Taxotere

[wpopomaronis]

Have any of you had to endure Taxotere chemotherapy? What side effects did you experience and once concluded did any of the side effects remain?

How did it affect your PSA? Thank you

[Shooter1]

Yes and Yes. Will fill in later. Hands, feet, knees, ankles, vision, taste, belly pain, leaking red holes for eyes, bloody nose, knives in belly, no finger prints, lost skin on entire body. Extreme for me. Most guys don't have so much but I pushed through 9 cycles and #8 was bad, # 9 tried to kill me. After #9 I was down and out for 21 days. Good luck and quit when skin falls off back. (#8 for me). Guess there is a reason most stop at 6, but I was still getting PSA drop each time and pushed till I hit the wall.

Wouldn't go so far if had a do over, hind sight is 20/20.

Good luck with Taxotere, just know it kills cancer and can kill you if pushed too far.

4 1/2 months off and still hurting, but some of that may be Xtandi that was added between #4 and #5.(rising PSA). Still on Xtandi and PSA steady at 0.140.

Doug

Oh yeah. no hair on my body. Great full beard and mountain man hair all gone==zip.

[wpopomaronis in reply to Shooter1]

Thank you

[Stegosaurus37]

I went through the normal six cycles of taxotere infusions. Main side effect was fatigue, which initially wasn't too bad, but the sixth turned me into a zombie. I also lost my tastebuds - only things which tasted good were ice water, apples and peanut butter. Mild neurasthenic, "dry mouth". Hair loss and muscle mass loss. I've been off it for 1 1/2 months, hair, vitality/stamina are coming back and tastebuds almost completely back

Fatigue episodes on taxotere were totally unpredictable, made it impossible to schedule anything that required driving. It was successful in driving my PSA down from 45 to 2 over the 18 weeks.

Everybody's different and a lot of people have it much worse than I did. Remember, this stuff is poison;it will damage your body. By how much varies by your individual chemistry.

[wpopomaronis in reply to Stegosaurus37]

Thank you!

[Dan59]

I made it through and was able to mitigate most side effects, nothing long term, Iced fingers and bottoms of feet to prevent nueropathy, and sucked ice cubes to maintain taste. Important to have a bowel movement within a few days and it is a lot better using metamucil instead of a laxative. I did 12 rounds very late in my disease, now they do it early with excellent results. Where are you in your disease? Women have been doing early docetaxol for years. I was nervous, but when I saw my wife go through it without much problem, I knew I could too.

Dan

[wpopomaronis in reply to Dan59]

I am 10 years and and only now working with Dr. Kwon at Mayo . Zytiga failed and he did a choline scan and identified five or six hotspots below my belly button he recommended six rounds of Taxotere followed by pinpoint radiation to the hotspots. He says that I am curable and that’s the first time I’ve heard that in 10 years. Thoughts?

[Dan59 in reply to wpopomaronis]

I am not a Dr. I know some would say Dr Kwon is overly optimistic, but what are the alternatives ,a morphine drip as Gus would say. Besides the chemo may reactivate the arv7 to accept zytiga again. We do not have a cure for metasttic prostate Cancer, and no one knows what it will be when it is found, all we can do is try with a positive attitude, I admire the MOs who are trying to cure us.From my perspective 12 years out if a Dr. said that to me, I think I would go for it, knowing what the alternatives are. There are possible SE to chemo but many men do not have a bad time with it. I am currently on my 18th round of chemo, and headed for England in the morning.

[RalphieJr64]

It was bad for me, but could be entirely different for you. You can read my past posts if you like. If you make the decision to proceed, I wish you nothing but good results.

Ralph

[Ian2017]

I just been through 6 infusions, one every 3 weeks. The main side effect is fatigue which seemed to increase with each infusion. No nausea. I am now 6 weeks out and still suffer from periodic bouts of fatigue. Nonetheless, the response to treatment has been good with PSA down to 0.02 albeit that I am one of those people where PSA has never been an accurate indicator. My scans also show about 90% decrease in the incidence of tumor.

[wpopomaronis in reply to Ian2017]

Thank you

[vandy69]

Good Sunday Morning,

I had 6 cycles of Docetaxel/Carboplatin chemo ending 1/9/18.

Can provide details of mitigating side effects, but have done so recently, so look for some of my recent replies.

I have lymph node mets and liver mets; chemo dropped PSA from 10.8 to .4 after 6 cycles. Chemo reset cancer cells so now taking Xtandi for a second time after failure in 2015-16.

Best wishes. Never Give In.

Mark, Atlanta

[Litlerny]

3 months out from my 6th and final cycle of docetaxel. Still have some residuals. I felt OK for 2-3 days after each cycle and could actually play 18 holes of golf through day 3, then took a nosedive for 7-8 days (with weakness, fatigue, alternating constipation and diarrhea, hair loss starting with #2, altered sense of taste, dry mouth, brittle nails, some neuropathy after 5 & 6) before gradually starting to feel good for a few days, and I usually felt up to playing 18 holes of golf at least once before it was time for the next one and it started all over again. Helter Skelter. For me the side effects were cumulative, a little worse and a little longer with each dose, particularly after #5 & 6. But for the most part, once you learn to anticipate them they are tolerable and mostly treatable with OTC meds.

Since my last chemo on 3/13, I felt pretty crappy for a2-3 weeks, but since then most of the side effects have gradually disappeared. My facial hair is just now starting to slowly grow back to stubble, but the hair on top of my head is not growing back yet. My nails are starting to recover, my dry mouth is better, but I still swish with Biotene at bedtime, and I still have some mild neuropathy in my right thumb and a couple of toes on my left foot.

My PSA was already undetectable prior to starting chemo, and has remained undetectable since.

[wpopomaronis in reply to Litlerny]

Thank you

[bhr17]

I’m sorry your here and sorry for all the gentlemen that have replied with such severe side affects best wishes to all, I’m almost embarrassed to write this but my side effects have been so minor that they are not worth mentioning on 4 taxotere treatment so far and yes hair is gone or going mouth is sore for a few days I sun burn easy and a few others but nothing that has changed anything I do in my normal life, I’m 60 and in good physical shape as soon as I got my dx Jan 2018 I started exercising weights yoga cardio type of workouts and maybe a little luck to not be beat up by treatments again best of luck to you and all the brothers in the battle with APC

[wpopomaronis in reply to bhr17]

Thank you

[TNCanuck]

My husband followed the extensive advice posted on a different forum, and got through his infusions with minimal side effects. I'll share the post later when I have access to computer. His PSA was < .1 when he finished.

[wpopomaronis in reply to TNCanuck]

Thank you

[wpopomaronis]

Thank you

[Darcym1]

I went through the docetaxel cycles as well, along with Eligard. When I was diagnosed, my PSA was over 100, and I had a hard time moving around because of pelvic pain due to metastisis. Yes, the chemo was nasty, and I experienced similar side effects to others here, barely able to climb the stairs in my house. But, after the 18 weeks of chemo/luprolide, my PSA was undetectable, and the follow up bone scan showed significant improvement. PSA remains low, and I’m still on luprolide, Which has its own set of side effects. But, so much better than the alternatives without the treatment!

[wpopomaronis in reply to Darcym1]

Thank you

[Hidden]

My two cents. Why worry about side effects on something that kick this bastards butt. Your Medicsk Oncologist and their RN are well versed in helping you cope.

Me? While no walk in the park, I am still kicking after thirteen years with nine Taxotere infusion given 7 days a part with a week break and two more cycles. You got this.

Gourd Dancer

[wpopomaronis in reply to Hidden]

Thank you

[RonPavluvcik]

Hello - I had severe fatigue and shortness of breath after 3 doses of TAXOTERE....then I developed pneumonia, because of lowered resistance, went into hospital for 4 days, and more tests revealed the TAXOTERE was not working.....so my Onc switched me to JEVTANA chemo....still had same bad side effects, so my Onc recently reduced the dosage...now getting 3 smaller doses, one per week, instead of one big dose every 3 weeks....my big problem is my extremely high PSA....was about 30 in April 2017, but has climbed to 2200 a week ago....Onc says don't panic, but I think I am in big trouble.....having cat scan July 3 to see if the JEVTANA chemo is working (have had mets to lymph nodes and bones for over a year)....Onc says one more chemo drug left to try, and if that doesn't work, check into clinical trials....a detailed blog of my treatment is on cyberknife.com website, once there select "prostate cancer", then look for the title of all my posts at "CYBERKNIFE SUCCESSFUL, BUT CANCER HAS RETURNED..." something like that....my name is listed also....good luck.....Ron Pavluvcik, Shelton, CT 203-767-1123......

[wpopomaronis in reply to RonPavluvcik]

Thank you

[efsculpt in reply to RonPavluvcik]

Have you already done Lupron/Zytiga?

[RonPavluvcik in reply to efsculpt]

Yup...been on lupron for 6 years...zytiga did not work for me...stopped after 4 months..xtandi did the best in keeping my psa low...everybody reacts differently...for me recently, 3 chemos did not work..call for more info..Ron in Connecticut 203-767-1123

[ctflatlander in reply to RonPavluvcik]

Hi Ron,

I was born and raised in Shelton, now living in Vt. I was diagnosed Nov 2017, had RT,SBRT, on 1/2 dose Zytiga. Your name looks familiar. I'm 75.What medical center do you use and would you recommend a MO?

Thanks Bob

[dlestercarlson]

I have had now 12 treatments with Taxotere and predizone every three weeks. I also receive a Nulasta shot to rebuild my white blood cells and get a Lupron shot every six months. I've probably had every side effect you could imagine from this treatment. Here are some of them. I do get some shooting pain through different bones in my body, headache, weak legs, swollen feet and toes. neuropathy in my feet, constipation, flushed face and neck, rash on different parts of my body, taste, diarrhea, weak legs, lack of energy, fatigue and I've lost my hair. In addition from my low immunity from the treatment, I've had strep throat, pneumonia, and bronchitis. I developed blood clots which ended up in my lungs which was a pulmonary embolism. I ended up in the hospital overnight because of it and have had to use oxygen to give my lungs time to heal. I found out that ChemoTherapy increases your risk of getting blood clots. Once learning what the side effects were and when I would get them, I have worked to minimize or eliminate each one of them. on most of them I have been successful. Although this ChemoTherapy has worked to reduce my PSA, the cancer I have is so aggressive that my PSA numbers are still climbing. If asked would I do this again, I'd say yes. In the 3 week cycle, I can plan for about 5- days of heavy fatigue and some of these side effects then I usually start bouncing back where I can have a more normal life as much as is possible. Some of the side effects I had in the earlier treatments no longer bother me. I also have noticed that the 12 treatments have been tough on my body. I am a lot weaker now that when I began this and tired easier. Fairly soon, my doctor indicates that I will take a Chemo holiday and then he will switch me over to Jevtana. I feel that it is important when dealing with this cancer that having a good attitude and being willing to fight helps you all through this. So along with the treatments I try to do purposeful activities every day including helping others as I can. This way I'm not dwelling so much on my own problems.

Good Luck

Dennis

[wpopomaronis in reply to dlestercarlson]

Thank you

[Rexwayne]

For me it was tough. I made it through the first 4 treatments. I was really sick. All my hair fell out and I mean all. Hands and feet went numb. My PSA was going down fast so I pushed on. After the fifth treatment the skin on my feet fell off. It looked like a pair mocasins sitting there. My hands and feet when numb and I could barely walk. It was hard to eat but I did. My PSA was down to 1 so we went for the last treatment. I wish I hadn't. I got really sick. Forgot how to walk. My appetite changed. Now I eat little to no meat. Started losing weight and I had to use a walker to relearn how to walk. Durning the chemo everything hurt. So much I went to the hospital several times. Now I'm on time released morphine that I hate. After last one PSA was 0.4 but I could not do anymore. My feet still hurt but after 6 1/2 months I can walk again. Not far but I am slowly recovering. My PSA is back up to 1.2.

Just be careful not everyone can take Taxoter. If you get the side effects then stop.if not keep going because it works. I wish I could have finish doing the 10 my doctor wanted me to do.

[wpopomaronis in reply to Rexwayne]

Thank you

[ontheroad589]

I did 6 rounds after DX in summer of 16. I am now on round 7 getting ready for round 8 this time around in three weeks as I failed a re-challenge with casodex and Zytiga/Xtandi which all pushed my PSA from the nadir of 1.59 in winter of 16 after first chemo completed to over 2400 by December 17- so this will be 14 rounds in 2 years overall. I had hair loss the fiirst time after 2nd round - and this time after the first. I hae no neuropathy issues at all, just nails being ridged and really bad constipation which is relieved by shots of prune juice kixed with Mira-lax on days 2-3-4 after infiusion...it works and is much better for you than the enemas I was using before. Keep hydrated, and make sure you stay eating...CBD oil helps me with the appetite as does a daily dose of wheatgrass mixed with lemonade. Good luck.

[wpopomaronis in reply to ontheroad589]

Thank you