Tarceva pill treatment side effects and responses

Just wondering if you have info on experiences with taking Tarceva,many times with at least Gemzar and sometimes with Xeloda.

It has been suggested to take all three of these agents for 2 weeks on and 1 week off. Repeat.

Wonder on tumor and marker response and side effects, fatigue , rash and such. My brother has tolerated the Gem and Xeloda for 9 cycles  at lesser rate...and wishes to hit it harder. Any thoughts? thanks Brogan in Seattle

I'm sure everyone has different reactions to Tarceva.  My side effects were awful.  I took one pill a day from the first of October until December last year.  I ended up with rash all over my body.  Mainly face, neck and back.  It itched like crazy.  I had very bad diahrea plus the rash on my rear end and was completely miserable.  I could not eat.  Nothing tasted good.

I was taking this along with gemzar and after taking those for about 2 months I had lost about 40 pounds. Plus when I had a scan it showed that nothing was working and my mets had grown. 

My oncologist switched me to 5 FU and leukovarin in 1/09.  I gradually got much better, the rash cleared up, the diahrea cleared up and my appetite returned.  I've gained those 40 poinds back and the scans have shown a decrease in some of the mets and some stablized. 

Those side effects are what I was told would happen.  I opted to take the risk anyway.  It was a real bad choice for me.

Hope this helps.  By the way, I was told that Tarceva on average will only increase longevity something like 15 days over Gemzar alone.  BUT, it may work better for other people.