Docetaxel

Hi excavator  you sound to be really struggling but have done well to get this far.  Your body is  taking a massive hit and everything is directed to just keep basic functions going.  It is important to listen to your body and not overdo anything.  If you are able to walk on the flat then stick to that.  I am one who sees a challenge and goes for it, but when you are having chemo, RT or HT my personal view is that you need to listen to what is happening.  During chemo I also got very tired and could only manage a 100 yards walk before resting.  You will find that once the poison clears your system you will slowly recover.  Once it’s over, then recovery is another phase.  Best wishes, David

I finished Docetaxel last December.  I had 6 sessions.
After the 5th session was the worst, I knelt down to put my boots on to walk the dog and I couldn't get up again.
Took me around 30 seconds to get up.
It just got me angry and motivated.
Dog has still got to be walked and there's only me to do it.
Sheer Bloody Mindedness got me through it.
I was dreading the 6th cycle after what I experienced on the 5th but in comparison it wasn't as bad.
Still got the cough and walking is still hard but I keep going.

Keep going - it's hard but it's better than the alternative ;-)

Thanks very much, that's reassuring. 

I'm the same - always up for a challenge which makes it even worse doesn'r it?

Thanks very much, that's reassuring. I was particularly dreading the 6th.

I too was given my fair share of bloody mindedness so it looks like that'll get me through.

Hi Excavator. You have done well to get through 5 cycles so far but it sounds like your quality of life has been impacted. My husband had a tough time for the first of his cycles so they adjusted his Docetaxel dose and gave him supportive antihistamines at the same time for the rest of the course which meant that he was able to tolerate the treatment better. We were also told the we could call it a day after 5 cycles if we wanted to as that had already given pretty comprehensive cover - but by being bloody minded he was determined to complete the 6 cycles. The Docetxel can cause a build up of fluid which can cause shortness of breath so I presume this has been checked out. He was given a throat spray which helped ease the cough he developed during treatment - I presumed this was caused by the effects that the Docetxel has on the lining of the mouth so maybe sucking ice cubes during the infusion plus 30 minutes after might help.

The fatigue and other side effects like shortness of breath due to emphysema, which was made worse by the chemo, started to get better about a month after completing the course and I would say it took about 6 months to get back to the position he was in prior to starting the chemo. I hope your meeting with the consultant is productive and let us know how you get on.

Thank you very much, that gives me a couple items to put on my list for my appointment next week.

I also wondered about the 6th treatment but am reluctant to pass on this and really want to extract the maximum benefit whilst it's available, especially having gone through most of it now, unless of course the consultant thinks otherwise.

Derek.

To follow up, I saw my consultant this afternoon. He's decided I should stop taking darolutamide for 7 days and to defer the final docetaxel infusion for the same period in the hope this will clear the fatigue, which is still with me. He's confident this will enable me to finish the chemo and resume darolutamide which sounds like a good plan for now.

I'm happy to go along with that in the hope that I can be given the full treatment with just a week's delay.

Thanks again for your advice alongside Slartibartfast and David 2017.

Derek (excavator ), that sounds like a very good plan.  7 days delay but try and finish. Stay positive, David

You have a plan and fingers crossed that you get through the last cycle without too many side effects. The one thing we noticed when hubby was having his chemo was how all the staff are really rooting for you to get through treatment. Not long to go now and then the recovery starts.

I have just had cycle 6 infused this Wednesday. Yes like you I started to notice shortness of breath as a symptom from cycle 4 onward. Spoke to my oncologist and he said it’s quite common. 

also the fatigue has got increasingly worse as the cycles have gone on. However in general I have found the chemo quite manageable really. 

Good luck for the rest of the cycles!