Doxil Rash

• By lifeisgrand
• Posted October 13, 2009 at 9:07 am
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Are either of these epidermal growth factor inhibitors (EGFR)? I just saw an article in CURE magazine about preventing rashes in this group of chemo patients. They are giving a combination of sunscreen, moisturizers, topical corticosteroid and an oral antibiotic doxycycline to prevent the rash.

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• By FavoriteAunt
• Posted October 13, 2009 at 9:46 am
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Doxil can do some amazing things to the skin. I was on it for 8 months earlier this year and while I didn't exactly have what you do, I had plenty of affected areas that were red, dry as could be and peeling. Someone on this site recommended Balmex (the diaper cream) when I had badly burned skin on my heels. I found it did help. It's thick and stays on the spots. I don't think I'd be too tempted to try vaseline though.

Good luck. Hope the Doxil works for you.

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• By georgia-foxynana
• Posted October 13, 2009 at 9:59 am
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Welcome to the Doxil club! Ugh! About two weeks after my second treatment I broke out in horrible mouth blisters, then a fine rash across my chest. A week later I had it everywhere, first really itchy then very painful. I was visiting realtives and my local onc told me to see a doctor there. She suggested drinking Aloe Vera Juice for the mouth and throat sores, also Licorice Lozenges (try finding those). I also had Mucyles lozenges for thrush in the mouth. I took an oatmeal bath (about a cup of old fashioned oatmeal in cheesecloth) let steep about 10 minutes until the bath has cooled to tepid (squeeze out the cheesecloth of the oatmeal milk) and soak for 30 minutes or as last as you can. It is very soothing, takes the itch and burn out. She also prescribed Mycolog II Ointment to rub on the worst of the rash and it did seem to help. Now my skin has turned brown and is peeling, at least the biggest sores are gone. Just had my 3rd Doxil treatment yesterday. My onc said these side effects are common and if they come back, call in and they will prescibe some cortisone cream or maybe even steroid pills to get me past it. By all means follow all of the guidelines suggested for Doxil, I didn't and maybe could have prevented some of these side effects.

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• By Sandy0729
• Posted October 13, 2009 at 7:49 pm
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I've had 6 Doxil treatments. I have a rash all over the front areas of my legs along with the inner and outer thighs. Initially, it was itchy, but now it looks like a scar and is painless and not itchy. I used Eucerin lotion (and still do) on it and my doctor gave me a prescription for Biofine. I think the Biofine helped it.

I also had blisters around the leg and waistband area of my underwear as well as on my back-end and thighs. I am a strong Polish woman - that comes with chubby legs! When I sleep, the chubby parts kind of fold over and I had long blisters in the ridges where they folded! I used over the counter cortizone and the Biofine...it seemed to work.

I used Balmax on the butt blisters that I had from bicycle riding (butt sores from the seat) for a half hour and several blisters on my feet (from walking a lot). All blisters had liquid in them and they hurt! With the exception of the foot blisters, they looked like burns.

A nurse suggested that I try honey on the foot blisters. I dabbed a little on the blisters and put bandaids on them - pain was greatly reduced and disappeared in 2 days. I don't know if this would work on your skin blisters, but you might want to try it. I mentioned it to my doctor and he said the sugar in the honey might be so strong that it does something to the blisters. The liquid actually receded into my skin quickly.

He also said that for some, the blisters and rashes peak and then there are not problems. I'm thinking that I have peaked because my legs look better and I'm not getting any 'fat fold' or underwear blisters....who knows.

I hope this helps.

Hugs and healing,
Sandy

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• By rldrennan
• Posted October 13, 2009 at 10:57 pm
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Hi Folks,
Thanks for all the good advice. I've got the balmax and will try that tonight. I have tried oral steriods (dexamethodone) and steriod cream. Neither helped. The oral steriods just keep me from going to sleep and make me feel wired.

BTW - if you have mouth sores/ulcers ask your doc for 'Miracle Mouthwash'. Its a perscription that the pharmacy will make up while you wait. Some folks call it swish & swallow. It really does help.

Also using Bagbalm on your hands and feet at night really help hand & foot syndrome. Make sure you wear cotton gloves and footies or it will mess up your sheets.

Thanks again for all of the suggestions.

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• By Crit
• Posted October 14, 2009 at 5:46 am
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My wife's skin reactions greatly diminished around cycle 4. Not much helped when it was ragging, however. When she could, ice was a benefit. She had it bad, the big doc's (Brown University group) said "Wow" when they saw her foot blisters, they took pics for teaching purposes. Hang in there, it will most likely subside in time. They still give her a little dexamethesone at infusion time so she doesn't have a immediate reaction.

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• By FavoriteAunt
• Posted October 14, 2009 at 8:15 am
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P.S.
Another thing for mouth sores that worked really well is GelClair Gel. I had used Magic Mouthwash, but that only numbs them. This Gel actually heals the sores. It comes in a packet which you pour into a small glass and add 1-3 teaspoons of water, stir, swish around for a minute and spit out. I found it worked the very first time I used it. You need a RX, so ask your doctor about it.

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• By TvlBeach
• Posted October 14, 2009 at 9:13 am
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I think I was on the same clinical trial and had a Doxil reaction. Ask your Dr. to lower the next dose and get some zinc oyxide cream. It fixed me right up and I am now in 14 months of remission with the trial!

Pam

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• By galmaxflex
• Posted October 14, 2009 at 9:51 pm
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I just had my first treatment of Doxil/Avastin today after six treatments of carbo/taxol and taxotere that ended the end of May 2009, and a CT scan in September that showed new signs of disease and moderate ascites (which I have since had drained). When I asked my gynoc about the side effects of Doxil, he said he has seen very bad side effects as far as the blishters, etc. but that was before they started prescribing Dexamethasone (two 4mg tablets taken twice a day on the day before Doxil, the day of Doxil, and the day after). They also give 10mg of Decadron (Dexamethasone) during the premeds before the Doxil infusion.

My question to those who have had the bad burning, blisters, rash side effects is were you also taking this prescribed amount of Dexamethasone at the time of your Doxil treatments? If not, maybe you should discuss this with your gynocs.

By the way, I started on IV/C infusions twice a week on September 1 following the Univ of Kansas Medical Center protocol and will continue these twice a week along with my monthly treatment of Doxil/Avastin. I have not quite reached therapeutic levels of the C yet, according to the protocol, but I am hoping the slow down in the rate of increase of CA125 I have seen lately may be due to the 10 treatments of IV/C I have had. The only side effect of the IV/C I have had is dry mouth during the infusion and for about an hour afterward.

These posts are such a great way to learn and share. I don't often reply, but I do often read posts.

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