Docetaxel side effects

Dear @jennyss,
Sorry to hear you had the same side effects, it was terrible wasn't it. I dont think I could have survived that same dose again! And yes my last chemo was a breeze compared to that too! Hopefully I will be the same as you and be ok with the rad and hormone therapy! I hope all is going well with you now and you've had a good recovery.💖 xx

Dear @Hils,
Very good that the cold pack worked for you. That was me in Sept. 2017 - the spots, the burning skin, the hobbling, the peeling - OMG! Then relief from the cold packs. Often I don't post on the network because apart from the docetaxel side-effects, I got off very lightly through chemo, radiotherapy and ongoing hormone treatment; so I don't have a lot of advice to offer. Hope your endoscopy tomorrow brings clear info and a good treatment path for your infection.

from jennyss in Western NSW

Oh.. forgot to say I was also covered in spots over my legs arms and chest, looked like I had measles! And did get some neuropathy in my hands, when sending messages my finger would just jump onto the keyboard when i was looking for the next letter, really funny but annoying! Thankfully it is all gone now!

Ok so I  thought I'd let you know what happened to me with the first dose of docetaxel!
Painted my nails and that was it.
Very tired for a few days then my feet and hands started burning up. So bad that I had to keep them on ice packs for 7 days. Excrutiating pain like theyed been burnt on the oven door. I could only hobble on with my feet but at least I could walk.
At last the pain subsided and thrn the peeling started...not just sun burn peel I mean thick layers of dead skin, it was unbeleavable. My hand 3 weeks later were okwith new skin but my feet are still peeling after5 weeks! 
So the doc put my next dose down 25% , ok this is looking a bit better. But he said I should really have another extra dose due to the reduction😞, I only had two to go.😣
So for my 2nd dose I went prepared,  I found out a bc friend of mine had the cold pack set up for the hands so borrowed it all. I had white gloves on then a jel pac wrapped around my hands pushed into kmart silicone oven mits🤣, what a sight but I didnt care! Very painful but managed to make it through the two and a half hours plus had the cold cap on at thr same time 🤣😂🤣!
Well it worked and I am so glad I did it. Im thinking of telling the doc that he can put it up to the full dose next time so that I dont have to go back again , then I'm finished!
Unfortunately I am in hospital with a chest infection and high temps at the moment. Been here for 5 days. Nothings working so on friday they are going to do an endoscopy and get a sample from my lung so that they can find out what the infection is.So know how to treat it. Not something I needed now, its a real pain. One good thing they did a body ct scan on me and no cancer showed up! 🎉🎉🎉 Its been 5 months since my last one before my ops so very pleased!
Also as routine I had to have a covid test and it came back negative so great mothers day present! Would have been very surprised if I hsd it as been in isolation for so long.
Hope you all had a lovely Mothers day.⚘💖⚘💖⚘

I painted my toenails and lost several. I didn't paint my fingernails and lost none! We're all different. K xox

Hils said:

Thanks everyone for your help, still scared of the side effects, doesn't sound nice but as you say hopefully I wont get them too bad. Bit worried about the neuropathy though would hate to have permanent damage! Where do you get the cold gloves to wear or do you just use ice coolers, and also what about the feet?

Paint your toenails and nails if you can! I wore navy, I didn't do my toenails and lost them all about 2 months after finishing chemo 

Thanks everyone for your help, still scared of the side effects, doesn't sound nice but as you say hopefully I wont get them too bad. Bit worried about the neuropathy though would hate to have permanent damage! Where do you get the cold gloves to wear or do you just use ice coolers, and also what about the feet?

Hi @Hils 
I have had 6 rounds of docetaxel, finished this (for now) in January.
I lost all my hair, eyebrows - most of my hair on my body. The first session caused the most side effects but the others were more manageable. Even though I rinsed my mouth 4 times a day, I got mouth ulcers (Kenalog was helpful), trush in my mouth, often got UTIs (antibiotics and Ural helped), indigestion and the anti-nausea steroids kept me awake - but I would just watch tv/movies in bed - comedies were good for me ::smile: The fatigue was a little more challenging and usually any symptoms occurred in the first week post chemo and the next 2 weeks of my cycle were pretty good. I stopped work altogether after the first round of chemo though. I was also told to drink 2 litres of water every day for the first week post chemo. Pukka make a lovely organic tea - lemon, ginger and Manuka honey which was great for any nausea. Also Gin.gins ginger lollies were helpful too. Fortunately, I didn't experience any neuropathy. Now nearly 3 months post last chemo my hair is about 1cm long and eyebrows half-way grown back :)  Still on Pertuzumab and Trastuzumab. 
Wishing you all the best with your treatment - as @Beaglemum said, you may get some side effects, but hopefully you will get none  xox Good luck  <3

hi @Hils  I had the docetaxel and was freaked out by the long list of side effects before I started - thankfully mine were minimal - no nausea, didn't lose my appetite - but did get the terrible taste kick in about round 3.  I was tired after each round but only for a couple of days - and I was able to still work by around  day 4/5 post each treatment.

By last round cankles had set in and that was probably my worse side effect - I had large swollen legs and feet which were quite painful - this lasted about a month but have since gone back to normal, currently have achey ankles but this could ben down to the hormone blocking drug I am now on.   Also did get the bone pain from the injection you need to take the day after - first time it kicked in (about 3 days later) I was freaked out - however that also went after a couple of days - so I knew to expect it each time.  Nails were ok during TC - have become an issue now - 2 months post chemo, I too am wearing dark nail polish.

So long & short you will most likely get some but hopefully not too many of the side effects and hopefully they will be the ones that are easier to manage.

Wishing you well for your next treatment & drink lots of water  xx