Docetaxel and headaches?

[konichiwa12]

I had my first cycle of Docetaxel Chemotherapy last Wednesday. I have been waking in the early morning with a blinding headache and struggled to sleep at all after that. This has happened for 5 nights in a row now. I rang up my care team yesterday who said they would contact my specialist but I've not heard back yet. I didn't think I was supposed to take paracetomol but from today until I'm told not to I will take it. I know there are so many possible side effects but is this one indicative of any specific reaction? I had Dexamethasone before and after the Docetaxel but have Prednisolone on normal days.

[Hidden]

Are you drinking enough water? A friend of mine who did chemo said he was drinking at least 5 glasses of water every day during chemotherapy.

[konichiwa12 in reply to Hidden]

I am drinking at least 2 litres a day or 3 pints.....

[CAMPSOUPS]

Unless you have stomach issues I would personally take ibuprofen.I don't think acetaminophen can touch most pain.

My preference and I am not a doctor of course. Will be good to hear from your medical team.

[konichiwa12 in reply to CAMPSOUPS]

I don't find Ibuprofen great for headache?

[CAMPSOUPS in reply to konichiwa12]

Everyone is different of course. But I always found the anti-inflammation characteristic of ibuprofen to aid in pain reduction.When I used to get major migraine headaches I would take 1,000 mg of ibuprofen.

I did that because I had been prescribed 1,000 mg for a disc issue in my back and deducted it would be safe to take 1,000 mg. Luckily no migraines for the last 20 years.

Sometimes for other pain I use from 600 mg to 800 mg.

Not something to do on a regular basis for sure, and I may have been lucky to not have stomach or liver issues from my overloading of ibuprofen. (ibuprofen is in the family of nsaid meds)

I now take due to my dx with widespread bone mets celebrex ( in the same nsaid family as ibuprofen) to alleviate some of the bone pain and arthritic side effects of adt and icing on the cake it was found in phase 3 trial to help in OS for those with widespread bone mets. Dr. prescribed Prilosec along with it to help keep my stomach from reacting. I still occasionally add ibuprofen if a headache or back, met pain increases. I am admittedly possibly playing with fire a bit.

[CAMPSOUPS in reply to CAMPSOUPS]

I hope your MO can help you. My first MO said from the very beginning for me to complain. Pain, and discomfort not allowed.

[CAMPSOUPS in reply to CAMPSOUPS]

Please check your blood pressure reading with a at home cuff. Both high and low BP can occur and can relate to head ache. If your reading is out of whack then maybe your Dr's office will pay attention to you.

[Doseydoe]

I was given Panadeine Forte, the Codeine really helped. 😎 DD.

[slpdvmmd]

Some people seem to get through taxotere with no real complaints. For me it physically was the hardest part of my battle with prostate cancer. I had global joint pain, horrible diarrhea, and a horrible case of the weak and dizzy's. Maintaining hydration as has been mentioned seemed to help and I really forced my self to walk a mile a day with the dogs. The argument over ibuprofen vs tylenol is an old one with no good answer. Clearly renal and liver functional status can affect your choice. Tylenol has no anti-inflammatory properties but has a good international reputation for pain relief. NSAID's are broad group of drugs and individual response seems to vary a lot. In practice it always seemed like I had to work through the NSAID thing with patients until we found one that worked if NSAID's were going to work at all for Osteoarthritis pain. Not sure I answered you question but I would probably start with tylenol for headache in addition to managing hydration.