Taxotere - side effects - permanent hair loss !

[Gail Perry]

KTZ wrote:

Why don't you just sue the company and get it over with?

First she would have to find a lawyer willing to take the case, and it's very clear from the website that this is a possibility. As for what she was told at the doctor's, it would be a "he said/she said" situation. I really understand her frustration. I have the same problem although, I suspect, not to the same degree. Having cancer sucks and the treatments are brutal. I wanted to believe that I would go after it with both barrels and then everything would be normal afterwards.

Well, not quite. I know FOR A FACT now that AI's also interfere with hair regrowth, and many women go on an AI right after chemo or even during it. I'm on Tamoxifen, and although I feel much better on the Tamoxifen, I shaved my arms two weeks ago (to monitor hair growth when I started on the Tamoxifen) and there's not even a SIGN of hair regrowth.

This is a known side effect of Tamoxifen. I have to decide whether the benefits outweigh the side effects. They simply did not, for me, on the AI's. So far I can live with Tamoxifen, but its effect on hair growth, for me, is even more dramatic than the AI's were

[Gail Perry]

KTZ wrote:

Why don't you just sue the company and get it over with?

First she would have to find a lawyer willing to take the case, and it's very clear from the website that this is a possibility. As for what she was told at the doctor's, it would be a "he said/she said" situation. I really understand her frustration. I have the same problem although, I suspect, not to the same degree. Having cancer sucks and the treatments are brutal. I wanted to believe that I would go after it with both barrels and then everything would be normal afterwards.

Well, not quite. I know FOR A FACT now that AI's also interfere with hair regrowth, and many women go on an AI right after chemo or even during it. I'm on Tamoxifen, and although I feel much better on the Tamoxifen, I shaved my arms two weeks ago (to monitor hair growth when I started on the Tamoxifen) and there's not even a SIGN of hair regrowth.

This is a known side effect of Tamoxifen. I have to decide whether the benefits outweigh the side effects. They simply did not, for me, on the AI's. So far I can live with Tamoxifen, but its effect on hair growth, for me, is even more dramatic than the AI's were.

I could end up in a wig and I'm not sure it would be worth it.Wigs and sailing aren't real compatible.

[Gail Perry]

Oh dear.

I meant to say

"First she would have to find a lawyer willing to take the case, and it's very clear from the website that this is a NOT possibility."

Sorry for any confusion.

[netopill]

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Prices up to 70% lower than in local pharmacies

Taxotere 20mg/0.5ml 1 VIAL -$360
Taxotere 80mg/2ml 1 VIAL -$1450

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[Gail Perry]

Netopill you deserve this:

Netopill, you can get Arimidex and Femara far cheaper from Northwest Pharmacy in Vancouver, Canada. I HIGHLY recommend them for excellent service and unbelievable prices. And yes, it's the real thing. With the side effects I had from Femara there was no mistaking its effects. The only problem is that you have to plan well in advance because it can take up to a month, but $89 for three months of Femara -- well, check and see what it would cost at NetoPill or your local pharmacy and you'll be glad to plan ahead.

I posted that because I DESPISE people who come in here and try to use these support forums as their personal billboards.

Go to Northwest Pharmacy. You'll thank me!

[The Color Purple]

Hi! I just had last Taxotere Sept 10. My hair is just fuzz now 2 months later. I had it once every 3 weeks for 4 times. My fingernails are all horrible..purple, my toenails are also. I have finger-tip neuropathy and taking Neurotin for that which helps but does not cure it. I have lymphedema also. It came before the radiation but has been helped some by twice a wk physical therapy. I will probably never be cured of it. It is painful but that pain comes and goes. It should stablize after radiation is done next week. My hair seems very thin and not growing in as much as another woman I met who had a different chemo ending at the same time. Her hair is 2 inches long 2 months post chemo and mine with Taxotere is fuzz only. I am concerned my hair will not grow back as I read this. I guess I should be more concerned about the cancer not coming back. That is life and death. I do not want it to reoccur after a double mastectomy. We took the Taxotere to cure us and now need to find help for the hair loss side effect. I would hate to be bald forever and sympathize, but I think we should be finding something to help the hair growth maybe from a dermatologist. Has Shirley tried any hairgrowth products? Does anyone know of any hair re-growth products which work on Taxotere hair follicles? What have you tried, Shirley? I would love to find help for you and myself if it is possible anywhere. Does anything help the purple nail syndrome? God bless us all...and give us all a long life.

[Gail Perry]

Purple, don't assume yet that it won't grow back. Your hair grows in several stages, and the first hair you get back after chemo isn't usually a "keeper" because not all the hair production cells have turned back on yet. After chemo my hair grew in black and white, and straight as hay. Normally I'm blonde with gray, and curly.

Honestly I just shaved the first hair off. Then when it grew back it was bent oddly. Shaved that off. THEN it came in blonde, gray and curly. On AI's it grew very slowly and on Tamoxifen it may not be growing at all.

I had the purple nail syndrome although my toes were much worse. My nails did improve. Try soaking them in bleach. I really helped mine. It's been three years and some of my toenails are still thick and distorted, although SLOWLY growing out healthy nail on most toes.

God bless us all is right, and let us die peacefully in our sleep years after having been through this. May this just be a bump in the road.

[Gail Perry]

PS, Purple -- I didn't have numbness in my fingers, but it did start after 11 of 12 weekly treatments in my feet. I declined to have the 12th treatment as I wasn't convinced that five months and one week of chemo was proven superior to five months of it. I already have mild coordination problems, so neuropathy in my feet would have been very serious for me.

It was the top inside quarter (on the bottom) on both my feet, and it did gradually improve. I still have just the SLIGHTEST numbness at the tips of my big toes. If I hadn't known what happened honestly I don't think I would have ever noticed.

[Gail Perry]

Oh I meant to say -- about bleaching your nails? You use 1 part bleach to ten parts water. Not straight bleach.

[Just Another BC Patient]

Wow. I just sat here and read this entire thread.

Gail: You have been very clear in your posts and I applaud your logical rhetoric, wonderful vocabulary, and interesting writing style.

Shirley: You need to read what Gail is writing. She's agreeing with you! What's the problem? By the way, I'm taking Taxotere, and I was told by my oncologist that there was a chance I could remain bald or partially bald after the treatment was completed. I also went online and read everything I could about the drug before I let them pump it into me. I think the problem is (judging from your spelling and grammatical errors throughout your posts) that you just might not have understood what you were reading OR what you were being told. My first Taxotere treatment almost killed me, literally, but I'll do anything to get rid of this cancer so I can be around to meet my grandchildren.

Breast Cancer patients and survivors should support one another, and that's all Gail's tried to do: present all the facts so that people looking to this thread for information could find as much as possible. Shirley, you've curse, called people liars, and insulted anyone that's agreed with Gail. I'm sure I'm next, and that's sad.

I hope everyone gets their hair back, and if I don't, then I'll just have to buy an extra nice wig or hat on my daughters' wedding days.

Good luck to everyone.

[Gail Perry]

Here's an update for you. Right before I was supposed to go out of town I had a REALLY bad haircut. After spending all that time grow it out, curl it up and cover that giant nearly-bald spot ... this awful hairdresser cut over two inches off my hair. I almost looked like Mia Farrow in "Rosemary's Baby" when she was done.

I found a really good hair extensions salon and spent some money to get hair back on my head. I was so frustrated. I've worked so hard at getting what hair I had back and then she did that to me.

If you know what hair extensions look like you might spot it if you knew what to look for, but it's pretty invisible. It's just a temporary solution.

I had to go off the Femara and couldn't tolerate the Tamoxifen either, so now I will find out, once and for all, whether it was chemo or hormone therapy that has made my hair problem. I'm hoping it was the hormone therapy and I won't have to wear these long.

[Gail Perry]

Purple I was just re-reading posts and ... it's much too soon to panic 2 months after you've ended treatment. Give it time. I know what the fantasy is -- that you'll put that wig or scarves aside much faster than we get to.

[netopill]

Dear Gail Perry,

I think to be a honest and say , that Northwest "Canada" send the drugs from TURKEY!!!!

Regards

Gail Perry wrote:

Netopill you deserve this:
Netopill, you can get Arimidex and Femara far cheaper from Northwest Pharmacy in Vancouver, Canada. I HIGHLY recommend them for excellent service and unbelievable prices. And yes, it's the real thing. With the side effects I had from Femara there was no mistaking its effects. The only problem is that you have to plan well in advance because it can take up to a month, but $89 for three months of Femara -- well, check and see what it would cost at NetoPill or your local pharmacy and you'll be glad to plan ahead.
I posted that because I DESPISE people who come in here and try to use these support forums as their personal billboards.
Go to Northwest Pharmacy. You'll thank me!