I tried to have my first chemo session yesterday with no luck - had pretty bad allergic reaction to taxol immediately after starting (difficulty breathing, itching, tingling, threw up 3 times, low blood pressure, etc.). I was basically out for about 30 - 45min. Now my doctor wants to use docetaxel from next Monday. I also agreed to have carbo alone this Thursday.
I have been reading posts here about the same issue and they’re not very reassuring. Seems docetaxel can have worse side effects. My preference would be to just go with carbo if I tolerate it well. My onc is saying there is a chance to cure (?) my oc if I do the combo. I guess what she means is avoid recurrence as long as possible.
What do you ladies think about this? Would you give another taxane a try or would you skip it altogether?
thank you all in advance for your very helpful posts! Xx
Written by
Lara1
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Hi Lara, I'm so sorry about your diagnosis and what a 'mare that you've had such a reaction to the Taxol. That must have been a challenging experience to say the least.
All I know is that my Oncologist said that there would be no point doing Carbo alone, it's the combo that has the real chance of curing any remaining disease. My diagnosis was Clear Cell OC so this may have been relating to that (Clear Cell is often resistant to chemo, more than the more commonly found HGSOC), but I believe that the combo is massively preferable for any type of OC? If it's possible, of course.
You can query all of this with your team though. Do use them, they are there to help. Or one of the nurses on here.
Good Luck
PS cure means, gone, never to come back. They don't tend to use the word lightly IMO so again worth asking about, it sounds like they are being pretty optimistic X
Thanks for replying. There seem to be divergent opinions on this, but I agree the combo has probably a higher chance of prolonging NED. I have to admit I am struggling with the concept of curing advanced OC. I intend to stay positive and I do believe I have a good fighting chance, but I am a “hope for the best, prepare for the worst” type of person. From testimonies I have read so far it seems most people who survive later stages, even after initially achieving NED, do so by treating it as a chronic disease and intervening with more surgery and chemo when it recurs, hopefully few times, but at least a couple in the span of several years. I feel they are lucky to withstand this journey and I’m hoping to be one of them.
hi , I had carboplatin on its own after an allergic reaction to taxol . I was anxious that it wouldn’t work, it did and after 4 cycles my tumour had shrunk which made successful surgery possible. ( all visible cancer removed). I’m stage 3c high grade serous which has responded well to carboplatin on its own. I wasn’t offered an alternative. Like Emcee comments different subtypes respond differently to chemo , do you know the subtype of your cancer? . I hope you are recovering from the reaction, it’s so scary particularly when having the first chemo treatment. Usually when we have a reaction which results in a trauma experience we can walk away, but not with this , good luck on Thursday. I went onto continue with carboplatin with no more problems. I have one more to go, fingers crossed for NED and then onto maintenance treatments. Take care. Xx
Hi ladies, I have high-grade serous stage 3b, BRCA and HRD negative. It’s likely carbo sensitive. I was able to have debulking surgery 6 weeks ago without needing chemo up front (although I did get upstaged), which is why they are reasonably optimistic.
Sorry you had this experience yesterday it must’ve been quite scary and very unpleasant.
To answer your question if it were me I think I’d give it one more try to make sure it wasn’t just a one-off reaction. I say this because your Onc clearly thinks this would be the best treatment for you.
She does think that and I agree in principle. But due to my autoimmune conditions I am predisposed to strong inflammatory reactions & less common side effects which may make it impossible for me to tolerate the 2 drug treatment. My gut tells me I’ll be lucky of I can tolerate carbo long enough to complete the treatment.
It is hard when other things come into play. I had my taxol reduced twice and removed from treatment 6 due to neuropathy (which I still have 2 years on), my onc seemed to think this wasn’t an issue as carbo was the main treatment 🤷🏻♀️
Hi Lara, that must be so difficult for you. Such a reaction to your first dose! I started on carb plus paclitaxol and was going well except for bad leg pain. The leg pain did not diminish and was interfering with my balance. Finally, as I am a senior and live alone, the team decided I should give up paclitaxol. My markers which were 180 at the tme of debulking were down to 12 straight after and have hovered around 10 since. The leg pain has gone but the numbness in toes is still there. Sometimes the pain is sharp, but for a nano-second. When I wake, the feet are reasonably ok but after a few hours I feel as if I'm walking on sand.
I also had a reaction to Taxol and was switched to Taxotere. I don’t have any pre-existing conditions, but I did great on the Taxotere. Had four treatments before surgery and two after—high grade serous. My only symptoms were sore gums when brushing my teeth, fatigue, and a voracious appetite—gained all my weight back swiftly. Good luck whatever you decide to do!
Thanks for replying, Buster98. Were you on Taxotere+ Carbo three weekly? I had my first dose of Taxotere (no carbo) today. I’m on lower weekly dose. I did not feel much while under the effect of pre/meds but now in the evening it’s starting to hit me - headache, changed taste - my tastebuds are less sensitive, fatigue, and going between no appetite and weird sudden cravings of a specific food. I’m wondering what this will feel like when I have taxoterre plus carbo on the same day??
No, I had the combo every three weeks. I just finished four weeks ago, and I still sleep quite a bit, but it is getting better. I did get headaches too, but I had migraines long before cancer. My infusion for carbo was only 30 minutes. Taxotere was about an hour or hour and a half. I don’t know how my dosage compares to yours. Hope you feel better soon.
My weekly dosage of each agent is one third of the 3 week dosage. I will confirm the exact doses, but Taxotere was 1 hour and Carbo was 2 hours on slow drip. I am getting smaller weekly doses delivered more slowly to reduce side effects.
The oncologist firstly suggested to go ahead with the carboplatin only but I did some research and they eventually agreed to try with the nab paclitaxel instead. I had to pay extra for it ( the other treatment was free through NHS England), but I had no bad reaction.
I decided to give the nab-paclitaxel a go as I was not 100% happy to be on the platinum only and I was happy that it did not give me all the bad effects of the paclitaxel.
Lots of love and the best of luck for your treatment
I have a bad allergy history and wasn't even allowed to try taxol. Carboplatin alone for six cycles and I was fine. Stage Ic mixed endometrioid and clear cell. That was 2006 and I've never had a recurrence.
Hi. I had a similar reaction to taxol on my second treatment but they rechallenged with more Benadryl and steroids and giving the taxol really slowly. I was afraid and on the third treatment started to have the same reaction. They still persisted and after that it was okay. They say what people are allergic to is the stuff they mix the taxol with and the alternative versions don’t use that so there’s a good chance you’ll be okay. At least give it a try.
They were saying I had a pretty bad reaction, low blood pressure in particular (60-70) and they don’t want to take any more chances. No one mentioned nab paclitaxel, but I will ask today. Thanks
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Carboplatin/taxol with Avastin for 2nd line treatment
Has any woman been treated with Docetaxel for gynecological cancer?
Weekly Taxol
Lymph node lady at chemo train station. Help !
caelyx carbo sickness
