Chemo side effects, taxotere

Tabby1970 · July 2010

I've read some of the posts from others regarding the side effects of chemo, specifically taxotere. I'm assisting my dad through his cancer treatment (lung cancer) and last week he had terrible, terrible joint pain in his hips and knees. He has severe arthritis in those joints and lives with a considerable amount of pain, but he said it was the worst pain he ever had; oxycontin would even ease it. After speaking with his oncology nurse and reading some of the posts, I'm starting to lean toward the taxotere as the cause. Can anyone offer any insight?

GregStahl · July 2010

If he
already has arthritis then the taxotere will just compound the pain. All you can do is try to manage the pain, the side affects should go away after a few days. If not, see if there is something the Dr can do to minimize the side affects/pain.
Greg

Barbara53 · July 2010

painful joints
Greetings, and so sorry you are here. Taxotere and carboplatin are used together for ovarian cancer, and I think my mother's joints are more aggravated by the carbo. She's getting it as a single agent for recurrence, and her hips are killing her.

Mom has a selection of pain meds, and she's liking the demerol because it does well with the pain and makes her sleepy. Sleeping through the worst of chemo is a good strategy!

Mom's worst problems with the taxotere were hand/foot syndrome (neuropathy) and feeling like her intestines were full of lead.

It's tough, but waiting it out is all you can do.

Tabby1970 · July 2010

GregStahl said:
If he
already has arthritis then the taxotere will just compound the pain. All you can do is try to manage the pain, the side affects should go away after a few days. If not, see if there is something the Dr can do to minimize the side affects/pain.
Greg

joint pain from taxotere
Thanks, Greg. He was a bit stiff the next day, but other than that, he's back to his "normal pain" as he calls it. We're hoping it was an isolated thing.

Tabby1970 · July 2010

Barbara53 said:
painful joints
Greetings, and so sorry you are here. Taxotere and carboplatin are used together for ovarian cancer, and I think my mother's joints are more aggravated by the carbo. She's getting it as a single agent for recurrence, and her hips are killing her.

Mom has a selection of pain meds, and she's liking the demerol because it does well with the pain and makes her sleepy. Sleeping through the worst of chemo is a good strategy!

Mom's worst problems with the taxotere were hand/foot syndrome (neuropathy) and feeling like her intestines were full of lead.

It's tough, but waiting it out is all you can do.

Taxotere and carboplatin
thanks, Barbara, I hate that anyone is here, but I'm sure glad I found the website. I thought we were managing pretty well 'on our own" but there is so much that the doctors don't tell you- it's like you get the big picture, but not the details. He is actually on both of those this round of treatment. I'm not sure if that's what he had for his first 7 weeks of chemo or not, but this is the first time he's had the severe joint pain. He's also experiencing acid reflux, but so far that's manageable. Fortunately he hasn't had some of the really severe reactions that I've seen noted here, no neuropathy, mouth problems, etc...he hasn't even lost his hair, which I find amazing.

I'll keep the demerol in mind, thanks! and thank you for your reply!

Barbara53 · July 2010

Tabby1970 said:
Taxotere and carboplatin
thanks, Barbara, I hate that anyone is here, but I'm sure glad I found the website. I thought we were managing pretty well 'on our own" but there is so much that the doctors don't tell you- it's like you get the big picture, but not the details. He is actually on both of those this round of treatment. I'm not sure if that's what he had for his first 7 weeks of chemo or not, but this is the first time he's had the severe joint pain. He's also experiencing acid reflux, but so far that's manageable. Fortunately he hasn't had some of the really severe reactions that I've seen noted here, no neuropathy, mouth problems, etc...he hasn't even lost his hair, which I find amazing.

I'll keep the demerol in mind, thanks! and thank you for your reply!

how many infusions so far?
When this combo is used for ovarian cancer, it's on a 3-week cycle. Counting infusion day as day 1, Mom was down for the count for days 3-10, with the worst symptoms on days 3-7.

The first and second infusions weren't that bad except for losing her hair, but the third one was a killer. Four thru six weren't nearly as bad as number three for her, so I'm wondering if your dad is having a bad cycle. Hopefully it will get better. Mom takes Protonix (a prescription) for reflux, but the over the counter products work well enough, I think.

eward · July 2010

Barbara53 said:
how many infusions so far?
When this combo is used for ovarian cancer, it's on a 3-week cycle. Counting infusion day as day 1, Mom was down for the count for days 3-10, with the worst symptoms on days 3-7.

The first and second infusions weren't that bad except for losing her hair, but the third one was a killer. Four thru six weren't nearly as bad as number three for her, so I'm wondering if your dad is having a bad cycle. Hopefully it will get better. Mom takes Protonix (a prescription) for reflux, but the over the counter products work well enough, I think.

neulasta(I think)
It has been quite a few months since my mom was on Taxotere/Carbo, but she had to have a shot for her white count when she was on it. I think it was called Neulasta, but I'm not positive. I remember reading that could cause joint pain. I wonder if the dad of this post has had the shot?

I know of others who said sleeping through the worst of chemo helped. My mom rests a lot when on chemo and naps daily. She refuses to take pain meds except for maybe one regular tylenol or one regular motrin.

Eileen

Chemo side effects, taxotere

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