1St Herceptin Treatment

hello, I have posted other messages here before, and have always been informed from others going through similar treatments..

last week I had my 1st herceptin drip treatment.. so far not to bad.. I expected worse, and have been given better!  The only thing I have noticed and the dr. doesnt seem concerned about is chest pain which could or may not be related to the heart at all but it has just started since taking the herceptin last week.. I know this medicine is toxic to the heart, and they did an efraction injection the day before I started this treatment.. but didnt get the results back as to what the heart scan showed..  should I be concerned about these pains or just figure its part of the side effects.. the one thing I did have was the night of the treatment I had terrible chills, fever, and body aches.. much worse than I was told they would be.. they went away the next day.. I just wanted to ask others who may have taken this medicine what their experience has been? 

I am Her2 positive and was in 01 when my first breast cancer diagnosis was made and treated.. the onco I had then didnt suggest I be given any herceptin to ward off any recurrence and so it is now metastatic in my lung area.. new onco dr. wants to keep it from spreading into other areas of my body so he has put me on the herceptin drip ever 3 weeks and hopes to put me on the pill form of this medicine if it proves beneficial after my next pet/scan in June..  I really dont want to have to take this stuff for the rest of my life... I am hoping for a break in treatment for a few months if things look good in June.. has anyone else had this and been able to take periodic breaks in treatment to give the body a chance to regroup?

love to hear from you..

JODIE

Hi Jodie - I took Herceptin for an entire year (every three weeks) and never had any side effects.  I started taking it with Taxotere (4 times every three weeks) and then continued the Herceptin for a year.  My hair thinned during the chemo and the Herceptin would not allow full growth, but I still had quite a bit and it did come back slowly.  After my Herceptin treatments were completed, my hair grew back to normal.   If your heart scans are okay, I really would not worry about the heart side effects.  The chances of it doing something to your heart are very minimal.  I came through an entire year and my heart is in great shape.  I think Herceptin is generally given for a year.  Are the pills something new?  I just finished in October and I didn't have the opportunity for the pills.  I wish I did!!  I was diagnosed in 03 with Stage II, one node positive breast cancer.  Mine came back in 06 in my lung also.  They were able to surgically remove the spot in my lung.  I was not HER2 positive until the recurrence.  I find that a little odd.

Do you take Arimdex?  The Arimidex gives me far more side effects than the Herceptin ever did.  It diminishes all estrogen from the body so my body feels like it is 80 years old.  But since my cancer was metastatic, I will continue with the Arimidex.  I can live with the side effects if it means my cancer will stay away longer.

 How old are you?  I also take Zolodex shots (capsules shot into my stomach) to keep me postmenopausal because of the Arimidex (my body was not ready for that yet - I had never missed a period - even through two rounds of chemo).

There is no need to fear Herceptin - it is truly one of the great breakthrough technologies for people who are HER2 positive.

 Marcia

On 3/24/2008 Jodie wrote:

hello, I have posted other messages here before, and have always been informed from others going through similar treatments..

last week I had my 1st herceptin drip treatment.. so far not to bad.. I expected worse, and have been given better!  The only thing I have noticed and the dr. doesnt seem concerned about is chest pain which could or may not be related to the heart at all but it has just started since taking the herceptin last week.. I know this medicine is toxic to the heart, and they did an efraction injection the day before I started this treatment.. but didnt get the results back as to what the heart scan showed..  should I be concerned about these pains or just figure its part of the side effects.. the one thing I did have was the night of the treatment I had terrible chills, fever, and body aches.. much worse than I was told they would be.. they went away the next day.. I just wanted to ask others who may have taken this medicine what their experience has been? 

I am Her2 positive and was in 01 when my first breast cancer diagnosis was made and treated.. the onco I had then didnt suggest I be given any herceptin to ward off any recurrence and so it is now metastatic in my lung area.. new onco dr. wants to keep it from spreading into other areas of my body so he has put me on the herceptin drip ever 3 weeks and hopes to put me on the pill form of this medicine if it proves beneficial after my next pet/scan in June..  I really dont want to have to take this stuff for the rest of my life... I am hoping for a break in treatment for a few months if things look good in June.. has anyone else had this and been able to take periodic breaks in treatment to give the body a chance to regroup?

love to hear from you..

JODIE

Hi Jodie,

  I have been on Herceptin treatments every other week since Feb 07  I have to say I haven't had any side effects from it except for feeling more tired on the days I have the treatment.

 I did have to take a break while they did a cardiac work up on me for shortness of breath.luckily every thing is alright.

 Yes I would be very concerned about the chest pain and have it checked out even if it turns out to be nothing. it will ease your mind and you have enough to worry about.

 I have a MUGA scan or a Echocardiogram  every 3-4 months to monitor for the toxic effects.

 I am also HER2 positive and ER positive the herceptin is much easier to take than the Aromatase Inhibitors I have to take for the next 7 years.

  Do they give you any premeds with the Herceptin they started out giving me Benadry IV before the 1st few treatments in cause I had any side effects.

Good Luck,

Carol 

My dad was on herceptin and had a major heart attack after the second treatment. There is a warning on the drug that it may cause heart problems. BE PROACTIVE!!

That being said- I'm a 6 year survivor of left side breast cancer and still get chest pain related to the surgery and radiation.

Best of luck!

JK

On 3/28/2008 starfire774 wrote:

 

On 3/24/2008 Jodie wrote:

hello, I have posted other messages here before, and have always been informed from others going through similar treatments..

last week I had my 1st herceptin drip treatment.. so far not to bad.. I expected worse, and have been given better!  The only thing I have noticed and the dr. doesnt seem concerned about is chest pain which could or may not be related to the heart at all but it has just started since taking the herceptin last week.. I know this medicine is toxic to the heart, and they did an efraction injection the day before I started this treatment.. but didnt get the results back as to what the heart scan showed..  should I be concerned about these pains or just figure its part of the side effects.. the one thing I did have was the night of the treatment I had terrible chills, fever, and body aches.. much worse than I was told they would be.. they went away the next day.. I just wanted to ask others who may have taken this medicine what their experience has been? 

I am Her2 positive and was in 01 when my first breast cancer diagnosis was made and treated.. the onco I had then didnt suggest I be given any herceptin to ward off any recurrence and so it is now metastatic in my lung area.. new onco dr. wants to keep it from spreading into other areas of my body so he has put me on the herceptin drip ever 3 weeks and hopes to put me on the pill form of this medicine if it proves beneficial after my next pet/scan in June..  I really dont want to have to take this stuff for the rest of my life... I am hoping for a break in treatment for a few months if things look good in June.. has anyone else had this and been able to take periodic breaks in treatment to give the body a chance to regroup?

love to hear from you..

JODIE

Hi Jodie,

  I have been on Herceptin treatments every other week since Feb 07  I have to say I haven't had any side effects from it except for feeling more tired on the days I have the treatment.

 I did have to take a break while they did a cardiac work up on me for shortness of breath.luckily every thing is alright.

 Yes I would be very concerned about the chest pain and have it checked out even if it turns out to be nothing. it will ease your mind and you have enough to worry about.

 I have a MUGA scan or a Echocardiogram  every 3-4 months to monitor for the toxic effects.

 I am also HER2 positive and ER positive the herceptin is much easier to take than the Aromatase Inhibitors I have to take for the next 7 years.

  Do they give you any premeds with the Herceptin they started out giving me Benadry IV before the 1st few treatments in cause I had any side effects.

Good Luck,

Carol 

 

Carol:

Yes they give me benedryl and tylenol..that seems to be all i really nead with this..as there is no nausea..when I had the avastin/taxotere yes they loaded me up with pre-meds..too much infact..I was sleepy from the benedryl  and nausea meds then they woke me up when they gave me the decadron..this herceptin thank goodness isnt like that.. I have noticed though that my hair doesnt seem to be coming back in like it should and as one of the people wrote here she found the herceptin treatments did slow down the new hair growth..  I am going to do three months of this herceptin or i should say until the end of May or June when they do another petscan and I also have a wedding cake to do the 10th of May and dont want to be on any meds for safety & wellness feelings sake and so i am opting to not have any treatments until after the 10th of May after this one the middle of April.. the herceptin does make me feel a little run down..and I dont want to feel that way trying to accomplish a huge project like that..

I was having some chest pains and still do some, but I guess they arent to be concerned with unless I keel over from a heart attack!  The dr. did check my heart for blood flow function and I guess the test came back ok because they went ahead and gave me the herceptin anyway..

That is strange to be er positive and her2 positive as well..my cancer was negative for the hormones so I have not taken any hormone inhibitors..I am already post menopausal..thank goodness! 

I dont like the idea of having to think about taking any long term medicine for this cancer for the rest of my life..but I guess I just have to see my self as a diabetic who is trying to control my disease..that is the only way I can cope with having to continue on a medicine that isnt good for the rest of me health wise...it controls the cancer and otherwise my body doesnt want the stuff in there..I'm just not a medicine taker, never have been to much..I am taking a vitamin now though for my eyes..I was told a week ago that i now have the dry macular degeneration in one of my eyes..I'm thinking great!   If the cancer dont get me I will end up blind!!!!  Its always something anymore it seems..?  Seems like after i turned 50 everything with my health started going down hill.  Thats why they tell us when we are younger to take care of ourselves I guess?  Dont know what they mean till we get to this point and we are falling apart..

thankyou for your reply..it was most helpful..and thankyou to the others who also posted on this topic..I enjoy reading about others who have similar experiences that I can relate to..not enjoy to the point of glad they are in this with me..that is a dreaded thing..wouldnt wish this on anyone..but it is nice to know there are others to talk to who understand how I am feeling and how scarey this stuff can be for us..

Gods Blessings..

Jodie