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Chemotherapy symptoms, combined carboplatin/paclitaxel

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  • La17
    La17
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    It is often difficult to isolate those symptoms - I am so glad that you were able to get answers and hope that you will be able to find a combination that is effective without causing a reaction.  I experienced a much milder reaction (pain up the spine, slight heaviness in the chest) during my second treatment, and the medical team was very responsive and took even the “mild” reaction very seriously.  I took two days of pre-treatment steroids and antihistamine, and a different type of antihistamine on treatment days.  After each treatment, I found that the dose of the antihistamines that were meant to balance some of the effects of the high dose steroids (Dexamethasone) had a “sweet spot” in terms of dose - too high a dose actually interfered more with sleep and nausea, while the “regular” dose was most effective.  I really hope your team can find a safe and effective alternative option for you.

  • kastoyles
    kastoyles
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    @dolphingirl - OMG! I didn't have any reaction to either carbo or taxol - but twice when I was getting my treatment a lady in the chemo suite reacted. I remember the doctor telling one lady that she might have a delayed reaction, what to look for and when it was necessary to get to the hospital. Some very scary drugs are being infused into our bodies and while the goal is to help us fight cancer there are side effects that aren't very pleasant, and in your case, dangerous. I hope you are feeling better and are able to continue treatment with a different drug.
  • dolphingirl
    dolphingirl
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    kastoyles said:
    @dolphingirl - OMG! I didn't have any reaction to either carbo or taxol - but twice when I was getting my treatment a lady in the chemo suite reacted. I remember the doctor telling one lady that she might have a delayed reaction, what to look for and when it was necessary to get to the hospital. Some very scary drugs are being infused into our bodies and while the goal is to help us fight cancer there are side effects that aren't very pleasant, and in your case, dangerous. I hope you are feeling better and are able to continue treatment with a different drug.

    Thank you so much for your comment.  Not only did I have my serious reaction, my doctor wanted to try the drug again giving me a higher dose of anti-histamines.  The immunologist who saw me in the ER continued to follow my case and said that it would not be safe to re-try the Taxol again.  I continued on with only Carbo with no further ill effects.

    I totally understand that every drug has side effects and that people react differently to drugs, but I somehow get the feeling that I was a great big science project through my treatment.  I'm now on a maintenance dose of Olapirab and I kept getting calls from the pharmacy team checking up on me for the 1st month.  It was almost like they were expecting something terrible to go wrong.  After the 1st month this stopped.
  • Annie1950
    Annie1950 Peer Support Vol
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    @dolphingirl What a harrowing experience you had to go through!  Thank heavens you did a little research into the culprit and hopefully with that knowledge they can switch up your chemo to drugs that you can tolerate.  I hope you're starting to see more improvement as time progresses:)  Best wishes for your treatments going forward.

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