Can Chemotherapy Be Reduced Due to Side Effects?

My oncologist decreased the dosage of my chemo toward the end due to increasing neuropathy. She explained that it's still effective even at 80% of it's original dosage.

I am glad it’s possible. Thank you Susan!

Mine also decreased my dose. Later he changed chemo to something new

Was that better for you?

Yes

If you don’t mind telling me what was that?

I started on carbo and taxol weekly. I developed neuropathy that got worse even with decrease so he switched me to AC chemo gave me gabapentin and Norco things are tolerable now and I am able to function.

I just canceled my last 2 (of 12) Taxol chemo treatments due to neuropathy in face, fingers and toes and constant cough. I’ll continue the Herceptin every 3 weeks for 9 months. Praying the neuropathy is not permanent but there’s always that chance.

Mine was reduced for #5 and 6 sessions. Still have neuropathy in hand and feet a year later.

Mine was reduced by ~30% after awful side effects experience. I was fine after the reduction.

When I was on Adriamycin/Cytoxan, (red devil) the first round of 4 planned treatments dropped my blood count to anemia, severe fatigue, and platelets to 30. The Oncologist still gave me the full regime but he waited a week until my labs recovered, and divided each treatment in half that I was able to tolerate, and I went every 2 weeks instead of 3 weeks. My planned 4 treatments turned into 8, but full dosage given in end.

I saw the doctor yesterday and he adjusted the dosage. He removed the Carbo he said it’s the one that was giving more side effects. Left the other Chemo and targeted therapy.

Best wishes Lucy. Oncologists work with the different medications to make them as tolerable as possible. True unique journeys for us all. I’m doing my best to tolerate Lynparza, a PARP inhibitor to block the BRCA gene. Bothers me that my tumor markers keep trending upward but Drs not sure if it’s the cancer or autoimmune problems. I can’t take immunotherapies, as I could die on them, so I’m accepting this plan and praying it helps. PET scans about every 6 months, as the previous 3 month CT scans did not detect when I spread to one axillary node. Triple negative cancers are so aggressive and sneaky but I’m staying aggressively active and doing my best. 🙏

Thank you! Best wishes for everything to go well! 🙏🙏🙏

I did the full round of AC but only managed 4 rounds out of 10 of the taxol due to neuropathy . Been cancer free since March.

I’m going onto five years of treatment in august. I was Ibrance first and it worked well. I had eye surgery and couldn’t take anything for two months. Everything went crazy in my body I am on chemo now. Neuropathy started. I got compression socks and it is sooo much much better. I’ll be 81 in November and have no idea of giving up. ❤️

I could not complete all of my chemo due to bad side effects in 2024. The black sludge diarrhea, my nails turning black and falling off and ending up in the hospital for 5 days on two separate occasions was too much for me. I didn't want any treatment reduced at all. I figured I would be half as sick. I tried but my body said nope. So far I am doing fine. The treatments I took before I got sick seemed to have worked.

Good to hear they worked!

Dose reductions and treatment modifications are actually quite common when patients experience significant side effects during chemotherapy. Many oncologists will adjust treatment plans to help manage tolerance while still working toward treatment goals. This is definitely something worth discussing openly with your care team - they're experienced in finding the right balance for each person's situation. Have others in the community had similar conversations with their doctors about treatment adjustments?