Hi everyone, hope you're all doing good.
My father is currently on Prednisone and just got off Xtandi. His PSA has grown from 210 to 16 to 500 in the span of (9 months). Doctor said he's got a "baseball sized prostate".
He's scheduled to get Docetaxel (Taxotere) in a month. I was wondering what are the side effects & how I can help manage them if any.
Also any advice, insight, or similar stories would also be greatly appreciated. Anyone who's fighting the fight, wishing you the best of luck!
Hi there
I had three lots of Docetaxel this year but other than PCa I am in good health which helps.
Anyway I was iced up - head, hands, feet which was painful but I’m pleased I did it as I didn’t lose my hair and no neuropathy or nail loss.
I tried fasting 48 hours before and 24 hours after ( limited myself to veg soup and plenty of liquids) I had no nausea on numbers 1 and 2 when I did this.
I couldn’t do this on number 3 due to timing of Easter and was nauseous/ sick after (12 hour thing) . Clearly impact is cumulative so may be nothing to benefit from the fasting as this is just my experience of course.
In addition I only had a half course compared to the normal 6 as I had a non SOC 3 x Lu-177 first so aware the side effects of 6 will be very different.
Good luck
I did 6 cycles and like most tolerated it well. The only difficult part for me was the first week. It was like having the flu only it was less bad than some of the flu viruses I've been through. The second 2 weeks of the cycle I was pretty much back to normal. Had some nausea, but never vomited. Had the runs some of the time/ Overall, it was not that bad. Try to exercise and drink a lot of water.
Tolerated Chemo very well. Best to ask for Neupogen (filgrastim) or Neulasta (pegfilgrastim) to keep your blood work on the up and up. You administer this at home a day after chemo.
Thank you so much for the info, will definitely look more into Neupogen & Neulasta.
Oh yes I forgot I had those too.. not everyone gets these injections after from what I see but I did them at home after each chemo.
Been thru 3 rounds of docetaxel so far. Agree completely about Neulasta or similar to keep from getting too neutropenic. Did not have for 1st round & was severely compromised for over a week. For 2nd & 3rd, self inject Ziextenzo (bio-equiv. to Neulasta) and at 1 week WBC normal. No issues (yet) with nausea. Some constipation. Tired and achy starting 2 days after chemo to about 5th. By a week out, I'm feeling OK. I do have beginning of peripheral neuropathy, despite icing hands and feet.
My husband just finished his 27th docetaxel treatment. The 25th & 26th session had carboplatin added to the mix, along with neulasta. The neulasta was given as a "Onpro" injection that would automatically infuse 24 hours later. We live 2 1/2 hours away - so keep in mind that this is an option that will keep you from having to come back the next day if you're adding neulasta. The carboplatin added to the docetaxel was rough. Remarkably so. Glad it only happened twice.
I purchased ice mitts from Amazon. I bought 2 pairs and we'd take them both to the infusion. We put them in a little cooler - he'd use both pairs. We bought ice socks also - these didn't work for us. My husband would set food storage bags with ice on top of his feet for the trip home. These helped with neuropathy of hands and feet. We purchased an ice cap also, but really didn't use that much. He'd eat ice chips often for the first few days. His taste buds were off and everything tasted and felt funny to him. There were a few things that he tolerated - watermelon was one. But ice helps a lot.
There were a few days of work that were missed, and a few afternoons that he'd leave early, but mostly was able to work through all of this. Not that I recommend this - but more to let you know that it is mostly tolerable. It's a good idea to try to exercise through any and all treatments if possible. Walking would be good. I'm not sure how active your dad is, but try to encourage this.
Wishing your dad well with his treatments. Many here have tolerated it well.
I got 8 docetaxel infusions and tolerate them good. No side effects, excluding excessive tearing started after 5 infusion. Usually, some mild joint pain occurs for 4-6 day after each infusion. PSA decreased from 6.6 to 1.9 after 8 infusions. Next week, I have CT and bone scan. They should show how this treatment was really successful. If so, two infusions might be added. Best wishes to your dad.
Had nine infusions of Taxotere alternating with nine infusions of Adrimyacin along with ADT and a couple of orals - erustamine and ketoconozole paired with each infusion over a six month period. No diary, no icing, and plenty of rest. Zofran mitigated nausea. Kept 95% hair on my head, none on my body, minor neuropathy. Blood work before every infusion to monitor. Worked 2 1/2 days a week. I tolerated very well. Others on this protocol, did not and most of them took shortcuts. Best advice is to listen to your Medical Oncologist and value what he says as he is smarter in terms of skills and knowledge than 99% of others outside of the oncology medical profession.
It’s not a party, but your alternative really sucks. You have a very serious disease. Listen to your pro.
GD
Very true thank you for the advice!
Hi, the side effects vary per patient, the usual ones are: nausea, vomiting, hair loss, neuropathy, anemia, liver damage, dysgeusia ( bad/metallic taste), mouth sores, and fatigue.I had 15 Taxoteres in 2015, another 6 in 2020, and about to get #14 of 18 Cabazitaxel sessions this Friday.
I did a two day fast prior to them all, sipping on homemade veggie, garlic, ginger broth. In my case that really diminished the side effects. Lost hair with Taxotere, but still have my 70s hair thru Cabazitaxel. A mild metallic taste, but no other side effects.
As TV ads say "Individual results may vary"
😆
Here is some info on fasting and chemo: osher.ucsf.edu/patient-care...
I hope that his PCa journey goes well
Fight on
Randy
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