xeloda side effects?

[charlotte]

Hi gang
THe Dr. has now put me on xeloda. My first shipment of this will occur tommorow. While the oncology nurse was giving me what to look out for, side effects etc. She mentioned that Hair loss was a common side effect.
I do not remember if some of my brave friends on this site, mentioned this?? I have been searching on the web and not finding this side effect medication as well..
I am taking tykerb now and have been for about a year. Could I please get some feedback on this drug as well? She also told me to take a nausa medication prior to having breakfast, then take the xeloda (30 minutes)..
I will call my Dr. tommorrow after the medication arrives. Do I need to get my wigs out? (lol)
She (onc. nurse) made a comment that the tykerb and zeloda were usually given in seperate doses of 2 times a day.
I would appreciate any help on this..
thanks for the feedback as well... this is one fine group of folks here..

[Sheila]

Charlotte
I was on Xeloda for over a year (with Herceptin) and the only side effects I had were cracking split fingertips and some burning in my feet...flipflops were my new favorite shoe...I had no nausea and no hair loss...I do think side effects are dose related...I was on 2500mg a day, 1500 in the morning and 1000 at night.
Hope this helps, I'm sure you will hear more from the Tykerb Xeloda gals!

[Pam P]

Charlotte - Like Sheila I had no nausea and no hair loss. I did have diarrhea in the beginning, but it eventually resolved. I also had problems with hand/foot peeling & soreness. I hear there's a good remedy for that using henna, but I didn't know about it when I was in need of it. Google henna & xeloda & there's a recipe to use. I was on xeloda/herceptin for over 2 yrs, then switched to xeloda/tykerb for another year. I didn't notice any changes when I switched to tykerb.

[Carolyns]

Charlotte -

I started Xeloda with Tykerb 3 weeks ago today. I am on Xeloda for 2 weeks with the third week off and Tykerb daily. I take 5 Tykerb in the morning one hour before I eat anything and then 2 Xeloda with breakfast and 2 Xeloda at night with food.

So far so good for me. No markers done yet but I hope it is working.

As for side effects - I can tell you that every treatment has made me nauseous so I thought that I may have the same issue with Xeloda. So far nothing and I do not take any pre-meds. If I have one complaint it would be sores in my nose but I have never heard of anyone else with this issue.

It would seem that you nurse was mistaken about the hair loss thing as a common side effect. Please make sure that you mention that to her as it could be very distressing for a patient to be misinformed in such a negative way for no reason. Also, please review the dosing schedule with the doctor to make sure you understand their instructions.

Best of luck to you! Carolyn

[jones7676]

My reaction was about the same as Sheilas. A nice hand soak and lotion with frequency was about the most important aspect. Otherwise I had lots of split skin spots around the nails. I used to avoid gloves that tended to make them dry.

[Sherryg683]

I had terrible hand/foot syndrome. Started somewhere in my second round of xeloda. My feet and hands got so bad they looked like they had been put on hot coal. The severity of this can be lessened with adjusting the dose. ..sherryg683