DOXIL AND GEMZAR

[susie]

I am on a doxil-gemzar combo. D-G on day one and gemzar only, day 8. Does doxil or gemzar make you feel really crappy or is it the cancer? I can't tell anymore. I know that when I was on taxotere/carbo and herceptin, I felt pretty good. I even travelled. Now I am just sitting or laying around all the time and feeling generally really bad, no pain really, just weak, tired and iccky. Reds and whites have been down---aranesp and neulasta. Does this chemo cause this? The drop in cell counts, that is? I am er and pr+ and may revisit a hormone soon on the advice of a second opinion. I need all the solid advice I can get!

[Jackie]

I was on weekly gemzar from Feb 04 thru May with just a little problem surfacing from time to time, but it finally did me in with exactly the same symptoms you described. I skipped a few weeks and then started with an every other wk chemo schedule. I think that was going to help, but the gemzar quit working and I had to change drugs. Am on xeloda now and don't feel great but not nearly as bad as I did last summer. I had never really felt bad from any chemo drug previously, even with the dreaded adriamycin/cytoxin combo in my initial treatment (prior to recurrence). My onc told me this morning that if I don't feel better (on the xeloda), we will try something else. She already had to cut my dose in half when I initially started the xeloda just before Labor Day because of extreme heartburn, stomach discomfort and weakness. You need to tell your onc how bad you're feeling and explore your options! Your quality of life is very important!! Gemzar stays in your system for a good while, so any change will take a little bit of time to measure its effectiveness. I know exactly how you're feeling and sure hope you can do something to get yourself back on your feet!
Best wishes,
Jackie