nails fall off?

slyng
slyng Member Posts: 12
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
Hi - I had one round of Taxotere (after 4 rounds of AC). The taxotere was extremely bad on my hands - got very swollen, now are peeling, and my nails hurt a ton which the nurses say is almost a given that they will fall off....I've started on vitamin B6 which may help, and actually the doctor switched me to Taxol which I had yesterday. Don't know yet how it will affect me for a few days. Anyways, I was wondering if anyone knew if getting acrylic nails put on would possibly prevent the nails from falling off??? I'll call the doctors' office on Monday, but if anyone has any answers, that would be great. Thanks!!

Comments

  • Susan956
    Susan956 Member Posts: 510
    #2
    I didn't try acrylics. My nails did really hurt and they actually got dried blood - black - under the nails. My nails didn't fall off eventhough I thought they were going to. I am now 6 weeks out of treatment (4 A/C and 12 weeks of Taxol - probably considered 4 if you get it every 3 weeks). and the nails are growing out. I keep them trimmed really short to try to make sure I don't catch them on anything that would help pull them off and I started using fingernail polish just so I didn't have to look at them. Hope you will manage to keep yours. Take care.
  • kathya
    kathya Member Posts: 5
    #3
    Slyng - I lost my toe nails the first round of CEF and Taxol and now I have lost my toe nails, thumb nails and I'm waiting for a few others to fall.

    This conclusion comes from research presented at the ASCO annual meeting in Florida this year.

    Conclusions: Frozen glove significant reduces the nail and skin toxicity associated with docetaxel and provides a new tool in supportive care management for a better patient’s quality of life.

    You could probably use an ice pack with the same results. The ice pack restricts the flow of blood to the fingers thus cutting down on the amount of taxol reaching the nails.
    Do not use arcylic nails. Anything I've read says no to this.
    After treatment the nails grew back just as nice as they were before chemo.
    Hope this helps.
    Good Luck and God bless.
  • slyng
    slyng Member Posts: 12
    #4
    kathya said:

    Slyng - I lost my toe nails the first round of CEF and Taxol and now I have lost my toe nails, thumb nails and I'm waiting for a few others to fall.

    This conclusion comes from research presented at the ASCO annual meeting in Florida this year.

    Conclusions: Frozen glove significant reduces the nail and skin toxicity associated with docetaxel and provides a new tool in supportive care management for a better patient’s quality of life.

    You could probably use an ice pack with the same results. The ice pack restricts the flow of blood to the fingers thus cutting down on the amount of taxol reaching the nails.
    Do not use arcylic nails. Anything I've read says no to this.
    After treatment the nails grew back just as nice as they were before chemo.
    Hope this helps.
    Good Luck and God bless.

    Thanks so much for your reply...you've actually read about acrylic nails? Where did you find that info?
  • kathya
    kathya Member Posts: 5
    #5
    slyng said:

    Thanks so much for your reply...you've actually read about acrylic nails? Where did you find that info?

    Slyng, here are some web sights about acrylic nails and taxotere and nails. I actually couldn't find the original one that listen a lot of Don'ts including acrylic nails but here is some info

    http://annonc.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/14/2/333
    Abstract The clinical characteristics of nail changes in seven patients receiving taxane-containing chemotherapy are described. They include nail pigmentation, subungual hematoma, Beau’s lines and onycholysis and subungual suppuration.

    http://www.oncolink.com/treatment/article.cfm?c=2&s=10&id=145
    Nail changes
    Darkening and brittleness or loss of the fingernails/toenails may occur.
    What to do: Keep your fingernails and toenails clean and dry. Do not wear fake nails. You may use nail polish. Notify your doctor or nurse if there is loss of any nails.

    http://www.breastcancer.org/cmty_trans_2004_02.html
    says at bottom of article ask your doctor about – good discussion of chemo taxotere etc.

    http://www.robertrcarrollmd.com/sideeffects.htm#SKIN AND NAIL CHANGES
    Acrylic nails may be worn, but inspect under nails and around cuticles for signs of infection or nail separation

    http://www.nci.nih.gov/clinicaltrials/results/frozen-glove0805
    Frozen Glove Reduces Skin and Nail Damage from Docetaxel Chemotherapy

    I see that they did not come out as hyper links but if you want to you can copy them or google taxotere + side effects + nails or some combination of these.

    Hope this helps.
  • melperkins
    melperkins Member Posts: 5
    #6
    Don't put the artificial nails on during your chemo.You have enough foreign material in/on your body to deal with right now. My nails came off too,(feet and hands) I had terrible itching , painful nail beds, and my hands and feet all peeled off and bled to the point I wore mittins and socks to keep the blood off my bed.
  • aarabak
    aarabak Member Posts: 5
    #7
    I actually had acrylic nails when I went through my Cytoxin, Taxotere treatement. They stayed on through the first 2 treatments. Then I started getting black spots under them (turn out was blood). Eventually they started to come off, very painfully. Now it has been 9 months, the toenails have come back, finger nails, except two of the nails are slowly growing back in and slowly repairing from the damage both from the acrylics and the chemo. I would just let them fall off and then deal with coming back after. My fingers peeled, were very painful with each treatment. Hang in there, just keep them as moisturized as possible.

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