Hello,
As promised, I’m opening a thread to chronicle my experience with Jevtana/Cabazitaxel. My first treatment was yesterday, 3/26/2025, and so far, I can report a mostly eventless 24 hours. Unlike Docetaxel, at least my Jevtana was preceded by a Benadryl injection, which did make me pretty tired almost immediately. By the time everything was administered, I was awake and alert enough to drive home without incident.
Once I got home, I did take a couple short naps while watching TV. No loss of appetite and no gastrointestinal hiccups. I didn’t get the best sleep last night, as I seemed to have trouble finding the best combination of blankets to balance an onset of hot/cold spells. Also, oddly, when I chewed my oral vitamin C tablet this morning, it didn’t have the same tangy bite I’m used to. I had some taste bud changes with Docetaxel, but I don’t remember them coming on so quickly. I’ll be making a mental note of other tastes as the day(s) go on.
Otherwise, smooth sailing so far!
For background: I’m Stage 4, diagnosed 12/25/2021, PSA over 2,000. Casodex for 30 days starting mid-January 2022, then 6-month Lupron injections starting February 2022 accompanied by Erleada, which was effective until May 2024. I had 25 trips to the radiation table October thru December 2023 targeting prostate and several skeletal mets. Began Docetaxel early June 2024 after significant skeletal progression, and finished my 7th treatment early October. PSA had been mostly undetectable level since April/May 2022, with escalations that required the aforementioned interventions. Most recent PSA spike went from 0.13 to 0.45 to 3.06 to 13.90 over the course of four months, which leads us where we are today.
I’ll be happy to answer questions, and I’ll do my best to keep the updates coming as they seem relevant to share. Take care, everyone!