AC & Docetaxel chemo

Hi LalaLou

I had 4 cycles of AC but didn’t have docetaxel. I didn’t find the AC too bad. I had few side effects with the AC. The AC is given by infusion for an hour and injection into a vein for half an hour. The first thing I was given by my specialist nurse was steroids by infusion and an anti-sickness tablet.  I had to take steroids for 3 days after my chemo to help prevent side effects and also have an injection 24 hours after treatment. I lost my hair after the second cycle. I had a PICC Line inserted after my first cycle as my veins are very small. I found the PICC Line great because as well as giving me my treatments through it they could also do my bloods through it. 

Wishing you the best of luck with your treatments and if you have any other questions please don’t hesitate to ask and I will answer them if I can.

Best wishes

Daisy53

I had EC and docetaxel. I found the EC not too bad but the docetaxel floored me. It was much more like having a bad 'flu for a week than the nausea of EC. I also had mild skin and nail reactions, my muscles didn't feel like they worked properly and I was breathless. Chemo is cumulative, so my bloods were also very low by the end which explains why I was breathless with any activity.

Having said all that, I also work from home and worked throughout all treatment as I'm self-employed. I had chemo, then operation, then radiotherapy and I'm on 5 years of hormone treatment. As I'm in my mid 40s, I had a sudden medical menopause thrown in when I started zoladex injections during chemo. Very grateful for being able to work from home!

They reduced my docetaxel dose for the final 2 cycles as I could barely get out of bed or off the sofa for 10 days with the first cycle.

Some people sail through docetaxel so this was just my experience.

I had mine in 3 weekly cycles and I had a bad week, an ok week and a good week, though by the end I was still feeling fairly rough by the time I had my operation 4 weeks later.

Good luck, everyone's side effects are different. I really recommend keeping a diary of symptoms each day so you can look back in subsequent cycles and know the pattern.

Thanks for the info Daisy53 & Beatthebreast.

Daisy - Did the steroids cause weight increase? My bone scan identified arthritis, which can't be treated during chemo, so I'm concerned about a potential weight increase from the steroids coupled with the impact on my ability to exercise due to the arthritis. 

Beatthebreast - I'm having docetaxel in 3 weekly cycles too. I'm mid-50's and post-menopause and suggested to the oncologist that I could perhaps be signed off work for just a month or two initially to see what side-effects I got from the chemo so I was concerned when signed off for 6 months as I'm due to have further surgery/radiotherapy after the 6 months chemo and my pay will be halved after 6 months. I guess I'll just have to see how things go, and will keep a diary as suggested. I've read that Docetaxel can cause permanent hair loss so I'm considering the cool cap - has your hair started to grow back?

My hair is growing back in buckets! It actually started to come in a bit fuzzy when I was on docetaxel, and then it was very slow to grow. At 2 months post chemo, I still looked pretty bald and by about 3 months it was growing back well. I'm 5 months on and it is a good inch or so long, the same colour as before and there is tonnes of it. I read about permanent hair loss too, it would be interesting to know any other factors such as hair quality pre-chemo or age group.

I had steroids throughout chemo with no weight gain, Docetaxel gave me water retention which I am still shifting - hands and feet still a bit puffy but it is slowly getting better. So my only weight gain was water towards the end of chemo. My weight stayed very stable throughout and still is. I had my last oncology appointment about a month ago and they said the water retention just takes time and it was early days!

I chose not to cold cap as it can give you headaches and migraines and I was also paranoid about any lurking cancer cells anywhere at all in my body, including scalp. My oncologist also said with the drugs I was on, I would lose a lot of hair regardless of cold cap. I had long hair so cut it off ahead of chemo and donated it, then shaved the rest. It was one thing that I really felt in control of and glad I did it! I ended up finding hair loss the least troublesome side effect. It wasn't sore and as I'd shaved my head, I barely noticed it.

Thanks Beatthebreast, that's useful to know. It was the oncologist who mentioned the cold cap but didn't give any info as to whether the combination of chemo medication would result in hair loss regardless. I'll discuss this during the pre-assessment meeting. I have short, thick hair currently and am not particularly bothered either way about losing it temporarily but if the cold cap could help prevent  permanent loss then It's something I'd think about.

Hi LalaLou

I found that I ate more when on the steroids so I did put on a little bit of weight but not much.  Try to exercise as much as you can because it does help with the side effects from chemo.  

Best wishes

Daisy53

Thanks Daisy53. I'm currently trying to lose weight but having bad hip pain is preventing me from exercising as much as I'd like. I'm relieved that the bone scan identified arthritis rather than bone cancer but the oncologist said that the arthritis can't be treated until after chemo so I'm in a bit of a catch 22 situation as exercise will help with the chemo side effects and reduce the hip pain but I can't take anything for the hip pain whilst undertaking chemo!  I guess I'll just have to do what I can and hope for the best.

Hey Laylalou I’m 2 months after 3 rounds of EC and 9 weekly Paclitaxel. I also have arthritis of the hip. So the EC although really tough was manageable and I generally felt unwell for a week then had 2 ok-good weeks following before my next cycle. I did the same as other forum members and cut my long hair short to prepare me. This did in fact hell with the hair loss and it actually wasn’t an issue once treatment was in full swing. 

my oncologist advised that he was giving me weekly oaciltaxol instead of docetaxol due to the fact that I was suffering with arthritic pain. Apparently these chemos cause myalgia and I can confirm they definitely cause joint, muscle pain so just something to think about or suggest they are both the same and have the same way of working however mine was weekly. This also can be quite gruelling if you live far from your treatment hospital. 

I finished my radiotherapy 2 weeks ago. All I can say is although tough it goes so fast and before you know it your through the treatment. Sending tough hugs you’ve got this x

Thanks for your reply rattygirl. I think it's the possible joint pains that worry me as it's sometimes difficult to get out of bed / walk as it is and I live alone so don't want to end up with more loss of mobility. I'll mention the arthritis again at the chemo pre-assessment to see what they suggest and will just have to see how things go. Fingers crossed it won't be too bad x 

Hi Beatthebreast, I completely agree with you on the Docetaxel. I’m on my third of four tomorrow and the recovery time takes almost 2 weeks. Raised heart rate as soon as I’m injecting Filgrastim. Feel like I’ve run a marathon when I’ve only walked up the stairs. Rashes, some pins and needles in fingertips, loss of appetite, and horrible taste. It certainly has floored me, so I am looking forward to my last one in 3 weeks. I’m also having Herceptin at the same time. Day 4 - 10 are my worst, but knowing your patterns does help you manage your way through. Good luck to all this week. We can get through this x