docetaxel/taxotare

Hi Julia, I too had taxotere for 4 cycles, and I must have been lucky, as my side effects were not too bad. Nothing worse than a 2 on a scale of 1 to 10. I did get most of the side effects that they spoke of, but nothing was too bad. Early on, the oncologist told me to take all the medications recommended, as it is easier to prevent nausea than to treat it. Also with the aches and pains that come on day 5, he said to take panadol 4 hourly, and that really helped me. My white cells never dropped significantly, and I didn't even get a cold during treatment let alone anything else more severe. I wore a nail strengthener that was given to me at the clinic, and did wear cold gloves. My nails did get ridges on them and 2 nail beds lifted a bit, but they have all healed without any defecit. I didn't work while on chemo, and I'm sure this made my experience more tolerable, and I had lots of friends dropping in for coffee or taking me out, so my social life was actually fun during chemo. I hope you also have an ok time with it. Love Chris xx