Taxotere Carboplatin Herceptin Side Effects
 

Hi all, I am new to this site. I will be starting Taxotere Carboplatin and Herceptin on 2/21 (total of 6 rounds, once every 3 weeks). Would you please let me know what were your side effects and tips on minimizing these side effects? I am so nervous about starting chemo. I was dx on 11/30 with stage 2 bc (5cm tumor, er+/pr+/her2+). Thank you.

Re: Taxotere Carboplatin Herceptin Side Effects
 

Drink tons of water
about 14 days after treatment one you will start shedding
suck on ice during taxotere
get a port
try to exercise even if it is just moving and walking slowly
get emmend and take it, it changed the way that my treatments went
take all of the help you can get
take everything one day at a time

Re: Taxotere Carboplatin Herceptin Side Effects
 

be sure to tell your oncologist everything. there is so many meds now so you dont get sick. if you expereince pain in joints or anywhere tell doc and get meds to ease the pain. There is no reason so suffer as we were told they did back in the day. i drank lots of water but when i had issues with cramping stomach or direahha, i told my nurse and she advised me what to take and it worked. i had popsicles for snacks and when i started my 2nd phase of chemo with taxotere, i ate cup of soup cause my stomach was so tender in the beginning. Good luck to you. Bonita

Re: Taxotere Carboplatin Herceptin Side Effects
 

Everyone will tell you to eat healthy - and you should if you can but the main point is to eat so your body can recover between chemo rounds. Focus on some foods that really do help you out like yogurt. If you like yogurt, you will find that its taste is not altered (sometimes foods taste different the first few days because the cells in your mouth are also "fast growing" cells and they are affected by chemo just as the hair follicles (also fast growing cells) are affected). Yogurt tastes like yogurt AND you get the probiotic boost. Maybe Activa type is better as it has lots of bacterial strains which repopulate the flora in your gut (the good bacteria are affected by chemo) and replenishing is important so you don't feel so yucky. If you hate yogurt, get the probiotic pill supplements (mention to your onc - I always say this but your onc won't object to this supplement but they should always know what you're doing).

Drink water before, during and after infusion. Don't drown yourself but keep well hydrated.

Eat protein for healing (yogurt, eggs, chicken,fish).

I did not get a port but now I wish I had as everyone has such difficulties getting blood from my left arm. It was poked so much - however, the plus is that I did not have a port that needed to be cared for after chemo and then Herceptin was over. The choice is up to you.

I did not ask for help but received plenty. Everyone who said, "can I do anything"? - I took them up on their offer where I did not put them out. For example, my kids were in high school or middle school. The middle school daughter needed a ride home from school everyday because of sports. One neighbor who called (and I did not know super well) said "what can I do?". Knowing her son also had sports after school (and she was picking him up), I had her bring home my daughter too. No biggie for her but huge for me. Take people up on their offers - people do alot in the beginning but dramatically slow down later so take those meals now and freeze the ones that freeze well.

Family can just be told - I need help!! It is harder to do that with casual friends and neighbors so rely later on close friends and family.

We will help you through here. We have been through it and are on the otherside. We are here for you.

Re: Taxotere Carboplatin Herceptin Side Effects
 

I start TCH this week on Wednesday. Will let you know. I do have a port- am glad to have it. That took a few days to get adjusted to. It's been in a week now & it's fine.

Have studied up on the side effects- these folks here have all shared great advice for us. Good luck to you (and me- I am scared).

I have round one in two days.

Lisa

Re: Taxotere Carboplatin Herceptin Side Effects
 

talk to the chemo nurses about any side effects, they've seen them all. be sure to get a chemo helpful mouthwash (bicarbonate of soda or??) and wash your mouth out regularly - they suggested to me 6 times a day! I was good at first but then maybe 3 times a day. don't take anti-oxidants. drink lots of water. socialize when you can. expect to be tired. remember your hair will come back softer and thicker. Also if the needle prick hurts, they can give you a patch to put on an hour before the perfusion that will deaden the area. Remember that chemo is a good thing and saving your life so think positively about it. Have anti-nausea, pain and sleeping pills on hand so get the prescriptions before hand. you may never need them but... have some nice skin cream around.
hopefully you will meet a nice chemo patient that you can meet up with for each session and chat with until you fall asleep.
Rest and enjoy life.
Hope you have a pet - they are very good for your well being.
health and happiness
sarah

Re: Taxotere Carboplatin Herceptin Side Effects
 

Hello and strong support and well wishes to you.
I am new to this site as well. I have been reading much valuable info, this is my first post.
Cycle 4 TCH completed last week.
I eat mini whole grain bagels before and during infusion. This seems to help nausea (along with initial infusion of Pepcid & Emend!)
Lots and lots of fluids every day (I dilute apple/cranberry 100% juice with water and drink through a straw. Straw helps if my mouth is sore.)
First cycle I had low white counts and hospitilization - I now receive injection of Neulasta 1 day after infusion. This has resolved the white count problem.
Now I am experiencing sore fingertips and fingernails. Anyone reading this have suggestions for this?

Re: Taxotere Carboplatin Herceptin Side Effects
 

Welcome to all 3 of you. You will find this site so helpful. The others have given you all the information you need right now and if you think of any questions, just ask. Best Wishes as you begin your journey to beat breast cancer. Mary L

Re: Taxotere Carboplatin Herceptin Side Effects
 

Yogi,
I had sore finger tips and sore toes. My onc attributed mine to the lapatinib I was taking with the Herceptin and Taxol. He suggested vaseline at night with socks and white cotton gloves (you buy these in a pharmacy). That helped some, but complete healing did not take place until I completed treatment.
Sandra

Re: Taxotere Carboplatin Herceptin Side Effects
 

Thank you - I will definitely try the vaseline and gloves for the sore skin. My fingernails are very sensitive and I avoid opening containers, etc. - it feels like my nails are thin. Did you lose any nails?

Thank you again for your help, Sandra!

Re: Taxotere Carboplatin Herceptin Side Effects
 

Good Afternoon - I had my first TCH the end of january and will have my next one next week (have a one week break so that I can travel to see my son graduate from Navy Bootcamp); I did fine with the infusions - no nausea and did not sleep at all during the infusions - my pain came after and from reading side effects it could of been from the Nuelesta shot or the Herceptin - not sure which but I had horrible body aches and they lasted for about 48 hours; then I was fine. The tastebuds took a little longer to recover - everything tasted burnt to me, so this next time I am definitely taking ice chips to suck on during the infusions. One down 5 to go and then finish out the year with herceptin every three weeks. and I do have a port and the 'stick' is very minimal! And the hair is gone -started falling out at day 14 - I am now at day 19!

Hugs to all
Bev

Re: Taxotere Carboplatin Herceptin Side Effects
 

Yogi,
I did not lose any nails. They did become paper thin and would tear off easily. I also had ingrown toenails that became infected and caused me to see a podiatrist for treatment. I never had these before. My fingers swelled around the nail at the tip and became very red and swollen. They would also bleed when slightly bumped. The good news is that as soon as I finished my Herceptin and lapatinib, they began to improve and now my nails are stronger than ever. Just remember, this is just a side effect for the life saving treatments you are having. Keeping this perspective helped me. It also made me feel that I was getting the max treatment for me because my dosage of lapatinib had to be reduced from the norm.

Take care,
Sandra

Re: Taxotere Carboplatin Herceptin Side Effects
 

Yogi,
Get a port! Also, you can wear specially made gel-filled frozen gloves and socks just during the taxotere portion of your infusions to prevent peeling, painful hands, feet and nails called 'hand-foot syndrome'. Ask your onco nurse about this or search online; there was a scientific paper published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology in 2004. Well worth the effort and it spared me a lot of problems.
One thing I had an unexpected and huge problem with was severe acid reflux all night for several days following each chemo. (I normally never have this problem) my onc had me take Prevacid or Protonix starting the night before each chemo for a total of 10 days each cycle. Worked like a charm.
Nurses aren't very forthcoming about side effects because they don't want to scare you and everyone's experience is different anyway. You have to be very specific in your questions.
I will say that in my case at least it was not NEARLY as bad as I thought it would be. I felt good or even great through most of my treatment. My side effects were very predictible and consistent; once I figured out what they would be I was able to plan around them very well and kept almost a full work and activity schedule. Now a couple of years after, I realize that the chemo, which I had feared the most of all the treatments I received, has had the least impact on me in terms of long-term effects. In fact, I'm not aware that I have suffered ANY long-term effects from it. Don't let them scare you. Just work on staying as healthy as you can. Eat your veggies.

Re: Taxotere Carboplatin Herceptin Side Effects
 

Neulasta was definitely the source of my aches and pains while on chemo. Also, taxotere can cause a red/hot face but an antihistamine will take care of that. Best of luck.

Re: Taxotere Carboplatin Herceptin Side Effects
 

Thank you all so much for your response. You are all so helpful. I am 35 yrs old with 2 kids, a 9 year old boy and 6 year old girl. I pray that I will be here for many more years to come. Being her2 positive is scary but my Onc assures me with Herceptin, it has changed the way doctors view prognosis. I am trying to stay positive.

God Bless.

Re: Taxotere Carboplatin Herceptin Side Effects
 

I just finished my 6th cycle. The best advice I can give you is to not let yourself get constipated. Before your 1st chemo make sure you have smooth move tea on hand and/or senecot laxative tabs. You want to drink a lot of fluids that 1st week but be careful not to make more then 25% of it plain water or tea. I made this mistake my first round and I was sick as a dog. The chemo depletes electrolytes and water and tea dilute them farther. For the other 75% of intake drink smoothies with bananas, Gatorade type of drink, juice, and believe it or not some kind of high sodium broth. I know it doesn't sound too healthy but it's only for the first week and it will help you to not feel as bad. I also found drinking metromint water helpful when my mouth had that horrible taste in it. It sounds weird drinking chocolate/mint water but when I couldn't choke down plain water it really helped. Like you I have younger children 9 and 13. When moms ask you how they can help and they will, ask them if they can give you kids a ride two and from school. This is so helpful. If you have one friend or family member coordinating help it makes things so much easier and takes the pressure off of you. There are meal sign up websites that can be used to manage meal delivery. I also recommend you sign up for a free caringbridge site and give it to everyone you know. Caringbridge.org this will keep you from having to tell the same story over and over, and talk on the phone when your under the weather. It is a great way to keep everyone posted on what's going on and it's quite healing to write it down.. I know that here are so many things I am forgetting but this is a good place to start.

Re: Taxotere Carboplatin Herceptin Side Effects
 

Had TCH yesterday. Slept fine but woke up 4am and couldn't get back to sleep. Had IV Aloxi and Emend and will be on steroids until tomorrow. Feel that's when it'll get tough. Also get my first neulasta today & will take my claritin this am for that.

Overall better than I thought still. My mouth feels bland- not metallic- just like nothing has any taste. Drinking ok- will try to eat b/f I take my decadron- maybe some cream of wheat or something like that. My lower stomach/intestine area feel 'sore' not diarrhea- just sore. I think I'll take pepcid for that too this am.

Going to try to work a bit today. Feel that when the IV meds and decadron stop tomorrow, might be worse then than now as well as the neulasta potential effect.

Glad TCH one behind me- 5 more to go- and of course the weekly herceptin. Didn't have any reaction to that- the IV premed benadryl and 2 po tylenol were given before- they said they only do that w/ first herceptin dose.

Good luck to others- and any/all words of wisdom from those more experienced to me are welcome and appreciated.

Re: Taxotere Carboplatin Herceptin Side Effects
 

Good morning Lisa. I had pretty much the same dx and tx that you are doing. The decadron may be why you aren't sleeping too well. I watched a lot of tv through the nights after my treatments but napped during the day. Everyone reacts differently to the chemo and it sounds like you're doing really well. Eating when you can is really important and drink lots of fluid (G-2 which is a lower sugar sports drink is good). The worst days for me usually started on the 3rd or 4th day after treatment. Neulasta is one that may cause a lot of aches in joints and bones - you may want to ask if there is anything you can take to minimize that if it becomes a problem. Some of the side effects may be cumulative and get a little more prounounced as you go along but they do ease the further you are from the treatment. I'm still doing Herceptin until the end of May and it really doesn't seem to effect me at all - just some additional fatigue the week of treatment. My taste was out of whack for about 3 months after I stopped having the TC part of the TCH - popsicles and sherbert were what helped me with appetite. If I ate something cold and sweet, it seemed to help with increasing my appetite. You'll do great-just rest when you need to and let people help you as much as possible. Treatments and healing from surgery are very hard work. And please keep us informed of how you are doing.

Re: Taxotere Carboplatin Herceptin Side Effects
 

Hi eveyone,

My wife Rachel is on round four of TCH and is having a red blotchy skin reaction on her face. Her oncologist prescribed clindamycin cream but it's not helping. Our pharmacist said it's a sun reaction and to use SPF-100 sunscreen. Wondered if others had similar problems and found things that might help ...

Re: Taxotere Carboplatin Herceptin Side Effects
 

Dear bmorr7

http://her2support.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=39762

Please see this link to another post. If you have other questions, please post a new thread in the newcomers forum. There are some lovely senior members of the group who keep an eye on new threads and will do their best to help.

There is also a search function on the purple bar up the top to find older posts that may be relevant.

Good luck

Aussie Girl