[Maggie C]

Kate -

My experience with Taxotere is just like the other postings. Treatment on Friday and by Monday afternoon I started to crash. Tuesdays were my worse day when I also told friends I felt like I had been "run over by a truck" with worse than flu achiness. I also had Decadron the day before, of and after treatment. I felt my best (out of the 3 weeks) after treatment for about 3 days and could do "anything". Maybe it was the Decadron. I was also on Herceptin and am still taking Herceptin.

Yes, the affects become cumulative. My oncologist and I negotiated a reduced dosage for the last 2 (of 6) treatments - down from 125 mg to 118mg. That helped a lot. I weight 124 and felt that maybe the dosage I was on was tougher than necessary based on bodymass/med ratio.

I did not have severe pain but did have some numbness in my toes and hyper sensitivity in my fingertips. It goes away in time (or so they say).

I also found that taking a sleeping pill each night, starting with the day before treatment helped with the insomia I suffered from the chemo and Decadron.

I've been through 2 full courses of Taxotere-Herception and found that the "loading" first dose was the worse. Each time I became neutropenic, and actually had to be hospitalized after my third treatment. From there on out I insisted on having Neuprogen after each treatment (5 injections once a day) and was fine.

Hope this helps. Originally my onocologist said some people just "fly" through this protocol. I'd like to know what planet they are living on : )

Maggie