Docetaxel side effects

I'm on the same but slightly behind you. i have my 3 and last EC due on 24th and will then start the Docetaxel (3 treatments 3 weeks apart). I have also had the same as you and also described the pains as labour pains although they haven't been half as bad as they were with the first round?! The nurse did advise that I would feel like I had been hit by a bus with Docetaxel which seems like how you're feeling at the moment. I'm due to have single mastectomy early July.

Sorry I can't give you any advice as you are in front of me. Take care and hope you're feeling better soon

Hi.....My side effects didn't really show until weeks after the docetaxol. My fingers and toes tingled during treatment and my fingernails were sensitive. Weeks after all of my finger nails lifted off....New growth was beneath. My big toe nails lifted off a bit later and last week one of my other for nails came off. It's 3 months since my last chemo. All of my nails are growing as is my hair...but I wish it would speed up!I

I've no other side effects now .....not even tiredness but am bracing myself for radiotherapy which begins later this month. All the best. Hope that you feel as well as I do ....eventually.

Have you been given any other meds to help with side effects of Docetaxel? I’m due first chemo beginning April (I’ve already had mastectomy) and Docetaxel is on the list of drugs I will receive. Sounds like pretty lethal stuff!

I had chemotherapy first....the EC chemo was bad enough but I managed to keep cooking and doing housework but the docetaxol floored me for a week each time. I got low blood pressure , tummy upsets and was dehydrated even though I kept drinking . Most food tasted terrible. I avoided dairy after the first time. Almond milk was good to drink and to have on cereal. Heinz chicken soup went down well , my homemade chicken soup( usually good) tasted awful! As did all red meat and tomato based sauces....sausages and bacon ugghhhh. Even drinking water was a struggle.

After the first treatment I didn't take anti sickness meds .....I didn't take pain killers either just kept warm and had a hot water bottle.I knew that the aches would get better Painkillers made constipation worse. .....Insist got an upset tummy.....docetaxol keeps giving different effects.....exhaustion was the worst for me......You will get through it! Plan easy meals if you have a family and write a menu list with instructions for anyone helping.....I did have a few days before the next treatment when I felt ok but got more tired towards the last treatment.

I have steroids the first few days, paracetamol and ibuprofen for the aches, something to take for diarrhoea and also anti sickness pills - jangling with meds! Also difflam mouthwash to fend off mouth ulcers. The exhaustion was the biggest one for me but I’m at round 5 so it would be worse. Various nurses have recommended dark nail polish to try and avoid nails coming away.

I was given paracetamol ibuprophen omeprazole gabapentin and oromorph and tbh it took a good few days to start taking any kind of effect by day 6 I was just managing on paracetamol gabapentin and oromorph when needed then just down to paracetamol on and off everyone is different and has different side effects . I was then having side effects from the meds mainly stomach cramps and loose bowels it’s now been 2 weeks and I can now say I feel a bit better ready to start no 5 chemo on Thursday . 

Hi, my tastes have changed completely after having bad thrush, mouth ulcers and bad throat. A quick question, does your taste come back after finishing all chemotherapy xxx

Just gatecrashing this chat as I’m about to start my chemo (Taxotere and cyclophosphamide) and just started researching side effects (stupid right?!) … now panicking about permanent hair loss as it seems to be a possibility.  I know I should be totally grateful to live and was already embracing the thought of TEMPORARY hair loss (albeit reluctantly) but I’m just not sure I can cope with permanent hair loss.  Has anyone else heard of this?

Thank you to those that have shared their traumatic side effect experiences of Docetaxel -  so sorry you had those but you are already helping me manage my expectations and prepare for the worse.  I am so grateful because so far on this journey, everyone has given me the positive spin and with me already being a glass half full person, I fell extra hard when I was dealt the worse scenario each time that I wasn’t expecting it… 3 surgeries later and now chemo on top of the radiotherapy I was only meant to have…

Thanks again and I hope that the rest of your journeys are less taxing. Sending you all strength and  positive vibes to get through this…

I have read about this but. I have had docetaxel and so have many ladies on here and who I’ve met in the course of treatment and life and I’ve never met anyone who’s hair didn’t come back, it sometimes takes it’s time but it does. I had my first haircut today after finishing chemo in November. It’s hard but hopefully you’ll have the same experience as me, I had side effects, I was tired, but most of us get through. I’ll not list the side effects because we have similar but sometimes different experiences so happy to help with things as they come up for you. Good luck, all the best x

Mine has. My only side effect that I am aware of after four months is numb toes and half grown ugly toe nails. My finger nails are almost normal . My hair is a thick curly mainly white skull cap!

I'm starting radiotherapy on Tuesday.....three months after surgery. Hopefully the side effects will be less of a problem than those after chemotherapy.