LC, casilly, vogel, Linda: the ups and downs of Xeloda

My experiences with Xeloda have been a bit of a rollercoaster ride.

+ It's easy... they ship it to me in the mail!
- Because it is not given in the office, insurance charges an expensive prescription co-pay (see more)
+ I am lucky to have an excellent insurance plan and Xeloda is on the formulary
- The pills are huge... and taste like yuck!
+ I don't have to go into the dr's office for treatment
- I have to carry the Xeloda around with me every day
+ They gave me a nifty pill container to use... handy for the photo-ops
- I have to take the pills on a full stomach... 12 hours apart
+ Great excuse to have extra cookies at 8pm every night!
- Xeloda is known to give people hand-foot syndrome (common side effect)
+ Great excuse for Mike to give me a daily hand/foot massage (thick lotions can help prevent HFS)

Overall, the side effects didn't seem too bad...particularly as we got out ahead of the HFS. I began taking Xeloda on Wednesday, December 21. The first few days were uneventful, but by Christmas Eve, I began to experience chest pain (it felt like someone was sitting on my chest) and heaviness in my arms when I would be on my feet/go upstairs/etc. It subsided when I sat back down. Not wanting to spend the holiday at the ER waiting room, I decided to stay off of my feet and waited until Monday to call the doctor.

The on-call doctor did not think that the chest pain was related to Xeloda (cardiac issues present in <0.5% of patients on Xeloda), but suggested that I stop taking the medication until I had a chance to speak with Dr. C. Trying to put this out of our mind, Mike and I spent the holidays with family -- both the extended Casills & Vogels.

On Wednesday, Dec 28, after consulting with Dr C, I started back on the Xeloda. Like clockwork, the chest pains resumed on Dec 31 and Xeloda joined the growing list of drugs that will not be options for me. Of all of the changes in therapy, this was one of the most disappointing... I had high hopes for Xeloda... for both how well it might work and for the flexibility it would give me. Apparently, it was not meant to be. Back to the drawing board.

Xeloda photo-ops...