Xeloda/Tykerb

[Faith in Him]

The skin around my fingernails is full of little cuts. Similar to papercuts, very painful. I also have a nail that looks like it is lifting from the nail bed. Has anyone else experienced this and what did you do?

Thanks,
Tonya

[Ellie F]

Hi Tonya
I had a similar thing with taxotere Whilst washing my toes one of the nails on the big one lifted and was very painful. Then a couple of finger nails started to go the same way. I taped them down with plasters like I had a cut and this did the job. At night I rubbed olive oil into my fingers and nails and slept with a cotton glove on.
Hope this is some help
Ellie

[jml]

Hi~
The same thing happened to me -fingertips very dry then little splits/cuts along the corners of my fingertips. So painful! And on each big toe & thumb the corners of my fingernails broke off after feeling like I had an in-grown toe nail infection.
I did the same as Ellie - just used band aids. I was lotioning my fingertips constantly and thought about going to have a parafin dip for fingertips.
I've since switched off Tykerb/Xeloda, so things have gotten a little better.
Wish you good luck with this~

Jml

[kk1]

I have the same thing with herceptin and tykerb (no xeloda). I find a dab of antibiotic and a bandaid help a lot. I am also getting a new side effect of a bloody-scabby nose which I think is also related to the tykerb. My Onc. said several others who have been on Tykerb for yr+ are reporting this new SE. Still all is well so it is worth the trade. If my nose or skin splits bother me too much I just drop back a pill or two for 4 or 5 day until they heal and then resume the usual 5/day dose.

Vitamin b6 could help you with your nails (once a day),also ask your dermatologist for proper
ointments.Sometimes there is an infection causing those and could be of various types,even of a fungus origin.This is why the Dermatologist is necessary.

[Sandra in GA]

When I was on Herceptin and Tykerb, my fingers and toes would turn very red, get puffy, and bleed if I accidently bumped them. I had to see a poditrist twice for ingrown toe nails that got infected. My onc blamed the Tykerb for this. I used a heavy cream or vaseline on my hands and slept in white cotton gloves. This helped somewhat. After I finished, all this went away in a couple of weeks. I read somewhere that the theory behind this side effect is that the Tykerb settles in the furthest extremities and causes this. I took that to mean that even if I wasn't able to tolerate the full dose, my body had plenty of it in my system!

I too am on both Xeloda and Tykerb and have the hand and foot syndrome. My pads of my feet are just like the pads of my hands and the nails too both have little paper cuts, it hurts to cut up my food. I have been using Udder Balm on my hands and feet and it really helps especially when my hands or feet are aching.

I also have problems with sores on the corners of my mouth? Any suggestions?

Another side effect is diarrhea, put me in the hospital twice then I got blood clots in my leg and ended up in the hospital. Anyone else get clots? What helps with the pain? 10 mg of morphine doesn't do a thing. It is just a bunch of little things and they get annoying. Maybe one big side effect would be better? Maybe not, so I will stick to my minor side effects.