I just had a similar experience with taxol within minutes of the infusion beginning: jittery in infusion arm, flushed, then super dizzy rush to my head, heart rate escalated. I thought I was going to have a heart attack.
Given Benadryl.
Took me a long time to decide whether to proceed as I wasn't assured that Benadryl would be the solution to the allergic reaction. And why was I given Zyrtec in premeds instead of Benadryl.
I took so long thinking I wanted to quit since my body was sending me clear signals not to proceed.
The med oncologist finally called and I felt she "ordered" me to have anti anxiety meds. She insisted without it, the same reaction would occur and I'd be better off asleep.
I said I needed to think about it with my son and hung up. Finally decided to try it. It worked and I stayed awake the whole time to make sure I'd know what was going on.
Yesterday sucked basically, after two failed sticks and finally a successful IV line established. Not a good way to begin what I feared the most to begin with.