Posted 12/7/2016 12:53 PM (GMT -5)
My personal experiences (all done at NIH in a clinical trial):
(1) breezed through first round, minimal SE
(2) second round --> allergic reaction on start of transfusion, a systemic vascular response that pushed me to the brink of losing consciousness; went away quickly when infusion stopped; dosed up with benadryl and extra steroids, restarted infusion at slower rate, to completion
-- after second infusion, dermatitis began to develop on forearms and upper chest (a SE of taxotere where cells previously exposed to radiation (lots of sun in my case) become inflamed)
oh yeah- hair started falling off before second round --> shaved
(3) third round- another allergic reaction, but different: spasm of pelvic floor muscles; went away quickly on stopping infusion, more steroids, even slower infusion rate (from 1 hour to 4 hours now); to completion
(4) fourth round- no more allergic reactions, infusion completed, but dermatitis is getting worse
(5) show up for fifth round, dermatitis way bad --> docs held chemo--
(6) show up for sixth round, dermatitis improved greatly, but neuropathy developing (numbness, tingling, some pain) in ball of left foot and in left hand; docs did not want to give me anymore chemo, but would have if I insisted- I did not; only four rounds for me-
generally-
(1) the chemo crash 2-3 days post infusion seemed deeper each round; in "recovery" the week before next round, you feel pretty normal, but with each advancing round I was more subject to fatigue on any physical effort- definitely weaker each time
(2) lower limb edema developed after round two, has not gone completely away (last dose middle of September)
(3) mild discoloration and brittle fingernails are growing out to normal now
(4) treating residual neuropathy with vit E, R-lipoic acid, vit B, and acupuncture- I am seeing improvement, and have no limitation on activities
(5) if you look hard you can see darker color in my skin where dermatitis occurred, but causing no problems at all
(6) hair is back, whiter and more coarse I think
just one example; user experience may vary
rf