Change of Chemotherapy after EC

Hi Queen Poppy. I had 5 months of chemo starting with EC every 2 weeks followed by Paclitaxel every week.  I tolerated the chemo well apart from neuropathy pain.  I didn’t suffer with sickness but food tasted weird and still does.  I don’t recall a break between the drugs.  After chemo I had 15 sessions of radiotherapy which my skin seems to have tolerated.  You will get through it I think if you managed with EC the Paclitaxel will be fine.  I wish you all the best J xxx

Thank you for your reply and I am glad you have got through this. Good luck!! X

Hi I had 3 cycles of EC every 3 weeks. So the paclitaxel started straight after the third week - it's not seen as a break.

Im having 9 paclitaxel and I've had 4 so far. I've found it much easier to cope with than the EC. The EC really drained me and I felt very fatigued for a week after each one.The side effects from the pac are mainly constipation, congested/bloody nose and a change in taste (this only happened after the third one)

I did have an allergic reaction during the fourth treatment which was a bit scary but they're confident with extra pre-meds and a slower infusion time that it shouldn't happen again.

Thank you. I did not really mean to call the 3 weeks between treatment breaks. I will start the Paclitaxel 3 weeks after my final EC.   We are all different but your replies are reassuring and I am hoping things will go well for me. Good luck with your ongoing treatment.

Hi Queen Poppy

I also had four 3-weekly sessions of EC, followed by four sessions of fortnightly Paclitaxel, which sounds like what you’ve been offered. I did find the EC a challenge as I suffered from a fair bit of nausea and indigestion.  But I found fortnightly Pax relatively easy.  There were 2-3 days each cycle when I felt a bit tired and achy (a bit like very mild flu) but most of the time I felt perfectly normal.  

I did read that weekly Pax is supposed to be more tolerable than fortnightly, simply because each individual dose is lower.  And of course we all react differently.  But for me, as I say, fortnightly pax was a walk in the park compared to EC.  

Best of luck with whatever you decide xx

Thank you!!

Hi Queen Poppy. I had 4 cycles of EC every 2 weeks then onto weekly Paclitaxal with herceptin and perjeta every 3 weeks. Overall found it not too bad and was able to continue to work with a couple of days off each week, so working 3 days rather than 5. My liver found paclitaxal a bit tough and I did suffer from a bit of neuropathy (still have this in toes and finger tips) and dodgy stomach and mouth ulcers and taste buds shot, runny/bloody nose bleeds  but nothing was really bad, my oncologist was fantastic and nurses too, staying positive I believe really helped me to get through it As a result of my liver having a tough time I only ended up having 9 cycles of paclitaxal but this didn’t impact the result as I had a full pathological clearance with no cancer found post mastectomy. I am now in day 5 of my 25 day radiotherapy and everything is improving, slowly. J hope that you too find the side effects manageable and just take it as it comes and keep your Drs updated on your side effects so they can advise you on what to do. I found that mouthwash helped a lot, bongela too. I found eating bread, tomatoes, cheese, cucumber and Heinz beans all agreed with me, couldn’t look at anything sweet as it tasted terrible as my mouth was very salty luckily I like the taste of salt
Good luck with the paclitaxal and just take it easy and be kind to yourself, remember you are already half way through your chemo xx