tarceva and side effects

The last time I wrote my 82 year old Mom was just starting traceva.  I really appreciate everyones words of encouragements and stories.  She has now been on the drug for a month.  The rash is no big deal and manaageable and she is experienceing thinning of the hair(also not a problem) She is complaining about how much her head hurts her, that it feels so heavy and that she is so tired that all she wants to do is sleep all day.  She also has no appettie for food.  She tells us that she feels worse since she started the traceva and wants to stop taking it.  We have ruled out cancer in the brain.  Ten years ago she had shingles in the ear and was left with nerve damage that the doctors say has to do with the pain and discomfort that she is feeling with her head, but she is so miserable that I just had to ask has anyone experienced any of these additional side effects.  She is also more dizzy then normal and she has a terrible time of tearing of the eyes(which she has had all along-she just feels that everything is greating worst since she started the tarceva) I know that you need to be on the drug for three months before you can see if it is actually helping.  I am hoping that she is willing to stay with the drug.  Her doctor says that the additional side effects have nothing to do with traceva but my Mom feels difefrently. :-(

Hi,

I hope this email finds you well and I hope your mom is feeling better.

My mom was diagnosed with stage IV NSCLC september of 07 and has been on a number of drugs one of which was Tarceva. Tarceva works well for a lot of people and when it does its thing it is an amazing drug. My mom was also experiencing the same fatigue you are describing but no head ache. It got better though after 4-5 weeks.

Everyone is ofcourse different,

Best wishes to you and your mom.
cheers.

FOM