Xeloda dosage

impactzone
impactzone Member Posts: 555 Member
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
I am 210 lb 47 year old male. They have me on 4000
mg of xeloda / day for 14 days and then a week off.
Then back on again.I also take oxaliplation every 4
th week and eributux. I am not on avastin as they
are looking at liver surgery in Dec. Does this dose
seem reasonable or high?

I also had the oxaplatin put in by IV in my left
hand and for left forearm still hurts..near the
wrist especially, like a deep bone bruise. Is this
common?

I have heard that if I do not get a rash / acne then
eributux might not be working. How long before this
rash can show up? True or urban legend?

Thanks

Impactzone

Comments

  • kerry
    kerry Member Posts: 1,313 Member
    #2
    The Xeloda dosage does not seem high to start. I started at 3500 mg per day, same regimen as you. As I developed side effects the doctor took me down in dosage to an amount that I could handle.

    The pain where you received the infusion in your arm could just be that the nurse was a little rough in inserting the needle. That happened to me once with an IV for surgery and my wrist hurt for about a week. Have them check it out though to be on the safe side.

    Can't help with the Erbitux - have never taken it, but I have heard the same "legend" as you.

    Good luck with your treatment.

    Kerry
  • JADot
    JADot Member Posts: 709 Member
    #3
    kerry said:

    The Xeloda dosage does not seem high to start. I started at 3500 mg per day, same regimen as you. As I developed side effects the doctor took me down in dosage to an amount that I could handle.

    The pain where you received the infusion in your arm could just be that the nurse was a little rough in inserting the needle. That happened to me once with an IV for surgery and my wrist hurt for about a week. Have them check it out though to be on the safe side.

    Can't help with the Erbitux - have never taken it, but I have heard the same "legend" as you.

    Good luck with your treatment.

    Kerry

    I thought Xeloda is just the pill form of 5FU. Most of us when getting folfox would have oxaliplatin in a 2 hour infusion and then Oxaliplatin in a fanny pack for 48 hours. My onc said that the time released 5FU delivers more punch w/ less side effects. That seems to really different from what they are doing for you. Maybe that's just the regimen with Erbitux. Also it sounds like you don't have a port? The port really helps to keep down the pokes in the arm/hand. Have they talked to you about having a mediport? I think it's worth asking them about.

    I am not at all familiar w/ Erbitux, I have to admit.

    Hope you're taking your first round of chemo well!

    Cheers,
    Ying
  • houseofclay
    houseofclay Member Posts: 63
    #4
    I will echo the previous posts with saying the Xeloda dosage seems reasonable.

    In many patients, Eribitux will cause an acne-type rash. There is some evidence to suggest that the worse the rash gets, the better tumor response. That being said, many people will not have the rash and the Eribitux is working.

    Of course, some patients are responding to Eribitux without the rash as well. I think it does take several days for the rash to appear.
  • Betsydoglover
    Betsydoglover Member Posts: 1,248 Member
    #5
    I was on 4000mg Xeloda per day (14 days on, 7 days off). On the first Xeloda day I had oxaliplatin and Avastin. After 4 cycles (I had 6) my Xeloda was cut to 3000mg/day and that really helped with the side effects.

    I had my oxaliplatin and Avastin without benefit of a port. Exactly what you describe did not happen to me, but it might be a variation on what I experienced. Starting with the second treatment the oxaliplatin would cause the arm in which I received the infusion to become stiff, tingly and very painful to touch - from about the wrist up to the elbow. A very acute neuropathy, but one that was short lived. Orders of magnitude better after 2 days and then gradually diminishing to nothing after about 10 days. According to my oncologist this was an unusual reaction, but in my mind not so bad because while it was an unpleasant side effect, I never had any long term, painful neuropathy from the oxaliplatin.

    I don't know about Erbitux - I wouldn't be surprised if the "no rash - not working" rumor is an urban legend, but I really don't know. You should ask your oncologist.

    Good luck with your chemo,
    Betsy

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