Hi
has anyone got joint and bone pain after having taxotere? I had my 1st tax on 9 April.
I’m going to the doctors in an hour to beg for some really strong painkillers.
Best wishes to everyone with this horrid disease.
Xx
Hi Afraid so, some days I just can´t move, to climb the stairs can be agony, the good news is it only normally lasts a few days…
I think it´s the injection I have the day after chemo that causes mine, although could be wrong!
xxx
Thanks Muffett
I also had an injection after my chemo but didn’t have aches and pains after my Fec. Have you had FEC? I had mastectomy, dorsi flap reconstruction, lymph node removal (2 positive), grade 3, pr and er positive and her2 positive.
Xxx
Hi, Just completed x4 A & C and X4 Taxotere. Taxotere definately the worst of the lot. Taxotere after my first I screamed in pain. Couldnt cope with the full hit nor the strong pain relief. Infact Pain in Joints, muscles, skin etc after first lot ended up with a 15% reduction in dose. As time went on you have the most incredible lethargy when walking only a few steps. The weakness in Knees,legs and lower back joints incredible. Finished my chemo on 10th March and still needing a wheelchair when going anywhere (which is rare!!!)
Spent the last 3mths (my chemo every 3wks) sat or lying down with very little energy to do or go anywhere. Suffer with incredible numbness of fingers and feet as well as discolouration of fingernails and them trying to fall off.!!!
I suffer hypersensitivity and allergies so I have swollen lots too. Good luck and yes it is normal but if you can bear the pain relief go for it. I know others have had tramadol etc but far too strong for me.
I have just had my Mastectomy and lymph node sweep and I am amazed that after a week since surgery I have no pain nor have experienced any compared to taxotere!!!
Hang on in there it doesn’t seem it at the time but I really can’t believe how quicky time does fly
good luck and lots of hugs
Jo
xx
Hi
Sadly, tax does seem to cause bone and joint pain. I had it badly but found brufen and paracetamol did the trick.
Julia xx
Another one here who suffered alot on taxotere… i also managed to go down with every side effect on the list apart from being allergic to it when they give it to you… Like Jo they had to reduce my dose after the first one as i was in so much pain… no one else seems to have mentioned the red hot poker up the bottom side effect… lol I think my worst side effect was the breathlessness though… by the end i was virtually house bound as i could only go from one room to the next and used to be gasping for breath all the time… But did find that things improved amazingly quickly once the final tax was out of my system…
Theresa x
Hey
Hope the Doc sorted you out with some pain relief!
I was given Gabapentin from my onc to take for 10 days after tax & it worked a treat. I only had a little discomfort for a few hours when the neulasta was kicking in!
I know that they definately worked, as i was late taking them one evening & the pain in my lower back was unbearable…it stopped as soon as the painkillers took effect!
Hxx
Many thanks everyone. Been prescribed naproxen and paracetamal but not worked yet. I’ll probably phone my chemotherapy line and mention gabapentin.
Xxxx
Hiya
I too suffered horrendously on TAX. I found FEC a breeze compared to this horror. I had my first last Wednesday and the little creep gave me a false sense of security as the s’es didn’t kick in til Friday and by God did they not!! Every possible joint ached and I felt like I had flu but without the cold. I was moaning in my sleep, keeping my hubby awake. My appetite was affected and without sounding disgusting, my tongue is coated in this brown yuk stuff and my throat and mouth is sore and like cardboard. I can’t taste a thing. I’m dreading going for my next one. Its now Tuesday and I’m just starting to feel slightly normal. I still have aches but not as intense.
Hope everyone is feeling ok today.
Take Care
Krissy
I have just been prescribed gabapentin which my hubby is just going to get for me. I’ll let you all know how I am when I ve taken it.
Fec was an absolute breeze.
Xxxx
Hi everyone
just taken one gabapentin and waiting for the pain to stop.
Xx
Hi Mnc
I would be really interested to see how the gabapentin works?
Cheers
Krissy x
Hi there…a little reassurance from me! Diagnosed Jan 2007, mastectomy and removal of lymphs (1 affected) March/April 2007. 4x FEC, 4xTAX, 3 weeks radio, followed by one year of Herceptin through 2008. Although my heart was adversely affected by the H, it has recovered. Now on Arimidex.
I found the Taxotere the worst thing, and it got worse with each dose. I could hardly walk or climb stairs, felt as if I had bad flu. I got shingles, the yucky mouth, and peripheral neuropathy. Amazingly my bloods stayed good enough never to have to delay the next dose. I didn’t have the injections to boost my immune system.
By the time I started radiotherapy, which entailed a train journey and a long walk to the hospital, I was in bits…could hardly put one foot in front of the other, and arrived for my radio planning in tears.
However, this gradually improved, and I began to feel human again.
I’m now over 3 years since diagnosis, my hair is shoulder length, the grey and the curls grew out, the eyebrows and lashes returned and I am living my life much as before.
I still tire easily, but that may be because I’m now a pensioner (and I feel so lucky to be here to draw it)! And I think the Arimidex might be a little to blame. I still have the peripheral neuropathy in my toes, but hardly notice it anymore.
I have just finished helping to decorate the maisonette my son will soon be moving into, stripping walls, painting them, up and down ladders etc. Just doing all the NORMAL things.
It’s a very difficult journey ladies, but hopefully you will soon see that pinprick of light at the end of the tunnel, and how proud of yourselves you will be when you get through it.
I know, as do we all, that there are no guarantees in this game called life, all we can do is take the medicine and hope, but I just wanted to tell you all that, so far, I have survived, and hopefully you will too, and we shall have many more years ahead of us yet.
Love to you all
Dee
x
Hi Krissy
I feel a bit better. The pain in my legs, feet and bones in my legs has lessened. I still have pain in my left hand and shoulder. Plus have like a burning stabbing pain in my lovely reconstruction.
V xxx
Hi Dee
thank you so much for your post. You have given me hope as I will also be having herceptin and radiotherapy after this horrid taxotere… Herceptin starts on Monday.
Xxxxx
Hello mnc xx
I had no problems with Herceptin, it’s not at all like chemo. You will have regular ECHO cardiograms to check on your heart. When I had my Herceptin it was a three-weekly infusion of 17 doses. I was unable to have my last infusion because my ECHO showed a reduction in heart function, but this has now corrected itself. I’m not sure, but I think now they give fewer doses of it.
My hair started to come back whilst on Taxotere, very grey and very curly, but is now back to normal. The grotty nails got better too!
I didn’t have a recon as my Onc doesn’t recommend them until after radio, and by then I’d had enough of surgery and hospitals, and anyway, I’m no spring chicken!
A few weeks after your last Tax you will begin to feel a lot better, radio is a doddle in comparison and so is Herceptin.
Good luck! xxx
Hi justme
many thanks for your post. I’m just going to bed trying to get rid of the aches and pains as the painkiller hasn’t completley eradicated my pain.
Xxxx
Hi all, I had Taxotere in 2007, with side effects at the extreme end of the scale; also severe fatigue. I was in bed for about 16 days out of every cycle and was taken into hospital isolation for a week at the end as I had no immune system and a massive burn to the back of my hand and wrist which was spreading rapidly. This was caused by the last infusion puncturing a vein in the back of my hand, but they didn’t know this at the time as the blisters took a week to start emerging. On the scale of 1 - 10 the joint pains were an 11 (I thought I had sparks coming out of my head at one point and was hysterical with the pain). The only thing I could get pain relief from was Tramadol, the downside to this was it gave me hallucinations and made me sleep for up to 16 hours a day when I was taking it. Taxotere also made me very breathless and the steroids gave me the symptoms of type 2 diabetes. I finished Herceptin in April 2008.
I feel fit and well, have retrained and now work f/t with my OH in the company we run from home. I often think back to how ill I was on Taxotere (the back of my hand where I had the burn is a reminder), but it all seems a long time ago. I think if I had to go through it again I would perhaps know how to manage things better.
My oncologist told me that they often found people who sail through FEC and rads like I did have a lot of problems with Taxotere and vice versa. Another lady she was treating had the same severe side effects as me and was refusing to go back for the rest, but I just told myself I had no choice - or as my OH put it at the time “WE have no choice, we have to keep going”.
Hi
I slept on and off last night and in pain this morning although not as much. Really don’t want taxotere again if I get pain like this. I will be talking to the chemotherapy doctor this morning and on Friday about this.
I only have two more tax which dosen’t sound much but when I’m in pain like is it really worth it? Give me FEC anyday!
Herceptin starts next week so hopefully I’ll be ok with that and radiotherapy.
Xxx
Hi, just read this thread as also found 1st Tax very hard. Due to have 2nd tomorrow :-(. Am going to ask onc about Gabapentin as recommended by Hayz. Also oral thrush just cleared! Found tax so much harder than fec.
Justme, thank you for your comments, really reassured me. Onc wants me to start my Herceptin on 6th May when I have last Tax but really don’t think I could cope with more se’s on top of tax. Also quite scared re having to stay at hospital all day in case of severe reactions. They also want me to do a trial so could either have the herceptin for 12 months or only 6 months. (what if 6 months is not enough??).
How much are we supposed to take!!