Hi All,
My dad was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer gleason 4+5 a few months ago. He had the zoladex injection April 5th and will be started darolutamide today (May 10) and docetaxel first session is May 15th. He is taking the triplet therapy approach.
If anyone has any tips on managing possible side effects of docetaxel that would be wonderful. Just want to be prepared as much as can be.
Thank you
get your dad ice mitts and ice boots to prevent neuropathy. And an ice hat if he wants one to save his hair. Talk to your doctor about it.
My husband just had 2nd round of docetaxel. He has some fatigue/feels weak, but no other side effects so far. We have been icing hands and feet to avoid neuropathy. If you don't have time to do mitts and booties, you can use frozen water bottles for hands, and plastic shoe boxes with ice for feet (wear thin socks, and put foot in a baggie to stay dry). I read that doing the head is hard to get a good fit yourself, so you can get patchy results. You can rent special rigs for $400 per cycle...um, we opted to let the hair go! HYDRATE LIKE CRAZY before and after. Try to walk around a bit right after infusion - we stroll around the hospital grounds. Just read as much as you can beforehand. Good luck!
I only have one cycle left but the ice in the boxes would have been great. The booties were a bitch.
The booties ARE a bitch! We're using them. I noticed she only had a few days to first cycle, so wanted to give her easy to do ideas.
It is so strange that all the booties and mitts online are such crap. If they just had velcro on the sides and were a little larger they would work for everyone. I made mitts (i also made booties but the first try was not very good. Since I have just one more cycle I did not think it was worth doing it again.
i have an idea that might work but I do not have the equipment to seal plastic to make the need cold packs. A long strip with wool jersey on the inside and wet suit material on the outside could be wrapped around anything, hand foot arm. could put velcro on the edges to help hold it together. I wonder if you can buy the gel in less than tank cars quantity. I do have a bag sealer for light weight plastic and could experiment with the idea if I run out of things to do. I used to be pretty good at sewing when i could see better.
Interesting ideas. You can purchase spare gel packs, which I did so they could be swapped out of the booties and mitts. The mitts we're happy with - the booties...not so much. Too short and too tight, even though I got the largest I could find and were supposed to fit his 11.5 size foot.
I was quite happy with the NatraCure brand I got at Amazon. The mitts have velcro. The mitts were so cold I had to cycle in and out of them. The booties weren't as good as the mitts but I got extra gel packs. Get two sets of mitts.
Thank you for these tips! As suggested I purchased the mittens, booties and ice cap. The booties were a bit tight (which seems to be the consensus). But we were able to make them work. First cycle is done and now 5 more to go! Its been 4 days since his first chemo session and he is doing great. I am hoping that continues but also know that the end few treatments are said to be the hardest. But so far no side effects, fingers crossed and hoping the same for your husband
The ice cap referenced is dry ice. It is very intense and that's why many women (breast cancer) give up on it. I found that out during my first treatment. All of the nurses said Dry Ice is what works. Of course I bought the ca and used regular ice, then two weeks later, shaved my head because I lost so much hair.
Never heard of that. Dry ice is extremely cold and will give you frostbite if you have it anywhere near your skin for more than a second. I did the DigniCap, which is a cap that circulates chilled fluid through it. Even with that you can get frostbite. It wasn't arranged in time for my first treatment so I lost most of my hair but the DigniCap for treatments 2-6 kept me from losing the rest and it came back pretty quickly.
You misunderstand. Nurses said you freeze the caps using dry ice. You don't actually use dry ice on your skin. So to clarify your misunderstanding - You need to keep cold caps in a cooler with dry ice or in a special biomedical freezer before wearing them.
Chemotherapy with docetaxel (Taxotere) was not nearly as bad as I had feared before I started. I had many of the most common side effects.
The steroids before and during each treatment meant that I was wired that day and the next, and then my mood and energy crashed for the rest of the week.
I didn't get thrush or mouth sores, but my tongue did feel like it had been scalded for that first week after each treatment. There were significant taste perception changes, none of them pleasant. Some people chew ice during treatments to reduce the mouth problems. I like the theory, but I don't know whether it really works.
Nausea became more of a problem as treatments progressed. Ginger (ale, tea, candies) helped somewhat, but eventually I needed the prescription anti-nausea meds.
Neuropathy in fingers and toes built up over time. Some people chill the feet and hands during treatment. Again, I like the theory, but I don't know whether it really works.
Fatigue became a problem with the later treatments as well. It was an odd feeling when walking to have my knees wobble and my legs shake, but not be out of breath at all.
I had the expected hair loss. Body hair first, then scalp hair. What surprised me was when I lost eyebrows, eyelashes, and nose hair. It took a few months, but eventually it all grew back.
I didn't lose any fingernails or toenails. I am glad to have been spared that.
Week 1 starts great, then finishes awful.
Week 2 usually has gradual improvement.
Week 3 is almost back to normal. Then the cycle starts all over again.
Chemo hits the immune system hard, so be diligent about doing everything you can to support it, and meticulous about everyday hygiene.
Stay hydrated.
It's a marathon, not a sprint.
In addition to the excellent comments here already, I would suggest connecting with a good naturopath who can recommend supplements to manage not only your Prostate Cancer, but your Docetaxel treatment. I went through 14 Docetaxel sessions. It was not fun, but I made it through with the help of many of the suggestions in this thread and some good natural supplements. I wish you the best!
if you are starting zolodex, check on the web what it does to male genitalia
I got thrush in my nose. That was not fun. Used diluted Ketoconazole shampoo . First round or so I was not diligent about exposure and got covid and pneumonia at the same time. Good to be more careful, I thought I was going to die.
Do keep your hands and feet cold, there are some good suggestions in this thread.
My fingernails break off very easily but did not fall out. I made stainless steel glue on fingernails mainly for fun but it does give me the ability to scratch back and to ick my nose 
Also made eyebrows and moustache out of stainless and wore them to the infusion center.
Forgot to add ice chips in mouth! Woodstock82's post reminded me. My husband has had no mouth side effects at all after two rounds - not to say it will never happen, but for now he's ok. No weird tastes, no scalded tongue. When you ice mouth, hands, and feet, it constricts the blood vessels, and less chemo chemicals get there, lessening damage where you don't want it.
I am planning on wearing the nails today for a local meeting. can also put on the eyebrows and mustache and take a picture or two. I have a friend who just shaved his beard off so I am also making him a beard. I could install the whole mess and send a picture later today.
I am on treatment #5 next week. Despite using cold mitens, socks, I have level one neuropathy. Taste is dull. Have been using the Penguin cool cap" with great results. It is labor intense- change the cap every 25 minutes, continue for 5 hours post transfusion.
Agree with comment that Decadron gets you wired for a day or two. Also fluid retention the first day or two. I have some exercise intolerance, weakness.
Finish in 4 weeks. I am told it can take a few months to recover from all the SE's.
dear wife bought a juicer and made me fresh vegetables and fruit juice daily and 2Xs on nadir days. It definitely helped my nutrition and energy, as I could definitely feel the difference on the days when she wasn’t able to manage it. I also feel it helped with my white and red blood cell counts. Another option, if in a large metropolitan area and it’s affordable for you, is fresh juices from retail outlets.
Allow yourself to rest, remember your sick so give yourself permission to take time out to heal. Eat something every meal time. Drink a bit more water than normal. Make yourself get up and out of the house every day for a short walk. Try a sleeping pill when on the steroids. Be cheerful and enjoy more hugs. DD😎
I did use cold mittens and socks to try to limit neuropathy. I know the data is controversial regarding this but what do you have to loose. My hands were spared but my feet were not. After much fooling around in the years since only Naboso insoles (they have one specifically for neuropathy) have really helped my feet. I had terrible joint pain and daily walks seemed to help. The worst was I had really bad diarrhea consistently the second week following dosing, imodium did nothing. I never went anywhere without a change of pants and underwear. Probably the only time in my life I have taken a sleeping pill intermittently to sleep. I really tried to do something positive the week before the next dose since that was when I felt the best. This made me feel like I still had some semblance of a life. I think you know there is going to be an end point and keep that in mind.
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