Nail bed problems finishing paclitaxol and continuing with herceptin

Hi Bonnie B

I am sorry to read your post and the awful time you have been having.  I haven't any personal experience of chemo. as I only needed radiotherapy, but I see your post has slipped to the next page, with so many other posts being made, so by replying I am bumping you back to the top in the hope that anyone is around now on site that can give you some advice.

Kindest wishes, Lesley

I had the same pain in thumb nails and big toe nails especially. I thought it was neuropathy though nail bed damage is an option too. Theres a great "look good feel better" charity online session on nails which you can book. Is really helpful and there are other useful zoom sessions and you tube videos on nail care you can watch if you don't fancy a zoom session. I put moisturiser on my cuticles 3 or 4 times a day and massage it in - vaseline intensive care is good for that. The other nail advice is not to get them wet for long - wear gloves for washing up and cleaning. Hot water doesn't help either. On a similar line, shower rather than take a bath. Always apply a non scented moisturiser after washing your hands. Try not to use your nails as tools to open things or for any other reason as it stresses the nail bed more. My nails are weak from chemo - they are stained from cyclophosphamide, peeling from the EC, and I have white beau's lines (from growth stopping with paclitaxel). One of my toe nails has lifted a bit. I wear toe nail bumpers which I bought on line, and wear my most comfortable slippers and shoes only so my nails aren't stressed by pressure from shoes outside and not accidentally knocked in the house. My pain settled within a couple of weeks, but I will have to wait for the discolouration and white lines to grow out. I forgot to say that some of the paclitaxel nail changes are sun sensitive, but only around the time of infusion. As my nails are weak, I wear nail strengthener and nail polish all the time. I only file my nails and don't cut them as that strains the nail bed more and can cause whitlows which can get infected. I found most of the information online through cancer websites. Hope some of this helps and that the tenderness settles down quickly for you.

I would agree the https://lookgoodfeelbetter.co.uk workshop re nail care are brilliant. I have been using dark nail varnish, nail oil, jojoba and PolyBalm the latter is the same price as a pedicure but has research behind it. I have had 2 cycles of Docetaxel and Carboplatin and hopefully my nails are ok, so far! Hope this helps you. https://polybalm.com Can be bought on Amazon X

So wish I had heard of this when I was having chemo. I wonder if it will help nails 2 years on.

The only other thing that really does help prevent nail damage from paclitaxel or docetaxel is wearing ice gloves and socks during the infusion. Put them on before the infusion starts and replace the ice packs every hour as they melt in that time. It is almost 100 percent successful at preventing nail loss and also helps to prevent neuropathy. I bought mine on amazon but wish they were supplied routinely as part of care.

Hi Bonnie - I’m with you - I had 18 weeks/6 sessions of taxotere and carboplatin and it seemed I had every side effect in the book. My nails really bothered me with a acute pain in the side of the nails. Then once chemo was over - thank heavens, Buddha, Jesus, and all the saints, I thought the nail issues would go away. But my fingernails started lifting and basically disintegrating starting about two months post-chemo and I still have the awful pains and cuts in the side of the nails. I keep my nails very short now, use a dip powder to protect them, moisturize often and try to use gloves when touching water. It’s the best I can do and it’s very irritating but anything is better than cancer. So this is what we have to deal with but the treatment works - kills cancer if it doesn’t kill you! The other thing that bothers me is that the doctors don’t seem to recognize it as a formidable side effect. They all just sort of shrug their shoulders. They don’t realize that these are our hands that we use constantly and so anything that damages the skin of the hands is a continuous nuisance and can be very depressing. Sometimes it drives me crazy! So that’s that. Hang in there Bonnie, do the best you can!

Hi Bonnie B. I had 6 cycles of chemo last summer and over the course of that time I lost most of my fingernails. They just lifted up and looked like the curly slippers that Aladdin wears before falling off completely. They looked awful but didn't hurt at all. Very slowly they have been growing back and are now back to normal. I have been taking a prescribed calcium and vitamin D supplement to protect my bones from the anastrozole I am taking so maybe that has helped. As you know, everyone is different but that's my experience. Wishing you well, Mog