Hi all. I was diagnosed with HGSOC 3c at the end of January 2025. My Ca 125 was originally 7497 but went up to 9838 prior to my treatment starting. I had 2 drains for ascites before my first treatment of Bevacizumab, followed by Paclitaxel and then Carboplatin. At the end of the bag of Paclitaxel (3 hours) I had an allergic reaction. The oncologist reduced my 2nd cycle to 75% and gave me steroids for 5 days before. Unfortunately I again had an allergic reaction but this time right at the start of the bag. I again quickly recovered with the usual extra hydrocortisone and antihistamines, the infusion was suspended for an hour and then successfully given over 4 hours.
I am now concerned that the oncologist will want to change my treatment plan although I feel that it is working for me. My Ca125 has reduced to 9400 but I realise this is just an indication. Has anyone else experienced this and what did the oncologist recommend? I personally would like to try at a slower rate but obviously don’t want to put myself at risk of full blown anaphylaxis. Would like to hear from you lovely ladies so I can formulate what I need to say before speaking to the oncologist next month. Thanks in anticipation
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Black-Poppy
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I gave HGSOC Stage 3 C. I had a reaction to Taxol on my second Taxol and Carboplatin chemo during frontline. The team rushed over and gave me all the meds and IV’s to address it. I insisted when they tried it again to slow it down, lower than they were trying to give me and told my oncologist that I would do it but at the slower rate for all of them. I was able to continue that 2nd treatment and the next 4 without a reaction. My steroid regimen was to take pill form night before and then sent home with I think 4-5 days with a tapering off. Hope this helps.
Hello Black-Poppy, I had paclitaxel for the first time last month and had an immediate allergic reaction to it. It was very frightening because I couldn’t breathe but after i was given the extra meds and oxygen to counteract the reaction the doctor checked me over and was happy to try giving it to me again over a longer period of time gradually increasing the rate each hour. I had no problem with that and i had my second session three weeks later with the extra meds beforehand over the longer time period again with no problem. Between these sessions i saw the oncologist and she didn’t suggest reducing the dose but i realise your situation is different. The nurse told me that they see reactions quite often. I’m not sure if this helps you but i wanted you to know that you are not the only one to have had problems and i know how worrying it is. Wishing you all the very best with your treatment.
Hi.I had a reaction within 5 mins of my 2nd treatment. They gave me all of the necessary meds immediately & then continued to give it to me over the next 4hrs rather than 3. I was able to complete the full 6 treatments with no further reaction as they gave me extra steroids & anti hystermine immediately beforehand & slowed it down to 4hrs . This was 2 years ago ( Hgoc stage 4 ). Praying for the very best for your continued treatment.
Hi, I’m sorry to read about your reaction to taxol, it’s scary I know. Sounds like you’re determined to continue and hopefully like many others with some tweaks you will be able to tolerate it better. I had a stage 3 anaphylactic reaction to taxol so I had carboplatin on its own ( Bev was added in later). The new treatment worked well, I had surgery, more chemotherapy and reached no visible disease on scans. My oncologist explained to me that carboplatin is like the cake and taxol is the icing. I know others have been offered alternative chemotherapy to taxol which has worked for them. ( I’m HGS stage 3c). Best wishes and hope you get the answers you need when you meet with your oncologist.
Sorry to hear that you've now had problems twice. I had my initial treatment with Carbo/Taxol in Leicester where their protocol (in 2015) was oral steroids the night before and the morning of treatment, plus the usual steroid stuff they administer with the Taxol over 3 hrs. I had 5 cycles without incident (6th cycle was cancelled due to suppressed platelets).
When I recurred in 2021, Leeds didn't routinely give pre oral steroids, and I reacted immediately on the 2nd session. IV meds, a pause on the say and a reduction in rate from 3 to 6 hours worked fine for the remainder of all treatments (at full dose). I was also prescribed the pre meds again.
Wishing you all the best for whatever outcome you have.
Thank you, I had oral steroids for 4 days prior to the 2nd cycle but it didn’t appear to help and had the reaction within minutes. I am still hopeful that the oncologist will agree to try a slower rate.
I too had a anaphylactic on my second paclitaxel ,(was ok with the carboplatin) so doc did the same to me , slow it down and i had dexamethasone , but the same happened on my 3rd immediately, even after steroids so they changed me to docetaxol and carboplatin and thankfully i was ok with that combo . They always have a plan b or c so hopefully they will have something in place for when you see them next week . Apparently it is quite common to have a reaction to paclitaxol.
Just to repeat what a lot of ladies have already written here - I too had an immediate strong reaction to taxol on my second infusion. Everyone came rushing in. They left it an hour and gave me extra antihistamines and then tried again slowly. Thereafter I had extra antihistamines and my infusion was spread over about 4 hours. My dose wasn't reduced and I managed the full 6 chemos. I think this is relatively common to have desentization treatment. Best of luck going forward! x
I had taxol removed from my treatment as it was causing peripheral neuropathy . It didn’t have a detrimental affect of the outcome of chemo. However I did have a full blown anaphalactic shock, stage 3, on carboplatin on my first recurrence and swapped to cisplatin. Changing treatment can still work fine. Good luck x
Hi. Like others I had bad reactions to taxol on treatments 2 and 3 but they gave me extra meds ( 50 mg Benadryl as well as extra steroids) and slowed it down and no further problems. As you probably know it is not the chemo drug but the solution people react to and you can get an alternative version. I honestly don’t know why they don’t just use the alternative but it must be more expensive.
I am sorry to hear about your allergic reaction. An alternative to Paxlitaxel is Docetaxel. But they are both using the same base - Yew tree. Paxlitaxel is an American Yew tree and Docitaxel is a European version. Not sure if there is a "safe" alternative. Did you get Carboplatin with it?
Yes I did get carboplatin after the plaxitaxel and was fine it’s that. I have heard that Taxotere and Docitaxel use a different base, maybe this is something to discuss with the oncologist to see if either of those might be available to me.
Lots of great advice/ spot on comments. I too had the very common reaction and response to Taxol on cycle 2- stop for an hour, extra steroids/ antihistamines, restart slowly. For all subsequent doses I has a couple of days of extra meds pre taxol, which was then administered slowly. Long days but I managed all 6 doses fine.
A good friend of mine- S4b in 2018- simply could not have taxol - icing on the cake- and she had 3 years recurrence free without any maintenance. No parps then. She’s had abraxane recently, a taxol substitute. Good luck ❤️
Hi Black Poppy, I also had a bad reaction to the first dose of Paclitaxel within seconds so they didn't want to give it to me again, I was then given docetaxel and carboplatin and had no problems with that combination and I responded very well to the chemotherapy and it reduced my markers, definitely mention docetaxol at your next appointment.Best if luck to you x
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allergic to Caeylx, what now? 
Antihistamine on Paclitaxel 
First Caelyx
