Taxtorre/Cytoxan...what to expect?

cindycflynn said:

Just had my second round
of T/C on Wednesday. As you already pointed out, everyone is different, but this has been my experience so far:

The first time they administer the Taxotere they will usually administer more slowly and monitor you more closely as some people do have an allergic reaction to it. I had no such reaction.

Since I also only have 4 cycles total, my doctor did not recommend a Port, and I have been getting my infusions via IV without any problems. I end up with a larger bruise from the blood draws before the infusion than from the IVs.

As far as side effects, the first time I did have constipation for about a week, which was uncomfortable, but eventually resolved with Milk of Magnesia after trying mor natural methods (prune juice, extra fiber, etc.). The second time I started eating an Activia yogurt each day before, during, and after, along with the prune juice and varied diet, and have not had the C problem, thank goodness.

Probably the most annoying SE for me was the mouth taste/texture. I had heard about the taste change, but wasn't really expecting the constant nasty taste in my mouth and the change in texture. For my second round, this effect is just starting to hit me today. After feeling it from the first round, I bought Biotene toothpaste and mouthwash, and also started swishing my mouth with warm water with a couple of teaspoons of salt and a teaspoon of baking soda, which seems to help. That effect did subside a bit between the two treatments, but is now coming back after my second round.

And of course, there's just the feeling of being tired. I'm also getting a Neulasta shot the day after each infusion, which can cause bone pain due to the activation of the white blood cells in your bone marrow, but I haven't experienced much pain at all. I just get tired pretty easily. Mostly I feel just fine as long as I'm sitting around doing nothing (which I'm pretty good at, anyway), but as soon as I start moving around, I get tired and have to rest frequently.

I have had no nausea at all, but am taking the Rx my doctor gave me for 4 days after each chemo just in case. From what I've heard, it's much easier to prevent the nausea than to control it after the fact.

My hair started to come out in handfuls about 15 days after my first treatment, and I had it buzzed 2 days later. If your hair is long now, you may want to consider getting it cut shorter now so that when it starts to come out, it doesn't seem quite as bad. I actually got my hair cut short before my lumpectomy just to get used to having less hair, and I think it did help once I buzzed it to not feel like it was such a drastic change.

There are a couple of free resources - Heavenly Hats dot Org and FranceLux dot Com that have programs for free hats and headwraps to help those going through chemo. I got a box of 5 lovely hats from the Heavenly Hats website just in time for my hair to start coming out. They only ask that you "pay it forward".

I hope that your SE's are minimal like mine have been, and feel free to post again or PM me if you have specific questions.

Take care,
Cindy