xeloda..how soon does it kick in?

xeloda…how soon does it kick in?

xeloda…how soon does it kick in? Hi,
I was wondering how soon xeloda(capecitabine) kicked in for other people, if it was being used to stop syptoms.

I’ve finished 2 cycles now and am feeling so terrible…really exhausted, my breathing is very bad (lung mets), and I seem to be losing weight. The doc is gonna do a scan next week, and get the results of my tumour markers, but thinks it’s likely the xeloda isn’t workin, and they’re considering moving me onto taxotere…

Neither he, nor me, knows if the symptoms are from the chemo or the disease, but I just wondered if other people took a while before they repsonded to this drug?

I have asked that if the scans are ok, and the tumour markers, perhaps just lower the dose…so I’m crossing my fingers the tests are ok, but last month (after 1 cycle of xeloda) my tumnour markers had risen…is there anyone who hasn’t resp;onded to xeloleda? I thought it was pretty effective? Or is my cancer just very aggressive and there’s no stopping it!!!

x

Xeloda Dear Jocasta

I’m sorry to hear you’re feeling so unwell.

I’ve got liver and bone mets and was on Taxotere for 4 months at the end of last year. This was successful for a while but towards the end of the treatment (I managed 6 cycles) I was experiencing nerve damage to my fingertips, plus the liver mets were growing again. So I switched to Xeloda.

I started Xeloda 8 weeks ago and like you have felt exhausted and have had a lack of appetite. I also had diarrhea for 2 weeks at the end of cycle 2. Since I started this treatment I have lost about half a stone.

At the end of cycle 1 my results showed things were stable, and at the end of cycle 2 that things had improved marginally. My oncologist wants me to have 3 or 4 cycles before he decides what next. I’ve also got to have a CT scan on my liver as the blood test results and the scan results don’t always correlate.

I’ve read too that the dose you are given is based on body weight. If you’ve lost a lot of weight maybe your dose needs to be reduced. I take 8 x 500mg a day and weight about 10.5 stone. Also that it’s OK to have a reduced dose as it’s about finding out what your body can withstand.

Last, I also asked if my cancer was very aggressive (this is my 3rd lot of chemo in 10 months - only diagnosed Jan 06). He said not necessarily. That not all the cancer cells are of the same type ie there are variants. The cells respond to different drugs and therefore having more than 1 lot of chemo is not uncommon, plus they need to find the chemo that will work with your type of cancer cells.

I hope some of this helps and am sending you my best wishes for your next appointment and results.

Bev
x

Xeloda I have posted on behalf of Terry

Kind Regards
Forum Host
Breast Cancer Care

Hi Jocasta,

My wife has been on Xeloda now for almost a year, they started her on Xeloda and every three weeks on Taxotere.

She had mets all over but almost the same as you, mainly in the lungs but very large in her liver.

The combination got rid of her lung spots and her bone mets were improved greatly.

She had to stop taxotere after 11 sessions as she was reacting badly by then, nail loss etc.

She is now on a very strong, 4600mg a day, dose of Xeloda only and has been since January. The tiredness kicks in immediately and is very bad, however it is keeping the brakes on her liver mets, so I would expect it to do that for you. I am suprised they are not giving you the mix of Xeloda and taxotere together, perhaps you should ask.

From what I know now after a year of reading about it Xeloda is very good with a mean average of time before it stops working of 494 days, then there are other things to go for. So don’t give up Xeloda seems to work really well, give it a month and hopefully your markers will be down.

Terry

Xeloda I am on 2000mg xeloda twice a day, I weigh nearly nine stone. I have not lost my appetite at all. I experience mild diarrhoea and some hand/foot syndrome. I am quite tired during the first couple of days of my week off. The neuropathy I had on taxol seems to have returned a bit. I think these are all my side effects. I have just finished my fourth cycle and a scan after the third showed good partial response. I noticed my breast lump (no op for me - initial diagnosis stage iv) diminish even while taking the first course of xeloda.

It just goes to show how different our reactions are. Talk to your medical team if you are finding it hard going as most people find it an easy chemo to tolerate.

One other thing I remember them telling me before I began - there are some people with a particular liver enzyme which makes it hard to metabolize xeloda but I think they test you for this before you begin taking them.

Hope you feel better soon, and that it is working for you!

Jenny
xx