nail where they have come away from the skin behind. I just keep them very short as some of the tore when they got longer. I feel that if I had painted them dark I would not see if they were dirty and felt that this could lead to infection. The nails still deteriorate for some months after the last chemo, my last one was 20th February 08. The aching for me was worse on the first two doses and then it seemed to work down the body, but that may have been the Neulasta I was on.
My advice is get as much help as you can, however you can. Can a relative come and live in for a few weeks? Also don’t put on a show, look ill, stay in your dressing gown, people notice more that way!!!
So sorry you are having to go through this.
with love Pauline
Realtives are a hard one - sister is great but shes a london pr exec and does what she can and mum well, its a tricky one! Somehow she just doesn’t get it all and that is bad emotionaly to be around so my opoor husband takes the brunt of everything and my mother inlaw has decided she wants to go to her villa in spain for 3 weeks starting next week so i do have to try an get on with it a bit - the school run is the hardest as i have to get my daughter and teh baby ready and be out of the house by 9 and by then i’m done!
I guess i have two more to go then i can start preparing for the radiotherapy but i don’t know what to expect from this TAX - i didn’t expect this!
Hi Lolabelle,
Don’t give up. I know its hard on the tax and i too have a 2yrold, 4yr old and and 8 yr old and its hard work. I too have found the tongue thing and fatigue really hard work. My tongue for the first 10 days has been like sand paper and the fatigue has in all fairness got worse with each one. Whe I had my first tax i was told of the potential symptoms but didn’t realise how severe they were going to be. I’ve told myself when you have your first child its really hard work giving birth but when you have your second and third it gets easier because you know what to expect. Well i’ve managed tax a bit like that kind off thought. I too have felt like a 90yr old walking and my legs just constantly hurt. If I rest one leg ontop of the other the other leg hurts and so do my arms.
Have you spoke to the BCN or MacMillians nurse to see what they can do in relation to child care. The Macmillians nurse has found a play scheme for the little ones during the summer holidays.
Try to get the kids involved in helping you. Give them a bottle of cream and tell them they need to help u massage your legs. That way little hands help, you spend time with them and the leg pains might ease a little.
Be stong as, be brave take as much tax as you can as its the gold star treatment for BC. When you have your next dose ask them if they can give you anti-inflammatories for muscle and joint pains and ask if you can take them two days b4 symptoms start as thats what i was given on the second tax and i was told to take 2 days b4 to get it into the blood stream and it does help.
Take care and keep you chin up. Don’t forget - house work etc will always be there and kids make a mess as soon as you’ve cleaned it up, so try and get as much rest as you can.
Huggs to you .
Luv
sukes
Hi Elaine,
I am on Taxotere, Cyclophosphamide and Herceptin. I have had 3 out of 6 cycles. I have liver mets and I do find that I have pain in that area the week after chemo usually. Mind you, things seem to change with each cycle and my good and bad weeks are never quite the same time so life is unpredictable! My doctor said that the pain was because things were being zapped and this was good. He mentioned necrosis and that the pain could come from this dead tissue.
My lower legs ache and i do not know if it shin splints from exercise walking or not. I do get restless leg syndrome at night just after chemo. I keep telling myself that this is all just a phase…