Are These Side Effects?

[DianneS]

Hi ladies,

I have started on my sort of 2nd treatment. The first treatment on Novemer 9 was Herceptin, full dose, and only 10 minutes of Taxotere and no Carboplatin.

The '2nd' dose was last Tuesday. They were able to infuse all of the Herceptin -slowly- 50% of the Taxotere and all of the Carboplatin. It is taking a little over 6 hours for these infusions due to the fact that they are going slowly.

Some of you who are doing the TCH regimen take Dexamethazone, right? That stuff sucks....can someone tell me if this is connected to Herceptin, Dexameth, or what?

1. Day 5 after treatment I got up in the a.m. and felt faint, fast heart beat and sweaty all day. We finally went to ER to see what was up and nothing was found to be below par except my blood was just a little under, not enough to concern them. Does the Dexameth cause symptoms so many days later? Have any of you had these symptoms, and if so, did the docs connect it to a specific drug? I'd really like to avoid this next time. I had the same reaction the first time- pounding fast heart beat. Today I feel fine. I also have had no nausea and my hair is not falling out yet. Isn't it normal to be nauseated all of the time? I don't know if I should take something....I seem to have an appetite and have not taken any nausea meds since Wednes.

Sorry for all the questions, but I know you guys will know the answers! Thank you,
Diannes

[BonnieR]

Diannes, I can not answer all of your concerns. But I will say that I never had nausea during treatment. I did have a poor appetite, which is different. Also, it took awhile for my hair to fall out. It was gradual. And I never lost it entirely. But mostly.
Good that you are asking questions. We all react differently. Keep the faith.
Bonnie

[Chelee]

Diannes, Dexamethasone is given to help reduce allergic reactions to certain chemotherapy drugs...not just for herceptin. In order to be safe you have to have the Dexameth with Taxotere, and Carbpotin.

As far as your symptoms on day 5...there is no way to say for sure what caused it? Every body reactions differently. I know the Taxotere was the worse for me. Aches, pains all over...felt weak at times, tired, fatigued and there were so many times I thought I had a fever because I would get so hot. But I would check and it was fine.

And no...its not necessarily the norm for everyone to get nauseated. I took my pills as instructed by my chemo nurse...but I believe it was my 3rd infusion and I was use to the drugs by then & decided I didn't need them, so I took nothing for nausea & I was fine.

But still go easy on yourself because I noticed you said the first infusion you only got part of your Taxotere and no carb. Then the 2nd infusion a reduced amount of Taxotere. So I would still take my nausea meds if you get a full dose of Taxotere, Carb and herceptin to be on the safe side until you know for sure how your body will react? My hair started coming out in small clumps...by day 17 or 18 I believe it was pretty much gone! Yours might come out slower because again you haven't had full doses of Taxotere unless your a lucky one and you won't lose yours. But most do on Taxotere I hate to say.

Don't worry about asking us questions...that's what we are all here for. Ask away and we will all be more then glad to answer your questions. Keep them coming...and hang in there...it won't be long and this will all be behind you.

Chelee

[Jean]

Hi Diannes,
Each one of us is unique and while we have similiar reactions we are different. As you are discovering your body reaction has made your dr. decided to decrease your volumne of taxotere.

Chelee answered your questions to perfection. Remember that the treatments are accumulative in nature, so therefore you may experience different reactions from treatment #1 and #2....For myself treatment #1 I felt fine and did not think I even needed to take the meds for nausea, so on treatment #2 I did not take them. Which proved to be a mistake....due note, once the nausea starts it is difficult to get a hold of it and will take some time to gain control.
Therefore, no matter how you feel take your nausea meds...to ensure that you will not have nausea reaction.
As treatment continues you may feel more fatique than the first and second treatments. I clearly remember feeling after the first treatment that I was prepared for many side effects or reactions that never occured. Treatment #2, #3, were totally different. As I mentioned since the treatments are accumulative in nature I felt more flu like reactions during the later half.

It is rather usual to see hair loss anytime after 2 wks.
and for some of us 21 days...hair starts by getting thin.
It is even normal for your scalp to hurt before you begin to lose hair.

Always come for info and support....sending you all good wishes...

Best Regards,
jean