I've had stage 3b lung cancer with plural effusion diagnosed 8-8-05.
Chemo failed - avastian gave me high blood pressure and tarceva gave me a bad cough.
I started tarceva right after avastin and spent 5 days days in the hospital getting my blood pressure down and recovering from a seizure that blanked out the first three days.
Tha doctors said i had either a brain tumor or a brain hemmorage but later said the ct scans found nothing abnormal.(my doc said it's weired)
When i came home i developed a horrible cough.
I would cough so hard and so long that my stomach mucsles would hurt and i would get no relief until i threw up a substansial amount of mucus and clear. It was always worse at night , there were nights i would only sleep 2 or 3 hours because of the coughingg.
I had a cup ,tissues and any number of decongestants and cough syrups by my bedside and all over the house for this relentless cough. I looked up side effects for tarceva and could'nt find any connection for a cough.
My doctor said the lining of my lung was getting thicker annd suggester i go on more chemo. I told him i didn't want to give up the tarceva becase it made my breathing easier.
He then agreed to check my sinuses but tests showed them to be clear. He then sent me to a ear -nose ect. Specialst. This doctor walked in the romm and said i heared you coughing from down the hall and i've already looked at your charts and i promise you if you get off your blood pressure medicine (lucinipril)your cough will go away. I did and it did but i still had a dry cough but nothing compared to what i had.
I got on the net and looked possible side effectsfor all my medicines and found my allergy drug (singulair)could cause a cough.
I stopped the singulair and my dry cough went away. Since i don't take a allergy medicine now i still have small -controlable coughing spells but decongestants bring it under control.
I have started taking celebrex with tarceva and after two months my cancer made liittle if any progress. My doctor said it seems to be helping and raised my dose of celebrex with a warning it is assoiated with heart attacks.
My only real complaint now is the tarceva rash-it has been relentless ,i've taken several rounds of strong antibiotics which work but the rash comes back . I wash my face neck and chest with acholol or anti-itch cream three times a days and finding it difficult to control.
Last week marked one year since diagnosis and my daughter came from michigan and we went to our sons in bloominton il. And all threee family's ran walked or jogged one mile together.
It's been a rich and wonderful year taking mini vacations together and soaking up the joy of being together always thinking this may be our last time together so there's no time to argue.
I hope you find the reason for your cough but i've found little connection with tarceva.
Check all your medicines and leave no stone unturned- when is your cough at it's worst or best and is is that related to taking something at a certain time. Take nothing for granted,exercise all your body will allow,be a detective and make cancer sorry it picked you.
Good luck and i hope you can join us next year when we jog a mile to mark my second year of survival. Good luck big sis 1018. Don husband to priscilla (i'm a lucky duck