Rash

els19
els19 Member Posts: 106 Member

I'm currently in chemo Carbo/Taxol for a recurrence. I had my third chemo a week ago which is really chemo #9 and yesterday started a rash on my chin and lower face. Has anyone else experienced this? I called my doctor and the nurse said to take benydral and keep an eye on it. Benydral does seem to help but does not completely get rid of it. I've never experienced this side effect before. Any ideas to help get rid of it? It's itchy and burns some too.

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Comments

  • EZLiving66
    EZLiving66 Member Posts: 1,482 Member
    edited October 2020 #2
    I had a terrible rash from

    I had a terrible rash from chemo. It started on the left side of my face and by the time it was all over, most of my skin had peeled off. However, it was worse on my left side - weird, huh? I was prescribed something which helped with the itching but didn't stop the skin from peeling. The upside was when I went to the dermatologist last year she remarked how smooth my face was for my age. I told her what had happened and she said it was like getting a free chemical face peel. 

    Since then, my face is super sensitive. After wearing a mask for as little as 15 minutes, my eyebrows (what is left of them) start to itch. Then that itch spreads down my face and then one time after I had to wear it for a considerable amount of time, my right arm broke out in hives. I just think some people are really sensitive to medication. Just typing this makes me itch!!

    Good luck!!

    Love,

    Eldri

  • Primavera
    Primavera Member Posts: 231 Member
    edited October 2020 #3
    I was going to say to talk to Eldri

    I will start Taxol in November, weekly, 12 of them. So I had been checking all over for this rash side effect and I found out Eldri had it.

    Most people on this site said their doctors advised the Benadryl. A lot of people have gotten this rash! Some itch, some don't, some hurt.

    I read some people have tried the Benadryl, others have tried Aveeno anti-itch, some others tried a Lindi Citrus Face Serum (from a iine for chemo patients?) and everyone was raving about it, but the reviews are from 2013. Don't know if they were just famous back then and now there are others.

    Does it itch?

  • els19
    els19 Member Posts: 106 Member
    edited October 2020 #4
    Thanks

    Thanks Eldri and Primavera. Yes, it itches. I'm using Benydral and cortisone cream. I think it's from the Carbo. It tends to cause reactions when you pass number 8 chemo. I'm just very sensitive. I had a ton of side effects the first time, just not a face rash. I could use a chemical peel, Eldri. And it's the only way I'll ever get one because I'd rather have wrinkles than pain. Last time I just kept telling myself I had all the side effects because the chemo was working. I'll just look at it that way again. Thanks for the hugs! Sending them back to both of you. 

  • els19
    els19 Member Posts: 106 Member
    edited October 2020 #5
    Lindi

    I just ordered the face serum from Lindi. I used their products last time. They have a wonderful soothing balm for cancer patients too. There's a store in the lobby where I have chemo that carries their products. A lot are for breast cancer patients, Primavera. Unfortunately the shop is closed right now because of Covid. But their on line site offers free shipping. Thanks for suggesting it. 

  • Primavera
    Primavera Member Posts: 231 Member
    edited October 2020 #6
    els19 said:

    Lindi

    I just ordered the face serum from Lindi. I used their products last time. They have a wonderful soothing balm for cancer patients too. There's a store in the lobby where I have chemo that carries their products. A lot are for breast cancer patients, Primavera. Unfortunately the shop is closed right now because of Covid. But their on line site offers free shipping. Thanks for suggesting it. 

    It's good to know

    For some reason, reading the reviews I started to think they were a thing of the past. I've kept the link just in case.

    I never use anything on my face, no creams or lotions or moisturizers, anti-wrinkles, etc. Have used Cetaphil to wash it for years, and minimal makeup. I've never had anything happen on my face, so I'm a bit afraid and that's why I had been checking this site from 2009 on! If I get it, I don't want it to itch.

    I read that some people were suggested Zyrteck and that stopped the itching.

    Most people blamed Taxol, some blamed the steroids.

    I wanted so badly to get a dermatologist involved (I don't have one) before starting treatments, but I got thrown into this so fast I didn't have time. I'm most terrified of the itching, lol.

  • Molly110
    Molly110 Member Posts: 191 Member
    edited October 2020 #7
    your cancer center

    Primavera, your cancer center may have a dermatologist who specializes in people in chemo and other cancer treatments. Mine did. As it happened, I didn't need one, but it was comforting to know it was available if I did. I never had any skin reactions, but I only had six cycles. Fingers crossed that you don't experience any dermatology problems.

     

    Molly

  • Primavera
    Primavera Member Posts: 231 Member
    edited October 2020 #8
    Molly110 said:

    your cancer center

    Primavera, your cancer center may have a dermatologist who specializes in people in chemo and other cancer treatments. Mine did. As it happened, I didn't need one, but it was comforting to know it was available if I did. I never had any skin reactions, but I only had six cycles. Fingers crossed that you don't experience any dermatology problems.

     

    Molly

    Fingers crossed!

    Thanks for reminding me of that.

    My 4th treatment of the Adriamycin/cyclophosphamide is Nov 3. I'll ask my oncologist then.

    I think right after that treatment they'll send me for the echocardiogram to check for heart damage; and I don't know if I'll have one extra week to recover from AC (it's been every two weeks) before I start the weekly Taxol. I just don't want anything to take me away from completing all this.

    I think I'll have 12 because maybe because they're lower doses, but weekly? Something like that. I'm also having it all by itself.

  • Primavera
    Primavera Member Posts: 231 Member
    edited October 2020 #9
    Els19 let us know!

    I hope it goes away soon; people say it does. Feel better! 

  • els19
    els19 Member Posts: 106 Member
    edited October 2020 #10
    Thanks

    Thanks Primavera. I'm already on Zyrtec for allergies so maybe it is helping. I tend to get a lot of these annoying side effects that aren't serious just bothersome. Last time every cycle brought a new surprise. I tried like you're doing to be proactive and keep on top of things. But then a new rare side effect would appear. I finally realized I could not control it. But it's great you're researching and realize the possibilities. It's helpful to be prepared.  Hopefully you will not have these issues. Again I'm lucky they're just annoying, not serious. And the rash seems a bit better this morning. I should get the facial serum on Monday and I'll let you know if it helps. 

  • els19
    els19 Member Posts: 106 Member
    edited November 2020 #11
    Rash is gone

    Primavera, the rash did go away. Things that helped were benydral and cortisone cream. The benydral helped lessen it when it was flared up the worse but then it didn't seem to make a difference. I finally received my Lindi serum and the rash went completely away overnight once I used it. I'm also using their soothing balm on my scalp. I found they do sell a set of sample sizes of their products. I wish I'd ordered it earlier because then I would have had it already in the house. Thanks for letting me know about the Lindi serum!

  • Primavera
    Primavera Member Posts: 231 Member
    edited November 2020 #12
    els19 said:

    Rash is gone

    Primavera, the rash did go away. Things that helped were benydral and cortisone cream. The benydral helped lessen it when it was flared up the worse but then it didn't seem to make a difference. I finally received my Lindi serum and the rash went completely away overnight once I used it. I'm also using their soothing balm on my scalp. I found they do sell a set of sample sizes of their products. I wish I'd ordered it earlier because then I would have had it already in the house. Thanks for letting me know about the Lindi serum!

    Thank you for reporting back

    I'm going to order that serum. I guess it will be useful even if I don't get that rash.

    I'm done with my four AC chemos and I'll start Taxol 11/17. I'm a little bit afraid of it all. I know AC was supposed to be the worst, but I had left the oncologist office when I noticed that my next chemo will take 8 hours. I checked and I saw three names in the list: Taxol, Herceptin and something else that starts with a P and sounds like progesterone. I asked the chemo nurse and she said: oh yes, very long day. You'll get the three drugs and then you'll go back to just having Taxol alone for the other 11 weeks. So I guess I'm having a test trial of everything that day, even if Herceptin was slotted for next year. 

    So glad your rash is gone. 

  • els19
    els19 Member Posts: 106 Member
    Good luck

    Wow, that's a long day. My infusion is five hours and that's long enough. I get taxol slowly because I had a reaction to it the first time I had it. Are you going to try icing? It really is working for me and preventing the neuropathy that the taxol caused last time. Sending you hugs and positive thoughts. 

  • cmb
    cmb Member Posts: 1,001 Member
    edited November 2020 #14
    Primavera said:

    Thank you for reporting back

    I'm going to order that serum. I guess it will be useful even if I don't get that rash.

    I'm done with my four AC chemos and I'll start Taxol 11/17. I'm a little bit afraid of it all. I know AC was supposed to be the worst, but I had left the oncologist office when I noticed that my next chemo will take 8 hours. I checked and I saw three names in the list: Taxol, Herceptin and something else that starts with a P and sounds like progesterone. I asked the chemo nurse and she said: oh yes, very long day. You'll get the three drugs and then you'll go back to just having Taxol alone for the other 11 weeks. So I guess I'm having a test trial of everything that day, even if Herceptin was slotted for next year. 

    So glad your rash is gone. 

    Chemo in phases

    Primavera,

    Congratulations on being done with the AC treatments! I had four cycles of Adriamycin and Ifex (Ifosfamide). The Ifosfamide is similar to Cyclophosphamide.

    I must admit that I felt terrible throughout the entire three months I took those drugs, although my doctor did change up the post treatment medications and added some extra fluid transfusions the week after treatment. I was very glad to be done with that phase.

    I didn't find the Paclitaxel/Carboplatin cycles I had first to be that difficult for me, so I hope you have an easy time as well with your next chemo phase.

  • Primavera
    Primavera Member Posts: 231 Member
    edited November 2020 #15
    cmb said:

    Chemo in phases

    Primavera,

    Congratulations on being done with the AC treatments! I had four cycles of Adriamycin and Ifex (Ifosfamide). The Ifosfamide is similar to Cyclophosphamide.

    I must admit that I felt terrible throughout the entire three months I took those drugs, although my doctor did change up the post treatment medications and added some extra fluid transfusions the week after treatment. I was very glad to be done with that phase.

    I didn't find the Paclitaxel/Carboplatin cycles I had first to be that difficult for me, so I hope you have an easy time as well with your next chemo phase.

    I think

    I think I read that you had the AC treatments at the end? My first and second one were OK. The third one got me sick and worried. I had the port installed the week after and it was done as surgery, so I had anesthesia. Not sure if because of all that running around getting covid tests, pre-surgery tests and then the port installation, but the next week I was out of breath most of the time and very dizzy. I was afraid to faint in the shower. It went away the next week. I haven't had that yet with this fourth one. My bones hurt last night because of the Neulasta, but other than that, I've been OK.

    I have to get an echocardiogram next week.

    My hemoglobin keeps on going down steadily. I started with 12.6, went to 11.5 after second, then 10.5 and last Tuesday it was on 9.5. Afraid to see what happens before the Taxol. I hope it didn't go down more.

    I think because I didn't have a very hard time with the AC, I'm afraid to have it with Taxol. I'm most afraid to have a bad reaction right at the beginning, only because I don't know what a bad reaction is? I was getting my last AC when a woman showed up to get her chemo and the nurse remembered her from the last time. She said to her: this is your second infusion, right? you were the one who had the bad reaction last time? They closed the curtains and I couldn't hear anything else.

    I wasn't as worried when I thought I was getting Taxol and nothing else, but then I saw the rest of the list and the 8 hour slot. It might be 6 hrs for Taxol, and then 2 hrs for the other two.

    I wonder if I can bring a bagel with cream cheese to eat for breakfast. I'm dying for one. Smile

  • Primavera
    Primavera Member Posts: 231 Member
    edited November 2020 #16
    els19 said:

    Good luck

    Wow, that's a long day. My infusion is five hours and that's long enough. I get taxol slowly because I had a reaction to it the first time I had it. Are you going to try icing? It really is working for me and preventing the neuropathy that the taxol caused last time. Sending you hugs and positive thoughts. 

    Oncologist said

    Oncologist said they start everyone on Taxol slowly to test for reactions. It's probably 6 hours for that one and then the rest. I wasn't counting on anything other than Taxol, but it looks like I'll get a taste of the others the same day.

    I've been dragging my little freezer to the AC infusions. The first time I could only use the booties because I didn't have a port. Same with the second time. Third time I could do it better. But I have to step up the way I do it. It takes a while before I get over to the chemo room and I feel like everything gets warmer with all that waiting time. The freezer keeps things cold, but of course I have to freeze the gels in advance in a real freezer because that tiny freezer will never really freeze anything. 

    Yes, icing hands and feet was always my priority. Did your nails turn black at all? I have a faint little black on the base of my nails on the right hand. That's the hand that I didn't ice for two treatments because they were using my veins. I never fussed about my nails at all, keep them short and no nail polish, but I do not want them to separate from their beds. I need to type! My toenails are OK.

  • Molly110
    Molly110 Member Posts: 191 Member
    edited November 2020 #17
    Taxol reaction

    Congratulations on being done with the first phase. You'll be okay with Taxol, even if you have a reaction, because the chemo nurse(s) will be really vigilant about it, and they know exactly what to do. Your reaction, if you should have one, will be over before you barely know you're having it. I had a reaction to the second taxol cycle, and the instant my face flushed and my breath caught the room was full of people, each of them efficiently doing something different, and then it was over -- all in just a few seconds. It was over before I could even be scared. For the remaining 4 cycles, they slowed down the infusion and gave me the dexamethasone (the steroid) and benadryl (antihistimine) the day before by pill and even more than usual by IV the day of. The only problem with that was that I needed more mitts and bootie gels because the chemo days were longer. 

     

    I think you said you were at Dana Farber? Your treatment team will have so much experience with the taxol that they will not let anything bad happen to you if you do have a reaction. And most people don't, since it's a standard part of how taxol is used to give those premeds and to watch for a reaction once the taxol starts.

    With everything you have already handled, I hope you find the new drugs manageable. 

    Fingers crossed.

    Molly

  • Primavera
    Primavera Member Posts: 231 Member
    Molly110 said:

    Taxol reaction

    Congratulations on being done with the first phase. You'll be okay with Taxol, even if you have a reaction, because the chemo nurse(s) will be really vigilant about it, and they know exactly what to do. Your reaction, if you should have one, will be over before you barely know you're having it. I had a reaction to the second taxol cycle, and the instant my face flushed and my breath caught the room was full of people, each of them efficiently doing something different, and then it was over -- all in just a few seconds. It was over before I could even be scared. For the remaining 4 cycles, they slowed down the infusion and gave me the dexamethasone (the steroid) and benadryl (antihistimine) the day before by pill and even more than usual by IV the day of. The only problem with that was that I needed more mitts and bootie gels because the chemo days were longer. 

     

    I think you said you were at Dana Farber? Your treatment team will have so much experience with the taxol that they will not let anything bad happen to you if you do have a reaction. And most people don't, since it's a standard part of how taxol is used to give those premeds and to watch for a reaction once the taxol starts.

    With everything you have already handled, I hope you find the new drugs manageable. 

    Fingers crossed.

    Molly

    Thank you, Molly

    I'm in New Jersey. John Theurer Cancer Center. Oncologist did tell me at the very beginning that they do the first one really slow. I was glad to hear because I had heard about the reactions and the reason to slow it down only at this site. I have 12 of those, so I'm bracing myself for that. I have two pairs of booties and two of mitts, and a whole bunch of gels that I try not to carry with me all at once because they're so heavy. I'll have to get them all together for the first infusion. The mitts lose their coldness really fast, and are really big. I don't know why I didn't think of it before, but last time, I grabbed the pair of booties I had and put them in my hands and inserted the gels on top and on bottom. They felt a lot better and not so loose.

  • Molly110
    Molly110 Member Posts: 191 Member
    edited November 2020 #19
    Primavera said:

    Thank you, Molly

    I'm in New Jersey. John Theurer Cancer Center. Oncologist did tell me at the very beginning that they do the first one really slow. I was glad to hear because I had heard about the reactions and the reason to slow it down only at this site. I have 12 of those, so I'm bracing myself for that. I have two pairs of booties and two of mitts, and a whole bunch of gels that I try not to carry with me all at once because they're so heavy. I'll have to get them all together for the first infusion. The mitts lose their coldness really fast, and are really big. I don't know why I didn't think of it before, but last time, I grabbed the pair of booties I had and put them in my hands and inserted the gels on top and on bottom. They felt a lot better and not so loose.

    Sounds like a plan

    Primavera, it sounds like you have a solid plan. If the mitts and booties become too much for you at any point, you might want to look into icing, which ranges from holding small bags of ice to having your hands and feet in ice water to other variations. I used the mitts and booties because that's what the research I was familiar with used. In hindsight, I wish I'd known about the icing methods, as my mitts and booties definitely were not cold enough for long enough, although I used several pairs, and I have a lot of neuropathy in my feet (much less in my hands, which were the problem initially). 

    I know I've mentioned my sister in law to you before, who was treated for breast cancer. She had even more taxol than you are scheduled for, and she had no neuropathy at all. As far as I can tell, it's unpredictable, so I think it's safest to do everything possible to protect against it. 

     

    Fingers crossed for you.

    Molly

  • EZLiving66
    EZLiving66 Member Posts: 1,482 Member
    Primavera said:

    Oncologist said

    Oncologist said they start everyone on Taxol slowly to test for reactions. It's probably 6 hours for that one and then the rest. I wasn't counting on anything other than Taxol, but it looks like I'll get a taste of the others the same day.

    I've been dragging my little freezer to the AC infusions. The first time I could only use the booties because I didn't have a port. Same with the second time. Third time I could do it better. But I have to step up the way I do it. It takes a while before I get over to the chemo room and I feel like everything gets warmer with all that waiting time. The freezer keeps things cold, but of course I have to freeze the gels in advance in a real freezer because that tiny freezer will never really freeze anything. 

    Yes, icing hands and feet was always my priority. Did your nails turn black at all? I have a faint little black on the base of my nails on the right hand. That's the hand that I didn't ice for two treatments because they were using my veins. I never fussed about my nails at all, keep them short and no nail polish, but I do not want them to separate from their beds. I need to type! My toenails are OK.

    I was on Taxotere and

    I was on Taxotere and Carboplatin. I only made it through three chemos but I lost all my fingernails and toenails - the nail on my left big toe fell off TWICE! Now, five years later, my fingernails are not all connected to the nail beds as are my big toe toenails. I wear short acrylic nails because my real nails look awful.

    Good luck!! I hope the icing works for you. Neuropathy is the pits!!

    Love,

    Eldri

  • Primavera
    Primavera Member Posts: 231 Member
    edited November 2020 #21
    Molly110 said:

    Sounds like a plan

    Primavera, it sounds like you have a solid plan. If the mitts and booties become too much for you at any point, you might want to look into icing, which ranges from holding small bags of ice to having your hands and feet in ice water to other variations. I used the mitts and booties because that's what the research I was familiar with used. In hindsight, I wish I'd known about the icing methods, as my mitts and booties definitely were not cold enough for long enough, although I used several pairs, and I have a lot of neuropathy in my feet (much less in my hands, which were the problem initially). 

    I know I've mentioned my sister in law to you before, who was treated for breast cancer. She had even more taxol than you are scheduled for, and she had no neuropathy at all. As far as I can tell, it's unpredictable, so I think it's safest to do everything possible to protect against it. 

     

    Fingers crossed for you.

    Molly

    I've disappeared for a few days

    I think I'm going to start a new thread because this is a rash thread and I think I hijacked it and then it turned into icing...and now going into coronavirus.