OK GUYS PROS AND CONS TAXOL

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toninasky
toninasky Member Posts: 102
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
Well I am starting to get a bit spooked about the Taxol. I don't know why? I am doing so well on the Adriamycin and Cytoxin. My question is this. They tell me the 12 weeks of Taxol will be easier than the A/C. Let me hear some pros and cons from those of you who are going thru it and have been thru it. No holds barred, I want to be prepared . I have one more A/C on the 27th. W B C holding up, I have not heard any bad reports from blood work. Whew !!!! SO FAR.
Another question do the WBC have to decrease for the chemo to be working, or are there some of you who had no problems with the counts? Lots of questions/ too much time to think this week. Plan on asking oncologist the same questions on next visit, will be interesting to banter after getting responses from the ALL OF YOU PROS.



Blessings,
Toni

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  • Susan956
    Susan956 Member Posts: 510
    #2
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    I thought taxol was easier than A/C. I was much more tired with A/C and taxol didn't bother my stomach like Taxol did. I could go back to fairly normally eating. Taxol has it's own problems. With taxol, my nails got really bad and I lost 1/2 of both of my big toenails. My feet were sore and my fingertips got pins and needles. But overall I found it to be a relief from the A/C. Also another deal is that with taxol I lost my eyelashes and eyebrows... but they can back fairly quickly after I finished the taxol. Hopefully, you won't have a bad time.

    Also with the Neupogen shots (I took it rather than Neulasta) I never really had a problem with my white blood cell count. Some of our bodies manage to deal with the abuse of chemo better than others... I wouldn't take the fact that you are managing to do well with your WBC as the Chemo isn't working.

    Take Care... God Bless...

    Hope I answered all of your questions.

    Susan
  • mc2001
    mc2001 Member Posts: 343
    #3
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    Hi Toni,
    I hope this helps: here is a site I found that describes taxol. http://www.drugs.com/taxol.html
    I am assuming along with the information contained in this link, you can ask patients who have had it and hopefully come to your own conclusion. I am sure there are good meds to help with negative side effects. God bless.
    -Michael (leukemia survivor)
  • KathiM
    KathiM Member Posts: 8,028 Member
    #4
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    I was like Susan, toni.....the Taxol was WAY better than the A/C. I, too, lost my lashes and brows at this point. I REALLY kept up my water, since one of the sides of Taxol is tingles in hands and feet. I got them, but they went away fast....
    As far as WBC...no, not everyone has troubles. And, for some of us who did, we didn't FEEL sick when our WBC was down...mine was at .7 at one point....did not feel bad at all.

    Hugs, Kathi
  • Kitty3571
    Kitty3571 Member Posts: 48
    #5
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    Toni - For me, A&C was bad (nausea & bad mouth sores) Taxol was it's own seperate beast - First I had the finger nail problems, they started lifting up from my fingers (very painful) didn't last too long though and I never did fully loose the nails. To this day, a month or so after stopping Taxol I still have a few nail problems with them breaking as soon as they try growing. Lost the eyelashes too, but they came back quickly. Had many problems with painfull feet - Had pretty bad neuropathy - Didn't get it in my hands though until my 6th Taxol treatment, my ONC stopped for a week or two in between Taxols due to my feet - I was supposed to have 12 Taxols, only received 6 overall. During A&C I took Neulasta, didn't have much side effects from that and my WBC's were fine throughout. All I can say is that it definetly does effect everyone differently. It's a guessing game as to what it might do to you. I hear so many different stories even from peeps that are on the same exact treatment regimen as myself. You just don't know. I'm still having pains in my joints and sometimes feel like I need a walker after sitting for awhile but I don't do much excercise which I'm sure would help. Hopefully for your sake you won't have too much trouble. It sounds like you are doing well so far so I'm hopefull for you that you will breeze through the rest of it...Good luck & God Bless!
    Kitty
  • toninasky
    toninasky Member Posts: 102
    #6
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    Hi Guys, Thanks to everyone for your replys so far. It seems that the good outweighs the bad responses so far. I am grateful to hear both. I really have soft nails now, so it won't surprise me if they get softer. At least I will know why. I am going to hope for the best. I don't want to have neuropathy, since I type for a living, and it is not a slow pace. But, again I will hope it does not happen. I am really trying to stay very educated and informed. I am also looking toward treatment being over and the aromatese drug that I will have to take. But that's a discussion for another time. First things first! Please keep the responses coming.

    Blessings to all
    Toni
  • ireneingeorgia
    ireneingeorgia Member Posts: 73
    #7
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    I found the Taxol easier on the stomach too, but I was still having to do just about nothing days 3 and 4. I had no neuropathy during treatment, but have some tingling and numbness in toes, and intermittent tingling in hands. Seems worse at night when I'm real tired. But I still type 90 words per minute. You'll be ok!

    My nails did turn darker, but I didn't lose them. I did lose all my eyebrows so I had them tatooed on! Anything to make ones self feel better. I fiished my treatments on August 31st. I had Neulasta shots after each treatment to keep my white blood counts up, I guess you just don't need them, that's good. You be well and hang in there.
    xoxo
    ireneincordova
  • chessie
    chessie Member Posts: 40
    #8
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    Hi everyone..I haven't posted in quite a while. Whenever I hear the word Taxol, my ears perk up. I am going on 3 years since dx. I had AC and Taxol. Taxol works....I'm convinced of that. I had 6 positive nodes, so I have always been worried about recurrance. I'm a little bit more relaxed about it, since I've heard from so many people who had good success, even with node positive cancer. I personally had a harder time with Taxol, than AC. I didn't have nausea, and the next day I always had the neulasta shot. I had awful pain in my knees and long bones of my legs a few days after taxol. Not sure if it was from Taxol or neulasta. No otc pain pills worked - got some percocet from doc which helped somewhat, but I can remember one day when I just layed on the couch and cried from the pain. It didn't last long - a day or so, but it was rough. I also had neuropathy in my feet which to this day, I stll have, but I no longer feel as much pain in my feet unless I am on them too long. When I went for my 2nd taxol treatment, I told doctor about the pain in my legs, and how bad it was...he put me on a steriod to take for a few days after treatment. It helped immensely. So, that is an option too, I guess you can discuss with your doctor. As far as the side effects of chemo go, I still would put myself through all of it over again to keep my self cancer free. I love my family and life, and the side effects are minimal compared to the alternative....Best wishes.

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