my father is beginning taxotere today

[Shelboop]

my father is beginning taxotere today. I’m wondering if people could share their 18 week experience in depth (or as much as they’re comfortable) sharing. Anything and everything.

[rsgdmd]

I'm about 7 weeks after my last chemo. Wasn't as bad as I expected, but everyone is different. They gave me IV benadryl prior to starting the chemo, which made me tired for time there and next few hours. Later in day & next day, felt fine due to steroids. Day 2 -3 were worst for me - tired, achy. Then started to feel better. With subsiquent rounds, took a little longer to feel back to normal as effects are cumulative.

Make sure he stays well hydrated today and next few days. Very important in helping to flush the chemo out of his system. Is he getting Neulasta? I didn't on 1st round and ended up with neutropenia (extremely low white blood count). Fortunately didn't get sick & had for the ones after. I started losing my hair about 10 days after 1st chemo & had my wife shave my head.

Good to have ice or ice packs for hands and feet to help prevent peripheral neuropathy. I still got some, but maybe worse if I didn't use (?) Also good for him to get in some walking, even on days he is fatigued - even if it's around the block. I got thrush after every chemo - I think it was from the steroids but not sure. Taste was off for 1st week or 2, even after thrush was better - have him check his tongue for white film. If so, ask for Rx for nystatin liquid.

Some people get the runs; some get constipated. Important to eat well - consider Ensure or Boost, want high protein, if not eating well.

Hope this helps.

[Shelboop in reply to rsgdmd]

thank you so much for taking the time to share! Congratulations on finishing.

[ron_bucher]

I had the full taxotere protocol at age 65. My energy level on a 1-10 scale went to 5 about two days after each infusion, and then improved daily until it was almost normal a week after infusion. That same seesaw occurred after each infusion. I think it helped that I continued exercise throughout in spite of stamina being low. I could play doubles tennis for 90 minutes but couldn't play a 4 hour round of golf riding in a cart. I continued working my desk job full time.

After the chemo and prophylactic radiation of lymph nodes, my PSA went undetectable for about 4 years.

[Shelboop in reply to ron_bucher]

congratulations Ron in finishing and staying so active during! Thank you for taking the time to share this. It’s going to help motivate my dad to keep moving, I know.

[Tall_Allen]

I thought the following post from AlvinSD was excellent:

healthunlocked.com/advanced...

[Shelboop in reply to Tall_Allen]

this was gold. Thank you.

[NIKKIWOOD]

The link from Tall_Allen is extremely helpful, and right on the money vis a vis my own experience.

They will probably ask you about ice, and you should definitely take it; I didn't, and now (5 years after chemo) I still have a bad case of neuropathy (feet only).

[Shelboop in reply to NIKKIWOOD]

thank you! We’re adding the cooling packs to the carts now.

[Nusch]

TA‘s link is great. The only thing I would add: fasting the day before, during and after the chemo infusion day. When you google, you’ll find a lot of infos. Fasting strengthens the healthy cells and weakens the cancer cells so chemo can be more effective.

[Shelboop in reply to Nusch]

thank you. I’m going to research this.

[TheWizardofWesley]

I haven't encountered any really adverse SE. No nausea, energy levels are pretty good as well as my appetite. Sadly my PSA has continued to rise... it looks like my 12 year battle with the beast could be turning not in my favor. Setting up a PSMA scan to see if my mets will qualify for treatment with LU-177. ..of which there doesn't seem to be any available until possibly March (here in Florida) Moffitt in Tampa as well as The Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville same story...only have enough to complete treatments for current patients. 🤔 are we living in America or some third world 🌎 country.. The Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN has doses available.. but it means 6 visits at 6 week intervals which is way beyond what my pocket can bear... So I'm stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place.. Prayers graciously accepted 🙏 ❤️

[Shelboop in reply to TheWizardofWesley]

Larry, I am so terribly sorry. If you’re somehow able to get to Arizona, I live in Phoenix and might be able to set you up in housing to get it done at the Mayo Clinic in Az until it becomes available where you live. I’m in California taking care of my dad until then anyway! I will definitely be praying for options closer to home for you to open up soon.

[TheWizardofWesley in reply to Shelboop]

Thank you for the offer Shelboop, I'm still waiting on my PSMA scan here at Moffitt.. to see if my "METS" will qualify for treatment at this time with LU177..As soon as I know.. I will keep you in the loop.. May your Dad's journey be productive and filled with positive outcomes..

[fmh1]

Lots of good suggestions here.

I had my taxotere three and half years ago, still no detectable PSA, normal white and red blood cell counts. I too took benadryl during the infusions and Neulasta afterwards, though I did have short-term bone pain from the Neulasta injections, for which my doctor gave me pain meds.

The one other thing I did during the chemo was take the recommended dosage of Protectival, two tablets three times per day during chemo, to help protect red and white blood cell counts. Afterwards, I went to the maintenance dose, three per day. LifeBiotics makes Protectival, a natural dietary supplement, and you can see the science behind it at Protectival.com.

Hope this is helpful in addition to the other good advice from this column!

[Shelboop in reply to fmh1]

thank you! I’ve been looking for something like this actually. This looks great. I’m going to research more and hopefully add to our regimen.

[Woodstock82]

Chemotherapy with docetaxel was not nearly as bad as I had feared before I started. The side effects do build up over time, though. Here are the notes I have from when I went through it:

1) neuropathy - tingling or even pain in feet and hands

What you can do to mitigate it: chill the feet and hands during treatment

Some go so far as to use ice in booties or mittens

2) mouth and tongue - sores, sensations, changes in taste perception, thrush

What you can do about it: suck on ice cubes during treatment

I didn't get any sores, but my tongue would feel "scalded" for about a week

Changes to how things tasted were VERY noticeable, and thankfully temporary

3) nausea - gradual build-up as treatments progressed

What you can do about it: ginger for mild cases. I tried ginger ale, ginger tea, candied ginger, and ginger candies. All helped.

Bland foods were easier.

Later in the treatment, when the nausea was worse, I took a prescription medication "Zofran" (generic is ondansetron), and that worked very well at relieving the nausea. I probably should have taken it more often instead of trying to "tough it out."

4) fatigue - gradual build-up as treatments progressed

What you can do about it: move, exercise, get into a routine, push against limits, keep morale up, rest when needed, stay hydrated, keep up nutrition.

5) hair loss - lots of variation

I lost body hair first, then scalp hair.

Later lost nose hair, which felt odd, had to blow my nose a lot more

Later lost half my eyebrows, and most of my eyelashes

The good news is, although it took some time, much of the above was temporary for me. It took about a month after my last docetaxel treatment for me to feel normal again, and the hair did come back. I still have some lingering tingles in my feet, but it's not bad.

One other thing. Each night before a docetaxel infusion I had to take an oral prescription steroid, dexamethasone. Then again the morning of the treatment. And then more dexamethasone by IV infusion before the docetaxel infusion. The result was that I was wired the rest of the day, had insomnia that night, was wired the next day, and then my energy and mood crashed the day after that. The crash lasted for a few days, rounding out the 1st week. The 2nd week was gradual improvement, then the 3rd week was pretty much back to normal -- just in time to do it all over again.

Everyone is different, but be prepared for similar effects.

[Shelboop in reply to Woodstock82]

thank you. How temporary was your taste change? Days each round?

[Woodstock82 in reply to Shelboop]

Mostly just the first week of each cycle, but it got a little worse with each cycle. The most dramatic was that both ham and apples lost all flavor, and that didn't come back for until several weeks after my last treatment. I liked ginger ale when I started, but that changed with chemo, and even now years later it just doesn't taste right.

[velobard]

I went through that in 2018. I wish I had known early on about the advantages of cooling/icing my hands and feet, the neuropathy really bugged me for months, but it has gone away now. I lost my hair two weeks after my first infusion, when I went to comb my hair one day and a big clump came out, we shaved the rest off that day. Lost my goatee as well, but kept the moustache and "soul patch" through the treatment. Oddly, once the treatment was completed and fuzz was returning to my head, the moustache and soul patch faded away and aside from a few stray hairs, never returned. My beard is back, but nothing like before and the hair on my head is thinner. This is one thing I wasn't warned about, that taxotere can cause permanent hair loss, the doctor simply said I'd lost my hair but then it would return. I don't like how I look without any facial hair, so I now have a scraggly beard and have to settle for that.

My fatigue got worse with each treatment, it was a cumulative effect. The pills the doctor gave me for nausea barely scratched the surface, but I used RSO (cannabis oil) in little micro-doses every 8 hours through my treatment and that handled it very well. A gram of the oil lasted me roughly 12 days, give or take. I put the tiny doses in an empty capsule to swallow. That was a godsend. It also got rid of nearly all the weird taste effects I had during chemo, I'd describe it as sort of a metallic taste. My doctor didn't know about the oil, I knew from a previous conversation when they were passing the law to legalize it here that this was a brick wall for him, he didn't approve of it at all, so I did my own research on the safety and wisdom of using it with chemo and kept it to myself.

[Shelboop in reply to velobard]

thank you. My father has tried RSO and historically doesn’t do well on it but seems we were giving him more than you. Neat that it helped with the taste changes, too. I’m sorry about the permanent hair loss, but congratulations on making it through. Thank you for the advice. I’m glad we kept some RSO on hand.

[velobard in reply to Shelboop]

Perhaps he might do well with oil with a higher level of CBD. It can be difficult to find such oil in dispensaries in many areas, so this is a case where there can be an advantage to making your own.

I responded well with high THC oil when I did the gram-per-day for 60 days. It took a couple of weeks to work up to that level, of course. It brought my PSA down very nicely, but I wasn't able to stay on it long-term, or I think I may have been able to avoid chemo. Then when I went through chemo I had a very limited supply, or else I would have used higher doses. But thank goodness for what I did have. I have seen info more recently, after I did RSO myself, that hormone-driven cancers such as that of the prostate respond best to 3 - 1 ratio of CBD to THC. Yes, you want more CBD than THC. And perhaps your father might be able to handle it better. BTW, if he's having trouble with high-dose cannabis, make sure he stays away from fatty foods. That can really ramp up the intoxicating effect.

[Helllfire]

Please can everyone update on this post about how much cycles of taxotere you have been advised and taken ???? My father being metastatic is advised 6 cycles.

[fmh1 in reply to Helllfire]

Yes, glad to. I had six cycles of docetaxel, each three weeks apart. I had to wait 24 hours after each cycle before getting my Neulasta shot.