Starting docetaxel chemotherapy

Good luck Darren, 

It seems I'm approx. 10 days ahead of you in terms of chemo cycle. Here's a summary of my first 10 days, I hope it helps.

I was quite apprehensive before the actual day of first infusion, but the staff were excellent and talked me though everything before starting. 

On the day, the infusion (by cannula) passed with little incident, no pain. The only two things I noticed was

a. a little numbness in my arm extending +/- 3 inches from the cannula site. This started about 20 minutes after the docetaxel started. Nurse told me to flex my hand and fingers - this I did but the numbness remained until after the cannula was removed. Numbness disappeared completely 30 mins later. 
b. some numbness in the base of my left heel. Again this disappeared as soon as I was up and moving around again. 
Both could have been chemo or the way my arm was held and the way I was sitting ( i have lower back disc issues).

There's no bruising at the site of injection which seems to have healed ok. But because of the numbness, there was some talk of giving me a PICC line for the subsequent infusions. 

Post chemo infusion, I went for pub lunch, lasagne followed by chocolate brownie and ice cream. I got home and did a 2 mile walk in the afternoon (keep doing exercise they say). In hindsight that lunch may have been a bit rich. 
It's fair to say I was a bit hyper on the day of chemo and somewhat relieved it went so well.

Next day (chemo +1) I crashed with fatigue for 4 days. No energy, but able to get up and watch t.v; able to eat, but not much more. Days chemo +5 to +8 returned to work 1/2 day ( i work from home); daily walk of 1-1.5 miles for exercise. Day chemo +9, first time I have woken up feeling I have energy and clear head. 

Drug regime: HT and chemo:
3 months before chemo - nothing
2 months before chemo - lansoprazole & naproxen daily (for back pain - cancer in my spine)
3 weeks before chemo - Bicalutamide (for 28 days) - no obvious side effects
1 week before chemo - Decapeptyl injection  - no obvious side effects prior to chemo
Before chemo - 12, 3, 1 hrs: Dexamethasone - loads of energy and bounce on day of chemo
Chemo - docetaxel
Day of chemo - Darolutamide started (daily)
Day after chemo - Prednisalone started (daily)
Optional - Metoclopramide as required anti sickness medicine ( i was told to take this for  5 days x 3 a day but I decided there were so many new drugs in my system I would just take it if I felt sick; I took 4 over 5 days). 
Optional - co codamol pain relief as required instead of/as well as naproxen

7 days after chemo, I stopped needing/taking the painkillers.

Going from no drugs to the mix of above was something I struggled to get my head round. I'm a bit more accepting now. 
It's hard to separate the potential effects of HT (decapeptyl and darolutamide) from the chemo because they all started around the same time. 

Side effects:
Other than fatigue above, I had diarrhea (2x) on the day of chemo in the evening. However that afternoon I had taken a Vitamin B supplement as well.  I stopped taking the vit B supplement and the diarrhea has gone; was it the supplement or the mix of drugs, who knows. Other than that brief episode, I've had no constipation or diarrhea. [I was expecting to go one way or the other]. 

Chemo mouth: No ulcers or infections, but everything tastes different. Water tastes foul - I need to add a flavour. I don't take caffeine, but all my herbal teas taste off. I have no desire for coffee (decaff). I have to be deliberate about my fluid intake to make sure I get enough water. I like spicy food, but even a mild chilli tasted hot to me and made me a little nauseated. At plus 9 days I still have chemo mouth.

Appetite: reduced at first, but back to normal now. I've lost a kilo in weight. 

Sickness: The first week I would randomly feel slightly sick in my mouth or stomach, so took the anti sickness medicine when this happened. I never even got close to feeling sick to need to throw up. 

I've several friends who've recently gone through chemo for various cancers, prostate, bowel, breast, lymphoma. The overriding message I get is that every person responds differently. The biggest issue for me is the extent and length of post chemo fatigue. 

I hope this helps,
Mike

Good to hear how everyone’s getting on with their cycles.

I finished my 2nd cycle 10 days ago and had a bit of chemo mouth and general fatigue. I think the Dexamethasone is the thing that’s affected me the most- wired for three days whilst on that.

I developed a temp 37.8 last night and had been brewing a cold for about 10 days. Anyway now in the acute assessment unit having IV antibiotics! Wasn’t expecting this. There’s a suspicion of neutropenic sepsis so managing me for that. Hopefully will be home today then rest of the week off work to relax.

The nurses have said that at 10 days post chemo we’re particularly susceptible to infection. Think my kids gave me a cold. Hoping the chest X-ray is clear and the antibiotics do the trick. Fingers crossed! 

Hi

I'm going to my 4th cycle of docetaxel next week by cannula and I've had no issues.am given course of steroids which is increased a day before the infusion which a suffer a bit of insomnia from the buzz but that peters off after the infusion I'm sent home with anti sickness tablets for about 3 days and self injections for 5 days for white blood cells,I suffer from constipation for a few days and taste buds go wild for about a week.

Hope this helps regards Phil 

Hi,

I have just had my 3rd IV of Docetaxel via cannula and other than lack of taste, appetite and fatigue in the first 6 days after treatment I have been coping ok and still working from home.  The sites of infusion have left dark bruising in the back of my hand and my forearm but the bruising from the first treatment has just started to fade in the last few days.  Each infusion is 3 weeks apart and I am due for my 4th one in 2 weeks time.   You have to stay on top of your fluid intake which is tough as even water tastes terrible!   Keep a bottle of lactulose close by and take some if you have not been to the toilet by the third day otherwise you will end up with severe constipation.   Tip for taste buds which seems to reduce the longevity of lack of taste is, ice pops, ice cream (if you can tolerate it) and sucking on frozen grapes including during the administration of the Docetaxel.

Hope this helps

Jay 

Good luck Darren, you can do it, you’ll be fine. It’s mainly a battle against fatigue
All the best

Spongebob

Darren, Darren,

Well done! But I’ve been there, the first night you think it’s a breeze. When it was me at this point I was pinging my mate telling him how easy it was and planning our next MTB in a couple days time. Little did I know!!!! You’ll get knocked out for 6 in the next 24hours. So, Just relax, go with the flow, and don’t be too ambitious (well I would get that Saturday night curry ordered, after all you are going through the mill, so why not?)

Wishing you all the best

Sponge

Thanks Phil,

Listening to all of you a bit ahead of me in the chemo journey there does seem to be a bit of a them with the cumulative effects of the chemo in the later cycles. Makes sense I guess. I read about a 7-10 day Nadir point at which the chemical is most potent? 

I can relate to the relationship tensions. I suppose it’s hard on the other half having to be strong all the time. There will be wobbles and from threads I’ve read on here about relationships it seems so crucial for the family unit to try to balance and support  everyone’s emotions on this crackers journey. I talk about ‘reading the room’ and knowing when actually you or the wife might just need some time to themselves to decompress everything or equally a focussed convo or ‘state of the union’ as to where we’re both at with this all- a meeting of minds of you will. 

No doubt more updates to follow! Off to watch the kids at the pool!! Suns out as well! 

I was forever cold, even in August/September I was wrapped up in jumpers and a woolly hat.

The first week after every cycle wiped me out. Occasionally I would spend all day in bed.

Hair fell out after a fortnight, grew back pure white, then went curly, now back to shades of grey and straight.

Cycle four was when I started getting the runs, which lasted a while after the cycles finished (luckily I have a stoma bag which made it easy to manage).

Do the thermometer measurements regularly - I was really nerdy and kept a spreadsheet of them, and graphs of what was happening. The difference between my readings during cycle one and cycle six was astonishing! (see chapter 29 of my blog for the graphs!)

My blog covers my experience of it:

https://stewart124.wordpress.com/the-prostate-thing-28-let-the-chemo-begin/

https://stewart124.wordpress.com/the-prostate-thing-29-let-the-chemo-end/

Hi parkie

Glad to hear your coping well with the chemo,I've got my 6th cycle next week followed the day after with an appointment with the chemist and a PSA reading result where I'll ask the question if docetaxel can be used again when the time comes,fingers crossed for us both.

Regards Phil