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Of Docetaxel and fingernails.... Advice needed!

spinningrose
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Hi all,

i am new to this site, and seeking advice.

On 18 May I had my first (and subsequently last) encounter with Docetaxel. During week following treatment I had a rather bad reaction to it and further treatment was stopped.

Many side effects ensued, after only one dose  I lost all of what hair remained after previous 3 cycles of FEC, the skin on my hands and feet came off in hideous great chunks, along with many physical impairments and failures. All of these are well on way to recovery but the one remaining area of concern is fingernails! Shortly after the Docetaxel a ridge (for want of a better way to describe it) form across the nails near the cuticle. The ridge is gradually growing out with nails however they are now lifting and it looks as though I might lose all my nails completely bleurgh!!!!  Not ideal when one spends most of the day typing for a living 

I keep nails as short as poss so as not to catch them on anything and rip them off, and I moisturise them with almond oil.

has anyone else experienced this and been able to prevent the nails lifting off?

Advice would be most welcome indeed.

  • Offline in reply to Alison168

    Hi Alison,

    Sorry, I can't be much help as my nails survived quite well through FEC-T.  I got ridges and a couple of months after the chemo my nails gradually tore off down to the lowest ridge but that's fine as it just means they are really short and they are growing again without ridges.

    However, I am about to start a different chemo and will be on it for a year so I could end up with problems and have some tips!  I'll let you know if I do.

    My only thought is to get some very thin but dark gloves and maybe wear them so your nails aren't exposed at all but you're not having to constantly redo surgical tape.

    LJ

    LJx

  • Offline in reply to TwinTwo

     

    Hi LJ, Spinningrose and Alison,

    Ladies, are you aware that there are 2 strengths of urea cream? The stronger of the two - 25% is much more effective than the weaker one. If your nails are getting sharp and catching, a visit to a Podiatrist can help. They can file the area down with an electric nail drill which leaves the nails much smoother. This should reduce the need for tape, which will only maccerate the nails and nail bed, leaving the nails even more devitalised.

    I'm afraid that I have no solution to ridging. I have had this for 9 years after only having Tamoxifen and Letrozole.

    I wish all of you brave ladies success with your various treatments and, hope that they work well for you.

    Kind regards,

    Jolamine xx

  • Offline in reply to Jolamine
    Jolamine, spinningrose and twintwo, Thank you all for your helpful advice! Treatment is tough enough and then there are the side effects to cope with! Will keep them dry, moisturised and smooth! And will minimise the time they are wrapped up as I didn’t realise this would cause problems - good timing for all the tips as I am at home at the moment after a having a mastectomy last Wednesday. Good opportunity to nurture my nails as I am mainly resting! It is especially good to have an estimate of how long nails take to grow / grow out - i find if I can know the timeframe it is much easier to relax about it and also focus on the regime to support my nails to grow strongly during that time A
  • Offline in reply to Alison168

    Just wanted to say thanks for all the tips! I am slathering almond oil on plus Vaseline at night and I think that two days without plasters is already making a difference

    take care, A

  • Offline in reply to Alison168

    I'm glad I found this post. I finished my last of three Docetaxyl cycles a few weeks ago. It caused me to develop the ridge lines early on but now I'm noticing that a couple of my fingernails look like they are starting to lift. I wish I had been given the advice re dark nail polish. I'll start wearing it now in the hope that it's not too late to save them! Can see that others here were not told about it as a possible way of preventing issues so seems strange that if this works why it's not standard information to give people. 
    X

  • Offline in reply to julia1000

    Hi

    I finished my both treatmens (chemo and radio)in March 2021. Since Jan my nails starts to look very poor and starts lift up from base. I did seek for advice but none pharmacy gave me anything to help (gp send me to pharmacy) but I have found something really good and want to share here so it may help someone else. There is a serum called Arcada's Serum TC16 PURE COLLAGEN AND TEA TREE OIL you can find it on eBay and it's really worth buy. Im still using it but after 2months my nails starts look "normal" ( still have problems with toes nails but they are growing slower) and I feel more protected from any infection that may happen in this circumstance. 

    Wishing everyone good health

     

  • Offline in reply to MaJo

     

    Hi MaJo,

    A very warm welcome to our forum and thank you for this advice. I am glad that you have found something helpful to use on your nails and, I am sure that this will be helpful for many people here, as this is a common problem.

    I am glad to hear that you have finished all your treatment and hope that you are feeling better now that this is all behind you.

    Please remember that we are always here for you on good days and bad and, we hope to see you joinng in with our little community as and when you feel like it.

    Kind regards,

    Jolamine xx

  • Offline in reply to Jolamine

    Hi Jolamine

    Thank you for all warm words. I will try to help with my knowledge. Stay all in good health!

     

    MaJo xxx

     

     

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