Fear of Taxol

I am a 35 year old who just had a double mastectomy with immediate reconstruction.  I have also completed half of my "dose dense" chemo which so far consisted of Adriamyacin and Cytoxin (4 rounds).  I am now about to begin 4 rounds of the Taxol drugs at four and a half hour sessions every 2 weeks.  I have been told I have tolerated the first rounds of "AC" pretty well and those are usually the hardest to get through. ( I personally don't think it's been so easy ).  My doctor has said that some people who went smoothly through the AC's have a tough time with Taxol.   I have since been reading about Taxol and the pain, pre-treatment drugs and other rumors have scared me a bit.  Has anyone else out there had any experiences with taking the same drugs as me that can offer some advice for getting through the Taxol treatments. Thanks.

Andi

On 12/19/2008 will be ok2 wrote:

I am a 35 year old who just had a double mastectomy with immediate reconstruction.  I have also completed half of my "dose dense" chemo which so far consisted of Adriamyacin and Cytoxin (4 rounds).  I am now about to begin 4 rounds of the Taxol drugs at four and a half hour sessions every 2 weeks.  I have been told I have tolerated the first rounds of "AC" pretty well and those are usually the hardest to get through. ( I personally don't think it's been so easy ).  My doctor has said that some people who went smoothly through the AC's have a tough time with Taxol.   I have since been reading about Taxol and the pain, pre-treatment drugs and other rumors have scared me a bit.  Has anyone else out there had any experiences with taking the same drugs as me that can offer some advice for getting through the Taxol treatments. Thanks.

 

Andi

Hi Andi,

I did 4 rounds of Adriamycin with Taxol in 2002.  I had worked as a nurse for many years, taking care of many oncology patients.  I felt that my experience with the AT was not as bad as some of the problems I had seen many patients have with chemo.

I lost my hair - when it started falling out I had my head shaved and wore soft caps and bandanas, reverting to no head covering once I had about 1/2 inch of hair. 

I was nauseated a lot, but only ever threw up once. One of the prescription antiemetics did a good job of alleviating the nausea some, as long as I took it early and consistently. I also used concord grape juice and ginger ale (sometimes mixed) to alleviate nausea.  Bitter foods helped, also.   I always seemed to be more nauseated after I took my Neupogen - so my last round of chemo I didn't take the neupogen at all, and I actually had very little problem with nausea those last few weeks.

I was very fatigued, but I also had had 3 major surgeries withing 4 months, so I expected to be fatigued. 

THe worst problem I had was with the steroids - started on Prednisone - had major hallucinations, to the point that I felt very unsafe to be alone at home during the daytime.  Very disconcerting.  The next month we tried decadron - the hallucinations were about the same.  I did the last two treatments without any steroids at all - quite frankly I felt better without the steroids than I did with them. 

While everybody's body chemistry is different, and it is possible the AT may affect you more harshly than the AC, it's also possible that the AT treatment won't be as bad.  Many posters to the board who have taken Taxol and are able to compare it to other chemo treatments they've had, say that the Taxol was much gentler than some of the other stuff.

Also something to consider:  it's only 4 rounds.  You're already halfway there - that is practically home free when you consider all the stuff you've been through in the past year. Perhaps instead of letting yourself be overwhelmed by the idea of this change in chemo, concentrate on just getting through one day at a time - that's the best that any of us can do. 

Also, concentrate on providing yourself the best physical, emotional and spiritual nourishment that you can.  Make sure to drink plenty of pure, fresh water, and eat lost of raw, fresh fruits and veggies (organic is best.)

Consider taking the following combination of supplements - they are absolutely essential for anyone fighting cancer, and I cannot see that your oncologist would object to your taking them in combination with chemo.

selenium:  200 mcg/day (can start with 400mcg/day but only for a few weeks)
magnesium:  200 - 250 mg/day (350 mg/day max), take with food
zinc:  50 mg/day (can start with 100mg/day but only for a few weeks), take with food
manganese 10 - 15 mg/day, take with food
calcium: 1200 mg/day

We need Vitamin D-3 to be able to absorb and utilize calcium. Our bodies manufacture D-3 if we get adequate sunlight (15 - 20 minutes exposure/day) - but I do not believe in leaving this to chance, so also recommend a Vitamin D-3 supplement, 1000 - 2000 iu/day (10,000 iu/day max) 

Please feel free to look at this article on my blog for ideas on other natural things you can do to  overcome this cancer and enhance your immune system:

 http://motherearthtreasurechest.blogspot.com/2008/09/my-pers

Let me know if you would like website references for other complementary treatments with chemo.

Wishing you the best, and a peaceful and joyous holiday!

Tre

On 12/19/2008 will be ok2 wrote:

I am a 35 year old who just had a double mastectomy with immediate reconstruction.  I have also completed half of my "dose dense" chemo which so far consisted of Adriamyacin and Cytoxin (4 rounds).  I am now about to begin 4 rounds of the Taxol drugs at four and a half hour sessions every 2 weeks.  I have been told I have tolerated the first rounds of "AC" pretty well and those are usually the hardest to get through. ( I personally don't think it's been so easy ).  My doctor has said that some people who went smoothly through the AC's have a tough time with Taxol.   I have since been reading about Taxol and the pain, pre-treatment drugs and other rumors have scared me a bit.  Has anyone else out there had any experiences with taking the same drugs as me that can offer some advice for getting through the Taxol treatments. Thanks.

 

Andi

Andi I had the same treatments you are currently going through in 2006 other than severe fatique and neuropathy made through AC OK except for emergency gall bladder removal started 12 wkly infusions of taxol and herceptin but only able to complete 4 due to extreme diarhea and nausea  so switched to taxotere and finished as decided had alergic reaction to taxol.  I later learned alot of the problem could be what they use to mix it up with can't remember what it was called but most people do better if saline is used instead of normal drug so you migth discuss with your dr.  I wish you much luck and may you get through this with good results and become cancer free.

On 12/19/2008 will be ok2 wrote:

I am a 35 year old who just had a double mastectomy with immediate reconstruction.  I have also completed half of my "dose dense" chemo which so far consisted of Adriamyacin and Cytoxin (4 rounds).  I am now about to begin 4 rounds of the Taxol drugs at four and a half hour sessions every 2 weeks.  I have been told I have tolerated the first rounds of "AC" pretty well and those are usually the hardest to get through. ( I personally don't think it's been so easy ).  My doctor has said that some people who went smoothly through the AC's have a tough time with Taxol.   I have since been reading about Taxol and the pain, pre-treatment drugs and other rumors have scared me a bit.  Has anyone else out there had any experiences with taking the same drugs as me that can offer some advice for getting through the Taxol treatments. Thanks.

 

Andi

Andi,

Hi.  I also had A/C with little problems other than being tired all the time. Taxol was very hard on me. My first treatment took over 6 hours because of the back pain. The other 3 gave me muscle and joint pain and took every ounce of energy I had. I was 57 at the time and my friend was 38 when she did the same AC/T. She had a hard time with AC but said Taxol was a breeze. It will just depends on how your body responds. Will be thinking of you. Sue 

Hi Andi:

I just finished my Taxol in early October 2008.  I also had the A/C which I call the chemo from hell!!!  The Taxol was a piece of cake compared to the A/C.  The best thing is to find out as much as you can about Taxol.  I didn't get any side effects until the middle of my (weekly) twelve treatments.  I did get the achey body after the third day but I took aleeve and felt better.  After that point I did have something achiness on a regular basis after the third day but it only lasted a few days.  I didn't get the neuropathy until after I was done and it was very light.  My hands will fall asleep or my toes will tingle.  They say it will last for a little while but should go away.  I hope things go well for you and please let us know how your are doing!  Take care!

Deb