another question re: xeloda

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Marianne313
Marianne313 Member Posts: 124
in Colorectal Cancer #1
They have raised the amount of xeloda my aunt takes, now instead of 2 tablets a.m. and 2tablets in p.m. she takes 2 a.m. and 3 pm. she's done that for two weeks now and she's now complaining (and she never complains) of the bottom of her feet hurting. They do look red and irritated. She has an oncology appt this Thursday (her birthday) the 22nd and I'll mention it to her Dr. I'm just wondering if anyone else may have had this issue. (she's still on Avastin so I doubt that's it, the only change is the increased xeloda-I don't recall the miligrams though).

Marianne

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  • lauragb
    lauragb Member Posts: 370 Member
    #2
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    Hi Marianne,
    I am on that
    Hi Marianne,
    I am on that same dosage of Xeloda and my feet are in the same shape. I put either udder cream or Eucerin Calming cream on my feet whenever I think about it. Wearing cushioning flipflops around the house helps, I have some Tevas that I wear. I take Xeloda two weeks on, one week off. On the off week, the discomfort lessens. The pain is starting to come back earlier in my cycles but I only have two left so I don't think the oncologist will want to reduce my dosage as long as there aren't open sores. Just check in with the oncologist about the new side effect. It is the Xeloda. It can also effect the hands. The skin on the tips of my fingers is sore, cracked and peeling but so far tolerable. Using the creams and putting on gloves helps this a little. If your aunt has to be on the Xeloda for a long time, the oncologist may want to reduce the dose if these side effects get too intense.

    Laura
  • Marianne313
    Marianne313 Member Posts: 124
    #3
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    lauragb said:

    Hi Marianne,
    I am on that
    Hi Marianne,
    I am on that same dosage of Xeloda and my feet are in the same shape. I put either udder cream or Eucerin Calming cream on my feet whenever I think about it. Wearing cushioning flipflops around the house helps, I have some Tevas that I wear. I take Xeloda two weeks on, one week off. On the off week, the discomfort lessens. The pain is starting to come back earlier in my cycles but I only have two left so I don't think the oncologist will want to reduce my dosage as long as there aren't open sores. Just check in with the oncologist about the new side effect. It is the Xeloda. It can also effect the hands. The skin on the tips of my fingers is sore, cracked and peeling but so far tolerable. Using the creams and putting on gloves helps this a little. If your aunt has to be on the Xeloda for a long time, the oncologist may want to reduce the dose if these side effects get too intense.

    Laura

    xeloda
    My aunt has been on xeloda for....wow, no clue but at least since last June 2011, they just increased the xeloda from 4 tabs a day to 5 tabs a day on the 1st of March. She's had very little side effects the entire time of being on the cancer drugs, other than severe diarrhea since June, she's just had the skin dryness and, in the beginning when she was on Oxiliplatin she had the sensitivity to cold and first bite pain, they changed her to Avastin about 3 months ago and since then she still has the severe diarrhea and the skin dryness but now she's losing toenails :( and since they raised the xeloda she now has the feet tenderness. We do use lots of cream on her, mainly the Udder cream. I think she's in pain often now but she refuses to let anyone see it so I'm just guessing.

    He raised the dose of xeloda because her CEA numbers started slowly increasing, they got as low as 11.0, but over the last 3 or 4 treatments the number has slowly gone up to 15.7(she's on the same type of cycle as you, two weeks on, one off). This is her second set of 6 Avastin treatments and she was on two sets of 6 with the Oxiliplatin.

    It's a relief to know this is a side effect, I know that sounds stupid, she's still uncomfortable from it but it's a relief that it's not something else BAD going on as well as the cancer. I hope that makes sense.

    Thank you kindly for your response. Thoughts and prayers are with all. I agree so much with one poster who said (today I think) I HATE CANCER, I HATE IT I HATE IT :( on the plus side, at least cancer gives us the time to say goodbye.

    Marianne
  • coloCan
    coloCan Member Posts: 1,944 Member
    #4
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    lauragb said:

    Hi Marianne,
    I am on that
    Hi Marianne,
    I am on that same dosage of Xeloda and my feet are in the same shape. I put either udder cream or Eucerin Calming cream on my feet whenever I think about it. Wearing cushioning flipflops around the house helps, I have some Tevas that I wear. I take Xeloda two weeks on, one week off. On the off week, the discomfort lessens. The pain is starting to come back earlier in my cycles but I only have two left so I don't think the oncologist will want to reduce my dosage as long as there aren't open sores. Just check in with the oncologist about the new side effect. It is the Xeloda. It can also effect the hands. The skin on the tips of my fingers is sore, cracked and peeling but so far tolerable. Using the creams and putting on gloves helps this a little. If your aunt has to be on the Xeloda for a long time, the oncologist may want to reduce the dose if these side effects get too intense.

    Laura

    Say goodbye to your fingerprints....
    as thats another potential consequence of Xeloda, tho you won't feel it at all.....

    What you are referring to is Hand-Foot Syndrome (Palmar-Plantar Erythodysesthesia Syndrome, i think).....
  • Marianne313
    Marianne313 Member Posts: 124
    #5
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    coloCan said:

    Say goodbye to your fingerprints....
    as thats another potential consequence of Xeloda, tho you won't feel it at all.....

    What you are referring to is Hand-Foot Syndrome (Palmar-Plantar Erythodysesthesia Syndrome, i think).....

    no prints
    My aunt now buys and uses gift cards when we go to stores because she has too much trouble feeling the bills of cash and gets aggrevated if someone has to help her. The gift cards still allow her the ability to pay for things herself without getting upset with herself over not being able to feel and separate the bills.

    Never knew the bottoms of the feet would get sore and irritated, not sure why, just figured it'd be the tops---stupid to assume, I know.
  • Marianne313
    Marianne313 Member Posts: 124
    #6
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    Marianne313 said:

    no prints
    My aunt now buys and uses gift cards when we go to stores because she has too much trouble feeling the bills of cash and gets aggrevated if someone has to help her. The gift cards still allow her the ability to pay for things herself without getting upset with herself over not being able to feel and separate the bills.

    Never knew the bottoms of the feet would get sore and irritated, not sure why, just figured it'd be the tops---stupid to assume, I know.

    more info on my aunt
    well, I never know where to start with these posts. I basically just wanted to post to update things on my aunt's cea numbers, they did get as low at 11. something, but last Dr. appt they were up to 28.6. I know the cea numbers are cancer markers (or something like that) I wish I knew exactly what was going on. I wish I were as knowledgeable as those oncologists so I could know how she really is. It's been a year this past February 23rd that she was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer, in April she was given 4 months if she did nothing, and "maybe" another year if she did full chemo treatments (which she has been doing), does that mean by this August her time is up? Does the fact that her cea numbers keep increasing mean that's a sign that the Dr. was right and the year is almost up for her? She seems fairly good considering, but then I wonder how much of her "seeming fine" is attributed to her putting on a good face for her son (who has Stage III esophageal cancer and acts more sick than she ever has...I don't know. Anyway, I'm just rambling, that seems to be all I do in here. I'm sorry. Positive wishes and thoughts for all going through this as a patient, caregiver, family member or friend--it's not easy.

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