Navelbine

[CoolBreeze]

I start Navelbine on Wednesday, and herceptin the following week.

Does Navelbine cause taste changes? Did anybody have any difficulties with it? I don't have a port, will that pose a problem?

I did TCH previous, but 5 months after I finished herceptin, I recurred. But, I only have two small lesions in the liver so hopefully, we can get rid of those suckers quickly and get me back to health.

I'll do navelbine weekly for 2 months and then rescan and go from there. Would love to hear advice for dealing with this chemo.

[Jackie07]

Coolbreeze,

Besides using 'Navelbine' as the keyword to search past postings (if you are doing 'search' while waiting for others to post their experiences with Navelbine), be sure to search with 'navybean' as well. [Yes, members on this Board do have a sense of humor. :)]

Several 'active' members have the experience with Navelbine, I hope they will chime in soon.

[Trish]

My experience with Navelbine was too brief to be of any use-and too long ago for me to remember. I do note though it was part of the chemo cocktail (with Taxol and Herceptin from memory) that got Steph N to NED. I'm hoping that it will do that for you without too difficult side effects. All the best,
Trish

[Sheila]

Coolbreeze
I was on Navelbine 6 or 7 months....I found it very easy to take....no premeds which meant no decadron, which I liked. I di have to take Nexium as I got terrible heartburn when I was on it. I dont know that a port is required, but Navelbine is a vesicant, which can be very hard on tissue if it infiltrates into the skin during infusion. I believe it was an IV push drug given with a syringe into the IV, so it is fairly quickly administered. I had hair thinning but not hair loss.....it is a great drug for liver mets....hoping it is a s easy on you!

[Colleen007]

I have been on Navelbine for over 4 years. I also find it easy to take with my biggest side effects being low white blood count (I get Neupogen and Neulasta injections for this), heartburn, and altered taste buds. Food tastes "off" but it hasn't stopped me from eating it ;-). I was bald when I started Navelbine and I now have shoulder length hair...it has "thinned" twice in 4 years but nothing that anyone but me noticed.

Also, as Sheila mentions, Navelbine is very hard on tissue and my cancer center strongly recommends a port for infusions. Not to scare you, but my last port malfunctioned last year and I have first-hand experience on Navelbine infiltrating the surrounding tissue (I have a new port now). If it is just for the short-term, you probably won't need one, but if it looks like you will be on Navelbine for awhile, you may want to consider getting a port.

Good luck to you! My liver has been "clear" for awhile now thanks to Navelbine and I hope it does the trick for you.

Colleen

[StephN]

Hello Ann -
Yes, I did have treatment with Navelbine along with Taxol and Herceptin. This 3-drug approach was meant to attack the cancer cells three different ways.

Navelbine is an antimitotic agent. This means that the drug is active in disrupting the disease at a particular point in cell division, during mitosis.

The taxanes work as antimicrotubule agents. Thus the Navelbine will be a new kind of attack that your cancer cells have not seen.

Since I had TWO hard chemos at the same time it was hard to tell which side effect can from which drug. But, I was told by the nurses that what I experienced was exacerbated by both drugs.

My taste buds were blasted and I had mouth sores from time to time. Since I had Taxol at the same time, my hair fell out again.

Constipation was somewhat of a problem, and I could drink Senna tea almost daily which took care of that problem. Also stepped up my fiber intake.

I did take a stomach acid blocker as I had while on Taxotere. Never needed it after stopping the drug.

Learning HOW each drug works in causing cell death allowed me a good visual for inner work.

All the best in this next skirmish!

[CoolBreeze]

Thanks everybody.

I've stocked up on high fiber foods and treats and a little metamucil and miralax too, just in case. I drank my 64 oz of water today and will do so tomorrow too. I didn't find TCH that hard so hopefully, I'll have an easy time with Navelbine.

Just hope it doesn't mess with my tastebuds!

[Adriana Mangus]

CoolBreezze,

I did wonderful while on navelbine --just a little over eight months I was NED for about two years. Easy to take, no hair loss, maybe a little dryness, olive oil or almond oil treatments will do the trick; it's a vesicant which sometimes can cause problem as it will run under the skin, the nurse must monitor you for redness, swelling at the site of the injection and stop the infusion right away. I had a bad burn on my hand for about 2 weeks ouch !!

Hopefully it will be as easy on you as it was on me.

Congratulations. I have the feeling you have a good oncologist...my intuition is telling me that...a little shaman here.

Love,

Adriana

[Adriana Mangus]

CldBrz, (you like it!!)

I forgot something; I did experience little runs only during the first 2 visits. Not bad, but just in case, pack an extra set of undies. No bad taste in the mouth --are you into good foods ??? I am!!!

Nothing to worry about but one never knows, especially if you want to have lunch afterwards.

Love,

Adriana

[michka]

Hi CoolBreeze. Navelbine is a good choice and many women did well on it. I started 2 months ago. I am motivated to continue on it even if I have difficulties. I am sure you will be OK.
I have bad nausea each time and it lasts 3 or 4 days. I also have stomach acid problems. One week I had a sort of general neuropathy attack. I was in bad pain and was on Lyrica and Tramadol. But it only happened once.
I also have a very bad taste in my mouth for 3 or 4 days then it comes back to normal. I noticed I was getting constipated but as I was warned I was very careful and I managed it OK. But this week I had a 24h horrible diarrhea the day after infusion. I just couldn't stop it. Very strange. My hair didn't change. My blood counts are OK. They go down but not too much. I felt very tired in the beginning but now I feel much less fatigue.
Now don't forget I had resection of several parts of my liver plus RFA and they took out my gallbladder less then 3 months ago. Taking chemo makes it difficult for the liver to heal fast and I had bad digestion problems after surgery. I figure a lot of my problems still come from that.
I would recommend a port.
Tell us how you feel. Hugs. Michka

[CoolBreeze]

My skin is breaking out like mad! I'm like a 16 year old again! I had some nausea the first night, easily controlled with meds. My stomach has been wonky but mostly okay. No bowel issues. I did have some burning along my arm and I really don't think I should do more without a port. :(

[Jackie07]

So why haven't you got a port? :)

When I was in high school, a dentist I saw told me that the four wisdom teeth that were 'budding' needed to come out. I resisted the idea, endured many nightmares - actually had dreams about all my teeth coming out of my mouth like popcorns. Once I had them extracted (almost 6 years later), I felt so good and began to wonder about my 'wisdom' (I think unconsciously I was thinking that keeping those teeth would be a proof of 'aged' 'wisdom'.)

I didn't even know that not having a port is an option! I kept my 2nd port from 2007 for so long, my oncologist believed that I was in fear of recurrence. I finally have it removed last month (without informing the oncologist - he'll be surprised when he sees me next year. :)

[Rich66]

Seems some have no issue with wbc counts..mom did. Ended up messing so with the schedule so much, don't know if it was given a chance to work. MamaCZ nailed her liver mets with da bean and vitamin H from the hget go.