CancerCompass message board discussion started by Marie1973 on 6/30/2008 http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,25571,0.htm Sun, 23 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT Sun, 23 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://backend.userland.com/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ Was anyone very weak when starting it?Not active. Sleeping most of the time and not really eating? Was anyone on Hospice and given just a few weeks to live when they tried it?Thank you to all who responded to my last post.This question is very specific because we can try this medication -if we choose-though we haven't done a biopsy to determine if it will help.Thanks,All info will be so helpful,Marie Marie1973 Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT My mother was pretty active when she started it and although she had few symptoms fatigue was one. Good Luck William_533 Sun, 06 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT I've been on Tarceva for 5/6 months now. I was in stage IV in January and today it's almost gone! It worked great for me so far. I was very tired at first (the first 2-3 months) and now I'm fine. I get the bad rash and LOTS of my hair has fallen out -- but considering what this pill has done for me, I'm grateful. Let me know if you have any more questions!Diana Diana Y Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT  On 7/7/2008 Diana Y wrote:I've been on Tarceva for 5/6 months now. I was in stage IV in January and today it's almost gone! It worked great for me so far. I was very tired at first (the first 2-3 months) and now I'm fine. I get the bad rash and LOTS of my hair has fallen out -- but considering what this pill has done for me, I'm grateful. Let me know if you have any more questions!DianaHi Diana,  My husband has been on Tarceva for 2 months. He has IV lung cancer. What kind of test are they doing to check how it is working for you? We were told in Jan. 2008 of his cancer. Will the rash get better after time? He had to stop for a few days and now he is taking 150mg. one day and 100mg. the next. We are praying he can work back up to the 150mg. all the time. The dr. has told us he is holding his own. So my husband is the one that is working to get back to the 150mg. He is 53 years old and still working 5 days a week. Would love to hear from you and anyone else with input or in need of support.  God Bless Carolyn Mike and Carolyn Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT  On 7/14/2008 Mike and Carolyn wrote: On 7/7/2008 Diana Y wrote:I've been on Tarceva for 5/6 months now. I was in stage IV in January and today it's almost gone! It worked great for me so far. I was very tired at first (the first 2-3 months) and now I'm fine. I get the bad rash and LOTS of my hair has fallen out -- but considering what this pill has done for me, I'm grateful. Let me know if you have any more questions!DianaDear Carolyn,Hi Diana,  My husband has been on Tarceva for 2 months. He has IV lung cancer. What kind of test are they doing to check how it is working for you? We were told in Jan. 2008 of his cancer. Will the rash get better after time? He had to stop for a few days and now he is taking 150mg. one day and 100mg. the next. We are praying he can work back up to the 150mg. all the time. The dr. has told us he is holding his own. So my husband is the one that is working to get back to the 150mg. He is 53 years old and still working 5 days a week. Would love to hear from you and anyone else with input or in need of support.  God Bless CarolynDear Carolyn,After 3 months on takingTarceva 150 mg/day they did a scan and it went from stage IV to almost nothing! I get another scan next week to make sure it's still "away". They do a blood test every couple of months to check your liver status (this pill is hard on the liver) and to check blood count, ect. Why couldn't your husband stay on 150 mg? I know it makes you very tired at first. The first 3 months I was pretty tired, but I could still do my daily tasks (I have 2 kids ages 4 and 8) and we own our own business - so I was still busy. I would just go to bed as EARLY as possible! He needs rest at this time - his body needs to let the pill work. I understand not everyone can just "quit working" for 3 months - but tell him to rest as much as possible right now. Make sure he's taking the pill 2 hours after eating or 1 our before eating to it can absorb. The rash will get better. It came out bad for me in the second week of taking it. I found that Selsin Blue (shampoo) actually works if you wash your face/chest with it. It seems to dry it up pretty good. He can request Clyndamycin gel also - but just use that once in a while (it's a steriod) but it works great on the rash.My hair started falling out after about 3 months - I didn't lose all of it - but I did lose most of it. That's been the hardest side effect for me to deal with (being a 43 year old woman - who used to have long blonde hair!) They say it will take a long time to grow back. But it's worth it!!Good luck to you both and please write if you need anymore info! Now that I've been throught htis for about 6 months, I can advise people and I love it!Diana  Diana Y Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT  On 7/14/2008 Diana Y wrote: On 7/14/2008 Mike and Carolyn wrote: On 7/7/2008 Diana Y wrote:I've been on Tarceva for 5/6 months now. I was in stage IV in January and today it's almost gone! It worked great for me so far. I was very tired at first (the first 2-3 months) and now I'm fine. I get the bad rash and LOTS of my hair has fallen out -- but considering what this pill has done for me, I'm grateful. Let me know if you have any more questions!DianaDear Carolyn,Hi Diana,  My husband has been on Tarceva for 2 months. He has IV lung cancer. What kind of test are they doing to check how it is working for you? We were told in Jan. 2008 of his cancer. Will the rash get better after time? He had to stop for a few days and now he is taking 150mg. one day and 100mg. the next. We are praying he can work back up to the 150mg. all the time. The dr. has told us he is holding his own. So my husband is the one that is working to get back to the 150mg. He is 53 years old and still working 5 days a week. Would love to hear from you and anyone else with input or in need of support.  God Bless CarolynDear Carolyn,After 3 months on takingTarceva 150 mg/day they did a scan and it went from stage IV to almost nothing! I get another scan next week to make sure it's still "away". They do a blood test every couple of months to check your liver status (this pill is hard on the liver) and to check blood count, ect. Why couldn't your husband stay on 150 mg? I know it makes you very tired at first. The first 3 months I was pretty tired, but I could still do my daily tasks (I have 2 kids ages 4 and 8) and we own our own business - so I was still busy. I would just go to bed as EARLY as possible! He needs rest at this time - his body needs to let the pill work. I understand not everyone can just "quit working" for 3 months - but tell him to rest as much as possible right now. Make sure he's taking the pill 2 hours after eating or 1 our before eating to it can absorb. The rash will get better. It came out bad for me in the second week of taking it. I found that Selsin Blue (shampoo) actually works if you wash your face/chest with it. It seems to dry it up pretty good. He can request Clyndamycin gel also - but just use that once in a while (it's a steriod) but it works great on the rash.My hair started falling out after about 3 months - I didn't lose all of it - but I did lose most of it. That's been the hardest side effect for me to deal with (being a 43 year old woman - who used to have long blonde hair!) They say it will take a long time to grow back. But it's worth it!!Good luck to you both and please write if you need anymore info! Now that I've been throught htis for about 6 months, I can advise people and I love it!Diana Hi Diana, Thank you for your reponds. He had to stop taking the 150mg. after 12 days because his face was so badly rashed that it would crack and bleed he could not even touch it.So he stopped for 6 days and went on 100mg.(May 19, 2008 -  June 30). Now he is on  150/100mg.every other day.He only had a X-ray of his lungs and blood test and was told he is holding his own on June 30. I am so happy for you and your family on your out come YOU give us HOPE !!!  God Bless Carolyn  Mike and Carolyn Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT