heartburn with Taxotere and Cytoxan

jayeroche
jayeroche Member Posts: 16
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
Wow. Okay, I guess I needed to stay up all night with excrutiating pain to finally begin posting. I have been reading posts and attempted to post, but lost nerve. I am 44 yrs old and was diagnosed in Nov 2010 with Ductal Carcinoma. I'll try to make this short. Anyway, I have an 11 yr old dtr and a 17yr old son and a husband who has been trying to keep it together. I am one of the lucky ones and it did not travel to my lymph. After a lumpectomy in Dec they found multiple "pre Cancerous" cells throughout the breast. For me it was a no brainer to have double mastectomies with the expander/implant reconstruction. After the mastectomies they told me that pathology found the tumor to be at stage 1 C as it was 1.8cm and the"activity" marker, KI 67, which I had never heard of, was too high. It should be between 1-5% and mine was at 20%. This now made it a very aggressive tumor and recurrance a little higher, so, chemo was "highly recommended."

So, this brings me to my post. And besides the emotional rollercoaster of which you are all aware, I now have physical turmoil which has never occurred. I will mention that I am an RN and I am the one who takes care of everything. Until now. I had the worst heartburn last night, that I was in tears. My daughter wasn't feeling well, so I had to tend to her, and my son came up to my room after football practice telling me "dad wants you to look at me, because I might have a concusion." I had stayed up in my room for a reason, so I could suffer quietly with my heartburn in peace. Both kids are fine by the way and my husband felt bad for not realizing it was me who needed attention.

After a failed dose of anti-acids at almost midnight, my husband called the doc to find out what I was allowed to take with the chemo drugs. After my husband ran out to the drug store and came home with every option, I finally, took Maalox. Got some relief, but it was right back in the morning. I took a Zantac and have had some more Maalox. The doc is calling in a script for Prevacid.

Who has this and what helps? I'm so tired, but can't lay down or it starts immediately. So much for keeping it short. Thanks fo listening.. Anyone??

Janis

Comments

  • TraciInLA
    TraciInLA Member Posts: 1,994 Member
    #2
    Double dose of Prilosec worked for me
    Janis, I also had terrible heartburn while doing Taxotere/Cytoxan last year. I had tried OTC Prilosec (similar to Prevacid), and it just wasn't enough -- my oncologist suggested I simply double the dosage, which I would never have done on my own without a doctor's recommendation. Worked very well for me.

    Since your doctor's already called in a prescription for Prevacid, definitely try that, and I think it's likely to work for you. If not, ask him if you can increase the dosage.

    Hang in there -- there are several different acid blockers out there that you and your doctor can try, and I'm sure you'll find one that will do the trick.

    Traci
  • Boppy_of_6
    Boppy_of_6 Member Posts: 1,138
    #3
    Welcome Janis from Janice!!
    So sorry for the probs with acid reflux.I had the same chemo as you but did not have these issues with it. I want to welcome you to the site, sorry you need to be here but you will be glad you found us. There are wonderful ladies and some great guys here. They will share wonderful info with you. I was dx in Jan.10 with IDC had lumpectomy chemo and rads. Will be on tamoxifen for about 4 1/2 more years. It is definitely an emotional roller coaster for sure. It is all doable though. God Bless
    (((Hugs))) Janice
  • Gabe N Abby Mom
    Gabe N Abby Mom Member Posts: 2,413
    #4
    I had to take a Prilosec in
    I had to take a Prilosec in the am and one in the pm to control heartburn, and had to keep doing it for a couple weeks after chemo ended. And you probably know to try sleeping with some elevation for additional relief too.

    I hope this helps. Keep checking in with us...

    Hugs,

    Linda
  • joannstar
    joannstar Member Posts: 403 Member
    #5
    I had the same thing
    when I was on Cytoxan/Taxotere. My onc said to take otc meds which did help...I took immeprozole.

    By the way, I am also Stage 1C (1.5cm) invasive ductal carcinoma and have had 2 lumpectomies (2nd to get clean margins), but I'm triple negative so I had to have chemo (6 rounds, the last two were Cytoxan/Taxol due to swelling ankles) and will have 33 rads. I'm done with chemo as of 1/7 and had all kinds of side effects, but most are becoming a memory (except I'm still waiting for my hair to grow in and my fingernails are separating). Each cycle I had different side effects, so maybe the indigestion will disappear--it did for me after the 2nd treatment.

    Good luck.
    JoAnn
  • jayeroche
    jayeroche Member Posts: 16
    #6
    joannstar said:

    I had the same thing
    when I was on Cytoxan/Taxotere. My onc said to take otc meds which did help...I took immeprozole.

    By the way, I am also Stage 1C (1.5cm) invasive ductal carcinoma and have had 2 lumpectomies (2nd to get clean margins), but I'm triple negative so I had to have chemo (6 rounds, the last two were Cytoxan/Taxol due to swelling ankles) and will have 33 rads. I'm done with chemo as of 1/7 and had all kinds of side effects, but most are becoming a memory (except I'm still waiting for my hair to grow in and my fingernails are separating). Each cycle I had different side effects, so maybe the indigestion will disappear--it did for me after the 2nd treatment.

    Good luck.
    JoAnn

    thanks
    Thank you ALL for your replies. The doc did call in Prevacid and my husband just went to pick it up. I hope it works. God bless you all and I AM glad I found this site and found the nerve to post. I will keep you posted.

    @ Janice- You got to have all the fun stuff (ie:pens, magnets, anything at an airport gift shop) with your name spelled "right." I was so upset as a kid. I always have to say, "like Joplin" to get it spelled right. So I named my daughter Shelbi with no "y" or "e" and they don't make anything with her name. She's mad at me now for it. I have to have things ordered. Haha. And ironically she LOVES penguins. (Your profile pic) so I had made a big Penguin sign for her room with her name on it. Must be fate to talk to you. :)
  • Boppy_of_6
    Boppy_of_6 Member Posts: 1,138
    #7
    jayeroche said:

    thanks
    Thank you ALL for your replies. The doc did call in Prevacid and my husband just went to pick it up. I hope it works. God bless you all and I AM glad I found this site and found the nerve to post. I will keep you posted.

    @ Janice- You got to have all the fun stuff (ie:pens, magnets, anything at an airport gift shop) with your name spelled "right." I was so upset as a kid. I always have to say, "like Joplin" to get it spelled right. So I named my daughter Shelbi with no "y" or "e" and they don't make anything with her name. She's mad at me now for it. I have to have things ordered. Haha. And ironically she LOVES penguins. (Your profile pic) so I had made a big Penguin sign for her room with her name on it. Must be fate to talk to you. :)

    Hey Janis
    I can find stuff with my name on it! I ocassionaly will have someone spell mine with the "is" instead of "ice" I have a grandson named Jadyn my daughter usually can't find his name spelled right. I do love penguins! Tell your daughter I love the spelling of her name. God Bless
    (((Hugs))) Janice
  • beetle25
    beetle25 Member Posts: 150 Member
    #8
    Boppy_of_6 said:

    Hey Janis
    I can find stuff with my name on it! I ocassionaly will have someone spell mine with the "is" instead of "ice" I have a grandson named Jadyn my daughter usually can't find his name spelled right. I do love penguins! Tell your daughter I love the spelling of her name. God Bless
    (((Hugs))) Janice

    I am glad that your doctor
    I am glad that your doctor called you in a percriptions while I was going through chemo I also had heartburn and I was put perscription pepcip twice a day. I really helped.
  • MAJW
    MAJW Member Posts: 2,510 Member
    #9
    Heartburn...
    More than likely the heartburn is from the steroids your are taking along with the chemo...I had horrible heartburn..oncologist said it was caused by the Decadron, That is prescribed before during and after chemo...they also cause your appetite to increase big time and cause sleep problems.. Rather than add another medication, I drank baking soda, mixed with water...on old wive's remedy..told it was fine to do..Helps Instantly!
  • MAJW
    MAJW Member Posts: 2,510 Member
    #10
    Heartburn...
    More than likely the heartburn is from the steroids your are taking along with the chemo...I had horrible heartburn..oncologist said it was caused by the Decadron, That is prescribed before during and after chemo...they also cause your appetite to increase big time and cause sleep problems.. Rather than add another medication, I drank baking soda, mixed with water...on old wive's remedy..told it was fine to do..Helps Instantly!
  • cahjah75
    cahjah75 Member Posts: 2,631
    #11
    Janis
    I forgot about the heartburn. I slept with head elevated and my pcp gave me Prilosec OTC script. It's helped a lot! Hope you feel better.
    {{hugs}} Char
  • jayeroche
    jayeroche Member Posts: 16
    #12
    cahjah75 said:

    Janis
    I forgot about the heartburn. I slept with head elevated and my pcp gave me Prilosec OTC script. It's helped a lot! Hope you feel better.
    {{hugs}} Char

    heartburn
    Okay, so finally the heartburn is relieved. Script for Prilosec 30mg is helping a lot. So now I'm Neutropenic. Had a fever 100.0 at 5:30 this morning. Took tylenol and now it's back to normal. The doctor said he wasn't expecting my wbc's to drop so low. From now on I will receive "the shot" after my chemo. Yipee...bone pain here we come. Still have hair tho...so far, heads a little tingly from time to time. Got a couple of beautiful wigs ready to go... thanks mom..
  • mariam_11_09
    mariam_11_09 Member Posts: 691 Member
    #13
    Hi Janis,
    I also had really
    Hi Janis,

    I also had really bad heartburn during chemo for which my doctor prescribed acid blockers. My throat and stomach was also ulcerated which made it even more painful. Apparently the ulceration and heartburn is common during chemo. I must admit though, a week after chemo ended I had no more heartburn and my throat and stomach cleared up. It was like magic, like it had never happened. So I hope that you find relief during the chemo and it clears up as magically as it did for me.
  • jayeroche
    jayeroche Member Posts: 16
    #14
    mariam_11_09 said:

    Hi Janis,
    I also had really
    Hi Janis,

    I also had really bad heartburn during chemo for which my doctor prescribed acid blockers. My throat and stomach was also ulcerated which made it even more painful. Apparently the ulceration and heartburn is common during chemo. I must admit though, a week after chemo ended I had no more heartburn and my throat and stomach cleared up. It was like magic, like it had never happened. So I hope that you find relief during the chemo and it clears up as magically as it did for me.

    Thanks Mariam. Good to
    Thanks Mariam. Good to know...

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