First dose of taxol

[Sazzaroon]

Hello all of you. I have found this blog so helpful in past 2 months supporting my Mum with ovarain cancer. She had her debulking surgery 4 weeks ago and recovered amazingly well. She started her chemo regimen yesterday... 18 weekly doses of taxol and 6 3 weekly doses of carbo.

We were worried it was a bit soon post surgery but we trust her doctors who have been fab up to now.

15 secs into her taxol dose she had an anaphylactic shock... Unable to breath, swollen face and neck and fitting. My sister who was with her thought we had lost her.

She was v brave and after some rest went for her carbo which was uneventful. She is at home now and doing fine. The nurses said they can try a "challenge" dose of the taxol again and see if she tolerates it better. My Mum, sister and the nurse that saw hwr reaction said no to that until she speaks to her oncologist in 2 weeks time as she is away. For now she will go ahead with h 3 weekly carbo.

Has anyone experienced this? What might alternatives be?

Any experience or advice welcome from you ladies

Thank you in advance

Sarah

[Katmal-UK]

Hi Sarah Having had a grade 3 anaphalactic shock which was caused by carbo (during a recurrence) I can fully understand how scary a reaction is. I do believe there is a replacement for Taxol but not sure if that replacement is used for Ovarian Cancer. Having said that I stopped Taxol after 4no cycles due to the severity of the peripheral neuropathy which it caused. At the time I continued with the carbo (obv now I can't have it at all!). I'm sure your mum's oncologist will be able to reassure you that even if your mum were to continue without the Taxol the Carbo on it's own is beneficial. Best wishes. Kathy xx

[Sazzaroon in reply to Katmal-UK]

Thank you so much. We will chat to Dr and see what she suggests. We will definitely stick with carbo. Taxol seems to be a tricky drug, despite Dr reassuring Mum that it was asymptomatic apart from hair loss. She cannot risk a reaction like that again. I wish you every luck in your journey against this awful disease

Sarah x

[Cropcrop]

I was around 4 weeks post op when I had my first chemo so the timescale sounds right.

Some people do have quite alarming reactions to the chemotherapy drugs, whilst it’s not common it’s not uncommon either. If memory serves me right some treatment centres can offer increased doses of steroids prior to taxol infusions, but my brain isn't what it used to be so I may be wrong there🥴. There are alternate drugs to taxol I believe so I think the plan you’ve decided on is probably the best one, your mum’s oncologist should be the best source for advice on alternative drugs going forwards.

Hope her recovery continues ❤️Xx Jane

[Alifit]

Hi Sarah and welcome. I had an allergic reaction to taxol in 2016, about 8 minutes in to my second infusion - I was having Carboplatin too. The infusion was stopped and I was given oxygen, Piriton and steroids - the crash team were amazing. I was rechallenged immediately, and although I had to have fairly large doses of steroids every time, I finished the course without any problems. Unfortunately my cancer recurred this year and I was prescribed 18 weekly doses of taxol. Although I have to have quite high dose steroids every week, they are doing the trick of staving off a reaction and the chemo is doing its job.

It’s best to talk to your consultant, but I hope my experience gives you some information to help you and your mum make the right decision.

Best wishes, Ali x

[AlaNtO]

Wow. A Scary experience. Very wise to see the Oncologist first before doing anything else. Be aware that there are different taxols. The common ones are Paclitaxel, Docetaxel and some newer ones that are very expensive ones probably only obtainable in USA such as Cabazitaxel. It also seems some of us build up resistance to prolonged taxol treatment. This is when you feel it is no longer working and your indicators go up. best wishes for a getting over this and hang in there.

[delia2]

Hi. I had a similar reaction my second treatment-I had just three weekly taxol and Carbo. It was really scary. They rechallenged me after half an hour with a double dose of steroids and gave it really slowly and it was okay. I started to have the reaction again the next time but they were watching closely and treated it quickly. I had no problem after that. They say the problem is the solution the taxol is in not the drug itself and there is a very expensive version called taxotere that uses albumin instead. I don’t know why you were told it has few side effects. Peripheral neuropathy is a major side effect with which I and many others struggle. But you’re smart to wait for your consultant.

[transf2856]

I was fine with carbo/taxil but had a bad reaction to Avastin after 3rd dose but carried on and had the 18 with no more problems so maybe one reaction and then the rest is tolerated. Hope she is fine now hun xx

[Sazzaroon in reply to transf2856]

Thank you... All of you. She is great. Feels tired post carbo but says she feels better than she has for a while... She felt pretty grim pre surgery. Lets hope we find a solution. She is adamant she will not have any more taxol. This forum is an amazing thing.

[tutti]

I tolerated six months of taxol when I first had cancer but on recurrence had massive anaphylactic shock so never had it again.Then they tried Cisplatin which gave me terrible ringing in my ears so I gave up and have not had chemo since,only five lots of surgery.I have had peripheral neuropathy since the taxol which has never improved after several years.

There are obviously new treatments now so it is worth trying anything once.

Vivx