Hi Jackie, 

I had 6 cycles of Docetaxel & cyclophosphamide and am having herceptin every 3 weeks. I found it quite manageable with the main symptom being bone pain and tiredness. I never had any problems with sickness. 
 
Janine x

Thanks for your reply Janine 

did you just manage pain with Ibuprofen? 
Did you loose eyebrows/eyelashes 

thanks again 

Jackie x

Hi Jackie 

I had 4 cycles of Docetaxel with targeted pertuzumab & trastuzumab following 3 cycles of EC chemo. 
The first loading dose was tough - I literally felt as if I'd been run over - muscle & joint pains & intense fatigue - but then after that it wasn't as bad. My nails also really suffered. I'd already lost all my hair, eyebrows, lashes etc (tried cold cap but it didn't work for me) but my nails changed colour and loosened & there was some liquid/puss behind them (not all - but big toe nails particularly). I used antiseptic cream on them and was very careful with shoes. My fingernails weren't as bad but did go purple, blue, green etc and very weak but just take good care of them. I didn't loose any but they looked a bit colourful !! 
 

Good Luck with everything xx
 

Hi Jackie

I had 3 cycles of Docetaxel (finished 4 weeks ago). I found the physical side effects a lot easier to deal with than the EC chemo. 

I only had a bit of bone pain once in my lower back and thighs (it was like really bad period pain) but took paracetamol and it eased. I had no nausea or sickness, a little bit of diarrhoea (but I think that was from the injections rather than the chemo). No tingling in hands or feet and my nails did fine (I painted them black all the way through as I heard this helps).

I did lose a lot of my eyebrows and eyelashes though which was not very nice. Had tiredness but just spent a couple of days in bed and I did lose my appetite but tried to eat a little of something for my main meals.

My main issue that I struggled with was more of the mental aspect of it all rather than physically. Could have been due to the amount of steroids I had in my system.

Obviously the side effects can effect everyone differently so just go with the flow and listen to your body.

All the best

Amy x

Hi Amy 

thanks so much for the reply 

It's like a roller coaster Amy I have been fine on EC apart from an element of tiredness 

I truly am trying to take one day at a time & hate the control it has over my life xx 

I hope to hav a positive experience & just take it & deal with it xxx

Thanks Jackie xx

Hi Jackie

A rollercoaster is exactly right, a ride nobody wants to go on but once your on you've got to ride it out.

There might be times when you think this will never end and you struggle to see the finish line. But you WILL get there.

I read all sorts of horror stories about Docetaxel and was so petrified before having it. But like I said, physically I wasn't so bad on it, just niggly little side effects that I could deal with.

Just please don't forget to take care of your mental well being too, it can be a little sneaky ***.

I'm wishing you all the best for the rest of your chemotherapy, and remember you will reach the finish line. Everyday that goes by is 1 day closer to the end of the rollercoaster.

Amy x

Amy 

you appear to have the same positive mental attitude as myself & I truly believe it is a key factor to successfully dealing with this *** Show that we find ourselves a member of . 
Hope you find yourself through the worst of this challenging episode Amy

thanks for taking the time to give me your personal experience 

Jackie xxx

Hi there. I've just finished 4 cycles of Docetaxel with targeted pertuzumab & trastuzumab and 3 cycles of EC - I'm Her2 positive stage 2 Grade 3 breast cancer with surgery in 4 weeks I coped pretty well with the Docetaxel with bone aches on day 5-10 which was bearable. I found EC horrific and felt constantly sick, tired, lost all my hair and the worst thing of all was and is my fingernails I'm awaiting results from a swab as I too have yellow puss coming out of one of my nails. I had antibiotics which did nothing. Not sure if this is normal but most of my nails have lifted and are sort of white half way down and 2 are purple/black. The one that looks the most normal in appearance has the puss - weird, oh and they smell too! All good fun hey! Can I ask how you coped with your nails and us this normal? I have no redness and the doctor said they don't look infected. 

wishing you well on this horrible journey we're all going through.

Michelle 
 

Hi Michelle, I've had exactly the same chemo & targeted drug regime (I'm invasive stage 2, Her2+ & oestrogen +) & our nail experience sounds really similar. The chemo suite swabbed my toe nails for infection but I didn't require antibiotics. I used savlon / antiseptic creams on them and just kept them super clean & filed. I also wore slippers & pumps that were loose if I needed to - but nothing that pressed down on my nails. My fingernails were similar but now most of the black/blue/green colours have grown out & they are incredibly short but looking so much better! 
As with all of this, I think time is a great healer ! I'm 3 months on from chemo now (but continuing with trastuzumab by injection) & have short hair, eyebrows and even a few lashes again ! 
I also had surgery 4 weeks after chemo - unfortunately for me, although the chemo gave me a wonderful complete pathological response, the pathology from that lumpectomy detected some unknown DCIS so I went back for a second lumpectomy & unfortunately even more DCIS was found so I had a mastectomy & reconstruction surgery just 5 days ago.

One thing for sure - this is a rollercoaster - to be honest it's really tough but somehow you just keep moving forward & being positive- each day is a step closer to getting better :)

Sending you loads of luck & wishing you well too - we can kick this !! 

xxx