chemo

Hi Lizamarie I just had my first dose of docetaxel a week ago, I had heard terrible things about it so was a little worried but I’ve actually found it better than EC so far. I have been tired although not completely fatigued like I was with the EC, my worse side is that I now have a really sore throat and mouth and some diarrhoea ( it’s as if my whole digestive system is irritated) . A lot of people get aches and pains with docetaxel although I had very minimal, so I would stock up on paracetamol and a hot water bottle. Good luck with it and let us all know how you get on xx

Thank you, my biggest thing with ec was nausea and sleeping so I’m keeping my fingers crossed, was ready to walk out the other day I’d had enough, hope everything is ok with you xx

The EC made me very sick but I had my first Docetaxel last week and it was so refreshing not to feel or be sick!

The side effects I've had are: diarrhoea, aching bones and exhaustion, pounding/dizzy head, sore throat, bleeding nose, cold sores, raised temperature. I'm on day 11 now and the diarrhoea and fatigue have eased a lot.

Stock up on paracetamol for the aching, and see if you can get some Imodium in advance as well. When my husband tried to get some for me, Boots told him there was a national shortage.

But no sickness! Yay! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you that you won't feel sick.

Wow so many side effects? I’ve got them before here, will keep my fingers crossed,  hope you feel better soon? Thank you for your help  xx

I might be a bit unusual. I'm not an allopathic medicine person - I'm a lot better at getting the side effects than the effects of most meds. The only painkillers I don't get reactions to are paracetamol and Tramadol. I'm excellent with homeopathics but was told not to take them with chemo because "they don't know what's in them" . I've now been told by the Penny Brohn centre that I absolutely can, so I will be.

So please don't worry. xx

Thanks for sharing - I’ve had my first docetaxel yesterday so still have the steroids today so waiting for side effects to Kick in anytime from tomorrow .only good thing so far is no sickness and nausea  like first 3 so one silver lining. I had awful exhaustion with first 3 so not looking forward to that with this drug.  I spoke to a nutritionist before I started chemo who is trained in oncology but every time I’ve run it past the pharmacist in the hospital they just tell me not to take anything she’s recommended as it’s not proven which I find really frustrating as it’s not proven it doesn’t work either. either. However I’ve stopped taking for time being. in American oncology and nutritionists work  hand in hand so would be great if we had the same system here - does anyone know if any areas of the country do. I think penny brohn are fab! 

Absolutely. The Oncologist recommended Penny Brohn and Penny Brohn say yes to homeopathics but to check herbals. Which nutritional things are the pharmacist not allowing?

We're at a very similar point in treatment. I had my first Docetaxel last Monday.

It was even things like vitamin D drops. Said not to worry about vit d - even though I know nhs guide levels are thought to be too low and said even drinking green tea gets rid of free radicals in your body - which I believe is a  good thing but they said not worth doing during chemo as they are putting these free radicals into you?!?  I just got impression they didn’t want me speaking to nutritionist but she said very similar things that penny brohn suggest. Will get back to it as soon as I finish treatment as I’m going to do I anything I can to reduce risk of this returning! 

Hey, you're half way there, that's brilliant! I had EC-T as well and found the EC had side effects that started quickly and then gradually got better - for me that was mainly around nausea, feeling tired etc and then by day 7/8 I felt pretty OK.

With docetaxel, the first 2-3 days were fine, and then I felt like I'd been run over by a train - like the worst 'flu I'd had with bad aches and pains (those nerve ones that are stabbing and short) and awful chills. I found that paracetamol was actually pretty good so from subsequent cycles, I just took it for a few days from day 3 and that was much better. I also found with docetaxel, the side effects kept coming so I would have bad skin on my knuckles and feet and nose appear in the 2nd week. Taste was also badly affected for the duration - I found sweet things helped, and I don't have a sweet tooth!

I ended up having my dose reduced on docetaxel after the first one as I could barely get off the sofa for 10 days and my oncologist thought that was too long to be feeling floored. I was also working, so couldn't really take that much time off work (I'm self-employed)

Having said all that, I know people that sailed through it and found it much easier than EC so go in with an open mind, you could be over the worst already!

Thank you so much, I keep telling myself get this one started and I’ve only got two left, so tired of feeling like crap and telling friends I’m good, which they have been amazing, but hope your dog ok xx