The oncology nurses gave me informational printouts for Taxol, Herceptin, and Lupron that list possible side effects for each. From everything I've gathered, the first chemo treatment tends to be the easiest; it's the accumulation of the drugs that precipitates severe side effects. I'm in good shape so far. This is what I've experienced.
Day 1
The night of treatment, I started having a dry mouth. It lasted a couple days, actually making it easier for me to meet my water drinking goals. Mouth sores are listed as a side effect of Taxol, so maybe the dry mouth goes with that.
Day 2
My butt was sore from the Lupron injection.
Towards the end of the day, I developed a sporadic cough, possibly a side effect of Herceptin. Mostly it's a dry cough, but not always.
Day 3
I woke up with a dry, scratchy throat and stuffy nose, but they didn't persist. Rhinitis and pharyngitis (cold symptoms) are listed as side effects of Herceptin.
Around mid-morning, my fingers and palms felt itchy, tingly, and a little numb. I figured this was peripheral neuropathy, a side effect of Taxol. It kind of came and went throughout the day, lasting for an hour or so at a time.
My mouth also started to feel kind of acidic, just this weird kind of sour-like feeling. So I made and started to use the mouth rinse recommended in the Taxol handout: 8 oz. of water with 1 teaspoon baking soda and 1 teaspoon salt. I rinse and gargle as needed; it helps.
Day 4
I felt just a little bit of tingliness in my toes. It passed after a little while.
No comments:
Post a Comment