update

[Devtony]

well i've had 5 taxotere cycles and have lost taste buds, hairs, 3 nails, and bruises at every infusion point. now i have no strength in legs, cant get up on curb or steps. i have couple spots in eyes that won't go away. other than that, still trying to bounce back. but psa is .05

[Tonyland]

Hi there,

How many more do you have and how has your appetite been?

My dad is currently on low dose and has only gone thru one cycle.

[Devtony in reply to Tonyland]

one more scheduled right now. Appetite is relative to not being able to taste anything

[Mathes72 in reply to Devtony]

Went through that last summer,taste an hair came back,ha my in there

[larry_dammit in reply to Tonyland]

Ate a lot of potatoes and gravy,with pink lemonade. Couldn’t stand the taste of anything else, then a little chicken. It’s tough but the doctor said eat anything you can to keep up your body weight. Good luck there it’s a tough road but it is doable

[Hidden]

Bite the bullet and finish up with your last infusion. It will begin to get better soon. I have been down that road, it will work out.

[Canoehead]

And you have also killed a lot of cancer cells. I finished 6 weeks ago and glad I did it. My yellow and brown nails will grow out, numbness in fingers will go away, and I will live a lot longer. Early chemo, if that’s what you had, is a proven treatment.

[Chiquis in reply to Canoehead]

If you don't mind may I ask how do you feel overall after finishing 6 weeks ago? Energy wise, hair, etc. My husband's last chemo is tomorrow🙌 he's planning to begin exercise in about 2 weeks. I wonder how realistic this is.

[Tall_Allen]

That is a really excellent response - I wish all patients had that good of a response. Good luck on your last infusion. Are you using ice packs on hands and feet and ice chips in mouth during the infusion? I hear they work well.

[larry_dammit]

Lost my taste buds as well, came back gradually,muscle mass is another story. As I have bone Mets the doctor doesn’t want me to lift much over the weight of a milk jug. I fudge on that one. Just keep on fighting the battle ,walk,lift what you can try to get back out of that chair and do anything you can 😀

[Litlerny]

You’re almost to the goal line, Devtony! It sounds like you got a good response...kudos! I finished my docetaxel (6 cycles at 3 week intervals) on 3/13. Had my post chemo labs and oncologist follow up visit a week ago. PSA undetectable, testosterone 7 and I’m feeling better every day. The side effects from the chemo were a little more brutal than I anticipated, and were cumulative...#5 and #6 were the worst.

Along the way, I had most of the side effects they tell you to expect. I did mine at the Mayo in Jax, and their protocol includes implanting a subcutaneous chemo port prior to starting the process. It doesn’t quite match the bump where my pacemaker is on the other side of my chest, but I’m glad I have it. They can do all the lab draws and chemo infusions through the port, which saved me from getting any other bruising.

I lost most of my hair. My MO says it should start growing back in a month or so. I still have some minor nail issues that are resolving quickly, weakness and muscle pain in the legs, also getting much better. I walk, play golf and keep my legs elevated in the recliner to lessen the mild edema I got in my feet and ankles. I’m feeling less fatigued with progressively more energy and stamina. The most annoying lingering of my side effect issues is peripheral neuropathy in my fingertips and some of my toes. But it’s not bad enough to cause any functional limitations or require any Rx meds.

Through the whole process, I walked a lot (my dog was my unofficial physical therapist), and played golf 2 or 3 times a week, except for my real crappy days when my immune system tanked on days 4-11 following each cycle. I’m going out again today to do some “ creative landscaping” on a perfectly good golf course.

Be sure your MO is aware of the severity of your side effects. It sounds like you had some pretty strong chemo. Given the severity of the side effects you have had, you might want to consider asking your MO to lower the dose of the final cycle. If you do, it shouldn’t really have much effect on the efficacy of the course of the chemo treatments in its entirety.

The good news is: 1. Your PSA is WAY down. 2. You only have one cycle of chemo left and you’re done. 3. You have killed off an army of circulating cancer cells, so you will have a big boost in your PFS and OS. 4. You will fully recover from most or all of your side effects fairly soon. Recovery from the neuropathy will take longer so be patient.

Best wishes to you!

[Stegosaurus37]

Finished my last chemo ten days ago. My tastebuds have almost totally returned (peanut butter cookies were a great nibble during chemo. And my vitality has started to come back. Lost a lot of muscle mass and am trying to regain. PSA got down to 3. Complications during chemo were two really severe colds and now arthritis. My oncologist claims the chemo was the only thing keeping me alive and expects me to be dead in the next few months; it's that aggressive. We'll see.

[j-o-h-n in reply to Stegosaurus37]

And I predict that your oncologist will be run over by an African Elephant while he's on line at the bank waiting to cash your check. What an a-hole!🤮

Good Luck and Good Health.

j-o-h-n Friday 05/04/2018 2:10 AM EDT

[Hazard]

Hey Devtony, PSA of 0.05 is a great result. Hopw it keeps going down and stays down.

I have just finished Cycle 7 of docetaxal, PSA is currently down to 2 (from 47) and best news is that side effects have been minimal. My nails are yellow but I havent lost any, my beard has gone but I still have hair on my head - I haven't had much hair up top for some years and it hasn't grown since I started chemo, it has turned pure white but it hasnt receded much more. Taste buds have been terrible for most of the treatment and I have had periphal neuropathy in both feet, but both of these issues seem to be resolving. Oh and i put on nearly 8 kg between cycle 6 and cycle 7.

This is what I have been doing:

Fasting for 4 days around chemo. 2 days before, day of, day after. Mouse studies show that this regime helps reduce side effects in mice, my MO told me that there is no clinical evidence to support this in humans but he is happy for me to continue since I am maintaing a healthy weight.

After cycle 5, I started taking Vit B6 200mg per day based on another post on this forum (cant remember which forum member mentioned this). Since starting B6 there is a definite improvement in neuropathy, and my taste buds.

Exercise. I play tennis 2 or 3 times a week, and on days I don't play tennis I walk for 8km. The week after cycle 6 I was feeling pretty weak and it was hard work, but I managed to keep it going. Will be interesting to see how I go next week after cycle 7. I also do light weights work (with dumb bells) each night while my wife watches TV.

I have 3 more rounds to go, and will continue to do all this. Let us know if you try any of these approaches and if they work for you. Good luck with the rest of chemo.

[Shooter1]

Had 6&7 OK, 8 pealed skin on back, 9 darn near killed me. Dr. said I'd hit the wall. I told him I was done. 9 weeks off and still hurting. Side effects were cumulative until the end where they were order of magnitude worse. Good luck with your high #cycles. Doug

[MelaniePaul]

Hi there.

I am sorry to hear you are struggling so much. Chemo is definitely taking its toll on you at this point. If your PSA is 0.5, that is not a high PSA from my point of view. I am wondering have you discussed with your doctor to maybe have a break from it for a little while? What are your bloods like?

Best wishes and healing thoughts.

Mel.