half way!

Hi Cherlyr  I had 4 cycles of EC and 12 weeks of paclitaxel in 2022 for tnbc. The benefit of the 3 week long cycles of EC is that you get time in each cycle when you feel reasonably normal. It did cause tiredness and achiness in the early part of each cycle. I had some bouts of diarrhoea but never felt sick. I lost my hair. It also changed how things tasted for the first few days of each cycle. Because it hits white blood cells hard, you will probably be asked to self inject filgrastim for a few days each cycle to stimulate white blood cell growth. That gave me a lot of bone pain, particularly on the first day or two. Otherwise quite doable and I really appreciated those good days each cycle, in contrast to the treadmill nature of weekly paclitaxel. 

Thankyou so much, that’s reassuring.  now ive found this forum ill definitely be checking in here regularly, seems like a really supportive community

I've just had the one round of EC at present due to a change of treatment and will be going back to it later, but I found it to be similar to how Coddfish describes. I had my treatment on a Friday and felt very fatigued and slightly nauseous afterwards with this peaking on the Sunday. Felt about 50% better on Monday, 75% on Tuesday, then felt completely back to normal on the Wednesday with no further side effects for the remaining weeks up until my next treatment on 22nd May. My appetite was almost non-existent in those first few days and when it started to come back, I really only wanted bland foods to start with but I just rolled with it and was amazed at how well I felt once it lifted.

I started on weekly treatments of a different regime including the paclitaxel this Friday just gone and it so far kind of feels like the reverse of the EC in that it seems to be of a much more lower level but more consistent. I was discussing it with the nurse looking after me during the treatment and we jokingly likened the after effects of weekly treatments to having a glass of wine a day and the EC to binge drinking every week!

Thats interesting for me! Just finished 4x3 of EC. 2 more weeks to recover, then paclitaxol  weekly! We actually got away for 3 4 day trips on the EC. Will miss that withe the weekly infusions..cold capped and lost half my hair - patchy but manageable so far. The tiredness was ok for the first 2 but more as it wore on. All doable. No aches and pains or nausea, though.

im worrying about neuropathy but neither of yo have mentioned that

thankyou..  i know what uou mean about the weekly treatment, i feel like i know where i am with that.  reassuring that the three weekly cycle brings also some normality.

ive hsd no neuropathy with paclotxl, weekly routine, and tired but that is all..  good to hear you ffelt well enough to take a break while on EC.

I also enjoyed a short break towards the end of each EC cycle. I started to get some neuropathy towards the end of Paclitaxel, had a dose reduction and it resolved after treatment. Unfortunately I needed a further block of nab-Paclitaxel the following year and the neuropathy from that is still with me but It is manageable. 

Have to say I'm finding the EC quite tough going.  The first week the chemical taste is really vile.  It eases off a bit, but by and large I exist on smoothies, soup and the occasional egg.  The fatigue is really crushing - now on the third cycle - and I can barely climb a flight of stairs.  And yes, I keep saying More Than Halfway.

Yes - i’ve gathered from forums here and BCN that we can all get different reactions to all these drugs and treatments! I just want certainty where there is none, sadly!

me too .. its the anxiety that is the worst for me