StephN
01-22-2005, 04:30 PM
Dear Hope -
First - my pharmacy sheet for Dexametasone 4mg says that this "may cause dizziness, nausea, indigestion, weakness", etc.
It also mentions "muscle weakness."
Glad they are letting you wean off. I had a good chat with the Gamma Center nurse yesterday and she will check on me Monday. If I report as well then, they will give me a taper off schedule for this nasty stuff. YAY!
I can't recall just how long you have been in various chemo treaments, but these have LONG-TERM EFFECTS. I am quite certain that many of your balance and weakness problems are coming from these long-term effects.
Why I say this is that my history is of a LOT of chemo not long after diagnosis, with a fast onset of raging liver mets.
Adjuvent therapy consisted of 12 weekly Adriamycin with a one month break then 4 rounds of Taxotere. One month break then 36 rads. Three months later the liver mets were discovered. Joined a trial for "hard-to-treat-metasteses" involving dose-dense Taxol/Nav(plus Herceptin for my case). This was a Phase II trail still establishing dose tolerance. I ws #6 enrolled. It took almost 7 months of weekly Taxol/navelbine to beat those mets and achieve a complete response. I was the first one through that trial to do this and there are 2 others inthe 20 in that phase.
What all this means is that I was one beat-up woman after all that in less than 2 years. My deep tendon reflexes are COMPLETELY shot. Rubber hammer produces almost NO excitement to elbows, wrists, knees or ankles. I was so wobbly and had to get bars put in my showers and get in the habit of steadying myself whereever I went somehow. My hands were so weak I could hardly get a jar open myself. Even cutting veggies was difficult.
It has taken a very long, slow buildup to get my strength back to where I am now. From the mental to the physical. And, I was in GOOD SHAPE at DX! Now I can paddle a canoe, garden, carry things without fear of dropping them, handle a laudry basket on stairs, etc.
There is a fitness group here called Team Survivor Northwest, that was founded 10 years ago by a very promonant woman breast specialist. I joined this group for Wednesday night indoor training just 2 years ago. We are women survivors of various cancers and meet with a special trainer who will work with us as individuals and help with our particular needs, whether surgery recovery, building up our heartrate/stamina, weights, or whatever. At the end of the workout we do some "core work" both standing and on mats as a group. I always feel energized at the end and not too tired as in the beginning of this effort.
This group has all kinds of outdoor activites as well. We mounted the International Cancer Cup Dragon Boat Races over Labor Day with teams coming from all over. There is even triathlon training, snowshoeing and mountain hiking for the very hardy!
Hope all this rambling will make that point that CHEMO kills all kinds of valuable cells and it is a LONG ROAD back for some of us who take a lot of it. I am just glad the Xeloda is easier to tolerate and this is probably a trial that I would have been in with Navelbine if mets has not showed before it was available.
My onc says he won't give me Taxol again, as there are now other alternatives just as effective. At least I am alive for him to tell me that!
I think when the Dex is lowered you will have an easier time figuring out where the symptoms you describe are coming from, but seems very possible that chemo, plus Dex are combining to make them more acute.
First - my pharmacy sheet for Dexametasone 4mg says that this "may cause dizziness, nausea, indigestion, weakness", etc.
It also mentions "muscle weakness."
Glad they are letting you wean off. I had a good chat with the Gamma Center nurse yesterday and she will check on me Monday. If I report as well then, they will give me a taper off schedule for this nasty stuff. YAY!
I can't recall just how long you have been in various chemo treaments, but these have LONG-TERM EFFECTS. I am quite certain that many of your balance and weakness problems are coming from these long-term effects.
Why I say this is that my history is of a LOT of chemo not long after diagnosis, with a fast onset of raging liver mets.
Adjuvent therapy consisted of 12 weekly Adriamycin with a one month break then 4 rounds of Taxotere. One month break then 36 rads. Three months later the liver mets were discovered. Joined a trial for "hard-to-treat-metasteses" involving dose-dense Taxol/Nav(plus Herceptin for my case). This was a Phase II trail still establishing dose tolerance. I ws #6 enrolled. It took almost 7 months of weekly Taxol/navelbine to beat those mets and achieve a complete response. I was the first one through that trial to do this and there are 2 others inthe 20 in that phase.
What all this means is that I was one beat-up woman after all that in less than 2 years. My deep tendon reflexes are COMPLETELY shot. Rubber hammer produces almost NO excitement to elbows, wrists, knees or ankles. I was so wobbly and had to get bars put in my showers and get in the habit of steadying myself whereever I went somehow. My hands were so weak I could hardly get a jar open myself. Even cutting veggies was difficult.
It has taken a very long, slow buildup to get my strength back to where I am now. From the mental to the physical. And, I was in GOOD SHAPE at DX! Now I can paddle a canoe, garden, carry things without fear of dropping them, handle a laudry basket on stairs, etc.
There is a fitness group here called Team Survivor Northwest, that was founded 10 years ago by a very promonant woman breast specialist. I joined this group for Wednesday night indoor training just 2 years ago. We are women survivors of various cancers and meet with a special trainer who will work with us as individuals and help with our particular needs, whether surgery recovery, building up our heartrate/stamina, weights, or whatever. At the end of the workout we do some "core work" both standing and on mats as a group. I always feel energized at the end and not too tired as in the beginning of this effort.
This group has all kinds of outdoor activites as well. We mounted the International Cancer Cup Dragon Boat Races over Labor Day with teams coming from all over. There is even triathlon training, snowshoeing and mountain hiking for the very hardy!
Hope all this rambling will make that point that CHEMO kills all kinds of valuable cells and it is a LONG ROAD back for some of us who take a lot of it. I am just glad the Xeloda is easier to tolerate and this is probably a trial that I would have been in with Navelbine if mets has not showed before it was available.
My onc says he won't give me Taxol again, as there are now other alternatives just as effective. At least I am alive for him to tell me that!
I think when the Dex is lowered you will have an easier time figuring out where the symptoms you describe are coming from, but seems very possible that chemo, plus Dex are combining to make them more acute.