Starting paclitaxel

Hi CG_84 

I had 3 rounds of EC and then moved on to weekly paclitaxel for 12 rounds. Like you, I just felt a bit under the weather for about 10 days or so each time I had EC but I had no side affects at all while on paclitaxel.

hi, i didnt have excruciating pain, well actuallyi had a few nights where the aches were really bad, kept me awake, but they gave me codeine and gabapentin, the one thing i would ask is about cooling gloves and booties as the neuropathy is not nice, and it may help lessen it. i was on same regime every two weeks. my nails also suffered but I keep cutting them short and don’t garden or anything w/out gloves

i also found a few weeks after ihad restless aching legs, and got more codeine which i only took at night to stave off the aches, during the day was ok, but I did have early nights

u will also probably lose eyelashes and brows, i thought i was looking peaky and tried mascara to discover i had one lash left

but growing back now

Hi CG_84, I had no side effects at all on Paclitaxol x

Thanks. That’s good to know not everyone has an awful time on it. The nurses also seem to think most people do better on paclitaxel than EC 

Thanks for the tip about gloves and booties, I’ll ask about them. I’ll be given co-codamol in case I get pain.

I had it weekly rather than fortnightly. I didn’t have excruciating pain but did find it a bit of a merry go round of never feeling quite right, with the frustration of 2 appointments a week to get the bloods done and then the treatment itself. I did suffer a bit with peripheral neuropathy towards the end, so had a dose reduction for the last 3 infusions. 

Yep me too, I had weekly with Carboplatin on the third week too.As codfish says two appointments a week, one for blood and one for chemo were tedious but a means to an end.

 I did feel a bit rough but never had any pain - just fatigue and a weird appetite.

Xx

Hi, CG_84. I had the second of 9 weekly Paclitaxel sessions today and while it's early days, I'm finding it easier to deal with than the EC, which caused severe constipation and general aches and pas. Gut problems such as diarrhoea and periphineral neuropathy are known side effects of Pac but my onc team assure me that if they do happen to me, there are options to address that. I was more anxious that I would have a reaction during the first two infusions but that didn't happen - yay! Don't borrow trouble and disturb your peace of mind... you might sail through treatment with minimal side effects. All we can do is take it one treatment at a time and muddle through. Please let us know how you get on

I’ve had my second treatment today. I get it weekly. No side effects to complain about so far.

Hi CG_84,

Glad you have been ok on EC,have just had my 10th Paclitaxel ,and tbh the side effects haven’t been too bad,just fatigue 3/4 days later,restless legs sometimes while in bed and headaches but I am cold capping so i think the headaches are due to that. I’m due to start EC on 01.03.24 so a a little nervous as i’ve heard it’s worse then Paclitaxel but the way you describe it,it does sound just like the Paclitaxel side effects