hi all
i was after some feedback on taxotere…i know there are threads on this subject…but i have a specific question.
during ac i have had five days off and then been able to continue working…no really bad side effects. i was wondering by the comments i have read,are the symptons worse a few days after the tax i.e day 5 or day 6 or do they start from day 1 or day 2.i appreciate everyone is different but just wanted a general idea on how the veteran tax people went on.much appreciated for your time.
good luck to all going through treatments
regards karen
Hi Karen
I found that due to the steriods I felt fine for a day or two afterwards and then the fatigue hit me. But further on through the treatment, the less time I felt fine, so on the 3 third threatment I started to do some jobs, load the car up to go to the tip, I stopped off in the village and realised quite quickly that the tip was out of the question and got myself home quick. So that was only half a day of feeling well. I would avoid working the week after tax. My experience was that I could work less after each cycle.
take care
Pauline
Hi Karen
I had the same experience as Pauline and managed to get back to work quite quickly after each dose. I was 'chemo’d on Thursdays, Friday fine, Saturday Sunday Monday awful, much better Tuesday back to work Wednesday. Mind you looking back I don’t think it was really worth it as I remain quite fatigued 2 months after the end of the treatment. But hey ho if like me you enjoy work then you won’t be told to rest!
Take care
Carol
hi carol and pauline
so…if i have chemo on wednesdays it sounds like i could be ok thurs and fri…maybe…lol. you have confirmed what my onc has said…you will be able to work for a while…but once you’re on tax…fatigue will set in. i am trying to work as much as i possible can for financial reasons( certainly not for the love of it) and to keep as much normality as i can. i expect it will get me in the end and i plan to have a couple of months off when is deemed necessary. thanks for your replies guys and good luck in the future
take care karen
Do you mind me asking what the fatigue is like. I’m probably going to be offered Tax (triple neg and it’s what my onc generally offers apparently).
I work from home on the computer so if it’s physical fatigue I can probably work through it, but if it stops you thinking straight I may be in trouble.
I’m going to try whatever happens, I need to money and I do love the work but it’s mentally exhausting when you’re healthy so I may need to warn my work mates that I’ll be pretty useless.
Thanks Ladies
Angie
hi angie
my understanding is its different to just “feeling tired”. when you get it bad you cannot walk far and the stairs are an effort. mentally it is bad also…i think you will sleep a lot but as long as you rest when your body tells you maybe you can work round that at home.
regards karen
Hi Karen,
I have my Tax on a Thursday and tend to feel ok until Sunday when the aches and pains start.For me,the fatigue is physical and not mental although I do like to be by myself because I feel quite irritable and can’t settle.This lasts for about a week or so then I’m able to go into work for a couple of days.I feel a hell of a lot better than I thought I would and haven’t felt sick at all.
Good luck and hang in there!
Alli.
I had mine on weds and was wiped out physically fri to tues - no sickness- but it did not shrink lump as much as they wanted so was stopped - only had 3/4- stopped 5 weeks ago and still drained
I had no fatigue on FEC - just 4-5 days feeling like I had a bad hang-over - and then happily back to work for 2 weeks. After 4xFEC I switched to 4xTax. Generally I found the immediate effects took a little longer to recover from - more like 7-8 days. The first 2 doses just gave me aches and pains, as if I was fluey, this was the preamble to real “fatigue” I think. By the third dose I was definitely feeling weak, with no energy. Like I was very unfit - although I didn’t run out of puff, or break a sweat, I just felt exhausted and my muscles wouldn’t respond. After the 4th dose even walking on the flat seemed hard work! My work is desk-based, and I managed to keep working best part of 2 weeks each cycle, but more and more from home.
hi angilbert
was this straight away or after a few days.sorry for asking for thread through the needle.
Karen
I had a bug after my first tax and so was completely wiped out even after a week. At one stage I even found sitting up in my bed typing on the laptop was too much and so I took to watching DVD’s and BBC iplayer. The second cycle I caught a cold and the last two cycles were managable although the effort involved in ironing finally got too much for me, I could manage three shirts in one sitting.
Fatigue is different to feeling too tired. I just found that I had to go back to bed. Sitting up for too long was too difficult. Sometimes I couldn’t even concentrate on reading. Often I found that just doing as little as possible for half a day meant I felt better later on rather than trying to do things and getting over tired. The effect was cummulative and so I had to re-adjust what I thought I could achieve each time and not aim to do too much.
all the best, you can get through it,
Pauline
hi pauline
my…you have been unlucky with the infections.i know what you mean tho…i had an infection after 2nd chemo and i was fit for nowt for a whole week after coming out of hospital.i have the injections now so hopefully no more infections.
take care karen
Hi Karen,
I am on TAC chemo (Taxotere & AC together) - only 2 of the 6 cycles completed so far. But both have followed the same pattern. Chemo on Wednesday, worked 3-4 hours OK on Thursday, by Friday lunchtime definitely going downhill - achy and tired - flu like symptoms. Saturday and Sunday in bed unable to do anything much. Certainly wouldn’t have been able to work (good timing since these days fall at the w/e!) Pottering around the house Monday and Tuesday. Back to work Wednesday.
As I say, I’ve only had the 2 cycles and I’m expecting that as I get further into the treatment it’ll take longer to recover. The tiredness is like nothing I’ve ever known - it’s like hitting a brick wall for a couple of days. But what is amazing is how quickly I seem to pick up once the worse is over - to the extent that I was accused of “sandbagging” on the first cycle - a joke (I hope!) by my OH!
Take care
Cal.
Initially the aches and pains kicked in as soon as I came off the steroids - so around day 4-8 of the cycle. So yes - there is a shift, to a more delayed reaction. I believe your blood counts follow the same delayed path too - so you are vulnerable to infection slightly later in the cycle.
The fatigue (for me) was progressive, and did not really improve between cycles (certainly not the last 2). In my case I seemed to eventually click out of it about 6 weeks after finishing chemo. I had a tummy bug, which maybe kicked started my immune system, and over a weekend I recovered about 80% of my strength. Not sure that’s typical. I had other Tax side-effects (sore eyes, sore mouth, red-rash etc), which also interfered with my ability to concentrate/work. All in all, you need to be more flexible on Tax. Good luck.