Postby maryv » Thu Oct 27, 2005 3:29 pm
Hey Jenny,
I just finished 6 months of Xeloda. The side effects I experienced were, dry skin, foot pain and tingly's, my feet peeled a lot for a little while, my eyes were teary all the time and I got pink eye at least 4 times.
There are ways to combat all these side effects. I used Udderly Smooth Creme, the cancer nurses advised this and I use it daily even now. It is a very nice cream and if you use it 3-4 times a day you can combat the dry skin. B6 helps the foot pain and the tingly's. I would get lazy every once in awhile with the b6 and always paid for it. I still take the b6 too. If you decide to use this cream do your feet a lot. If you decide to use another cream still do your feet alot!
For my eyes I was given patanol and a cortisone, antibiotic drop. I would use the patanol drops when my eyes were irritated, and the antibiotic's when they looked as though I had pink eye. It was pretty much left up to me how I used them. I mostly tried to stay out of the wind, cold air, ceiling fans, anything that blows. I carried kleenex whereever I went as you can't control store's blowing air, the wind etc. I always had a kleenex in my hand when I left the house. Kind of reminded myself of my Mom....lol.
Xeloda was much more tolerable then my previous treatment. I was put on oxiliplatin, 5fu, lucovoriun. I had an allergic reaction on my 6th treatment. By the time I started the Xeloda a few months after the reaction I had made my mind up to be as positive as I could. I stayed busy busy busy so I wouldn't get down about any of the side effects.
If you decide to change, good luck. If you have any other questions I can help with let me know.
Mary