Hi ho, hi ho Taxol sucks!

stayingstrongfortoday
stayingstrongfortoday Member Posts: 116
in Breast Cancer #1
Well the powers that be won't let me work part time but because I'm not officially approved for short term disability I get to go back to work today to fulfil my contract. I'm telling you ladies I thought Taxol might be tolerable....it's NOT! My oncologist said it was an "easy" chemo I would like him to take it. I can't eat so I dry heave, I do eat and I puke. I take nausea meds it doesn't help. wth! I can't wait to get another treatment tomorrow.....NOT! Now the bone/joint pain is hitting me so sitting in meetings all day ought to just be a real treat. Any suggestions?

Comments

  • grams2jc
    grams2jc Member Posts: 756
    #2
    I hated Taxol too
    Mine was every 3 weeks and a real drag until we got it figured out a little. Can they slow your infusion down? That helped my bone pain tremendously. I also took Benadryl when the pain started and for some reason that helped. Are they still giving you anti-nausea meds at infusion and do they give you Benadryl then? I got those and it did seem to help, I didn't have the nausea. I know I have seen on this site that some ladies take Claritin for some of the side effects of Taxol. I don't know what you can take or what your MO allows, but I know that a slower drip and Benadryl made a huge difference for me.

    Sorry you are going through all of this,

    Jennifer
  • MAJW
    MAJW Member Posts: 2,510 Member
    #3
    grams2jc said:

    I hated Taxol too
    Mine was every 3 weeks and a real drag until we got it figured out a little. Can they slow your infusion down? That helped my bone pain tremendously. I also took Benadryl when the pain started and for some reason that helped. Are they still giving you anti-nausea meds at infusion and do they give you Benadryl then? I got those and it did seem to help, I didn't have the nausea. I know I have seen on this site that some ladies take Claritin for some of the side effects of Taxol. I don't know what you can take or what your MO allows, but I know that a slower drip and Benadryl made a huge difference for me.

    Sorry you are going through all of this,

    Jennifer

    Fighting nausea...
    This is what I did, per my oncologist's instructions....started the Zofran the day BEFORE each infusion and took them religiously almost around the clock for 3 days following each infusion...and to eat before each infusion, something that will "stick to your ribs"....I ate half a bagel with either peanut butter or cream cheese...My cancer center also fed us during chemo....keeping something in your stomach seems to help...I did all this and never had the first wave of nausea...I know how lucky I was...I am now doing it all over again and following these same instructions...no nausea...

    I hate you're going through all this and dealing with your job situation....
    Wishing you better days..
    Hugs, Nancy
  • mwallace1325
    mwallace1325 Member Posts: 806
    #4
    MAJW said:

    Fighting nausea...
    This is what I did, per my oncologist's instructions....started the Zofran the day BEFORE each infusion and took them religiously almost around the clock for 3 days following each infusion...and to eat before each infusion, something that will "stick to your ribs"....I ate half a bagel with either peanut butter or cream cheese...My cancer center also fed us during chemo....keeping something in your stomach seems to help...I did all this and never had the first wave of nausea...I know how lucky I was...I am now doing it all over again and following these same instructions...no nausea...

    I hate you're going through all this and dealing with your job situation....
    Wishing you better days..
    Hugs, Nancy

    I hated it too
    I think I had every side effect known to humans, except nausea. My eyes ran, constantly, my nose ran, I couldn't eat, my voice sounded like Janis Joplin after a pack of camels. Everything ached, I was always tired. They lowered my dosage and I still wanted to quit. Then when my onc said I could quit (after 9 of the 12 rounds) I became outraged that he'd "let me quit and I'd die" so in addition to all the physical effects, it clearly made me a little nuts too.

    All I can tell you is you'll get thru it. Feel free to let us know how awful it is as often as you'd like.

    Hope it gets easier for you.

    marge
  • mamolady
    mamolady Member Posts: 796 Member
    #5
    Ok, not to be too gross, but
    Ok, not to be too gross, but I found that the only time I got nauseated was if I was constipated from the steroids and zofran. Pay attention to that, if that is the case you may just need prunes or fiber or ducolax instead of more anti nausea meds that might make that worse.
    For the bone pain, I was good with just tylenol or motrin. I was lucky though I didn't need to go to work. The hardest part was when my 6 year old grand daughter would come in and jump on the bed because she missed me. She was so happy I couldn't kick her out. Her smile was well worth the motion sickness......

    Maybe if you vomit on a couple of them, they will find a way to work with you? Just a thought.

    Cindy
  • survivorbc09
    survivorbc09 Member Posts: 4,374 Member
    #6
    MAJW said:

    Fighting nausea...
    This is what I did, per my oncologist's instructions....started the Zofran the day BEFORE each infusion and took them religiously almost around the clock for 3 days following each infusion...and to eat before each infusion, something that will "stick to your ribs"....I ate half a bagel with either peanut butter or cream cheese...My cancer center also fed us during chemo....keeping something in your stomach seems to help...I did all this and never had the first wave of nausea...I know how lucky I was...I am now doing it all over again and following these same instructions...no nausea...

    I hate you're going through all this and dealing with your job situation....
    Wishing you better days..
    Hugs, Nancy

    I didn't have taxol as part
    I didn't have taxol as part of my treatment. I am so sorry that you are feeling this bad on it. And, really sorry that you have to go back to work. It just isn't fair!


    Hugs, Jan
  • CAchick
    CAchick Member Posts: 277
    #7
    So sorry...
    My chemo drugs were different--taxotere and cytoxan---but I am just writing to say I am sorry you are having so many side effects.
    Bless you,
    Sybil
  • dbhadra
    dbhadra Member Posts: 344 Member
    #8
    CAchick said:

    So sorry...
    My chemo drugs were different--taxotere and cytoxan---but I am just writing to say I am sorry you are having so many side effects.
    Bless you,
    Sybil

    So sorry to hear that you are feeling so sick
    On the taxol. Are you having neulasta well because that can also cause bone pain and I found that taking claritin prevented that from happening. Increasing the steroids could also help with the nausea and general luckiness, I did that with my fec treatment that I had post taxol. Really hope you feel better soon!

    Laura
  • natly15
    natly15 Member Posts: 1,941
    #9
    I had 1 1/2 infusions of
    I had 1 1/2 infusions of taxol. The first infusion caused debilitating pain, felt like my legs were goiing to fold under me. 2nd infusion had to be stopped, so they put me on taxotere. My onc said they are both in the same family but processed differently.Taxotere was much easier on me. Cant imagine working or concentrating, please take care of yourself. Hugs
  • BMS
    BMS Member Posts: 127
    #10
    Hated it!
    I had Taxotere and then had more rounds with Taxol. They both suck, but did the trick. Take the anti-nausea drugs before feeling the nausea. Take Aleve for the bone pain one day before chemo, day of chemo, and two days after. It helped a lot.

    Really try to find foods you can tolerate. mashed potatoes worked for me and canned pears. I drank a lot of water and hot tea. It's a crap shoot on what works, but don't give up and just rest whenever you can.

    Bonnie

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