Hey there. I had 6 rounds of docetaxel and this sounds completely normal. Every chemo drug has a “nadir” which is the point when your immune system is lowest - with docetaxel it’s around day 7 which was probs my worst day of each round. The anthracycline chemos have an earlier nadir which explains why people feel ill sooner eg 24-72 hours after.
It’s completely normal to feel ok for the first couple of days especially if you have had steroids. Once you stop taking the steroids and the chemo really starts kicking your ass, that’s when the side effects really kick in.
This might not be massively comforting but here’s how it used to go for me - day 1 fine, day 2 pretty much fine, starting to feel a bit tired, day 3 wake up feeling like I’d been hit by a bus, days 5-7 bowel problems (inc “voluminous” stools and diarrhoea), skin flare up, severe fatigue, changes in taste, sometimes sore throat. 7 -10 bit fragile but definitely starting to get better. 10-14 tired but ok, 14 -21 nearly normal. This won’t be exactly the same for you of course, everyone is different.
I will also say, the first round was significantly worse than the rest. They got easier as time went on I think partly because my body adjusted, partly I knew how to manage it better (take all the meds! complain to your team about everything!) and partly just psychologically I knew what to expect.
TLDR- nothing you are saying sounds unfamiliar or overly concerning based on my experience. I understand you’ll feel disappointed that the side effects are more delayed than you thought but just hang in there. It’ll get easier. You got this.
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