Herceptin & Aromasin
 

Hello everyone,
I've been on Herceptin for almost 1 year (one treatment to go!) and Aromasin for about 4 months. My blood counts are low; they never rebounded from chemo which finished in May. I've recently been diagnosed with Hypo-thryroidism. I'm being tested for auto-immune disorders, if negative I'll have my bone marrow checked.

Anybody out there have any auto-immune problems while on Herceptin and/or Lupron/Aromasin (or other A.I.)?

Thanks!
Mindy

Hi Sue;

After about 18 months of treament, I developed Hashimoto disease--my antibodies attack my thyroid. I am on herceptin, zoladex, and aromasin. I have been wondering for a long time if the zoladex was the culprit but then again about 25% of women develop thryroid problems as they age and begin to enter menopause, so it is difficult to point to our treatment and say that is the problem. I am currently taking increasing doses of synthroid as my thyroid slowly dies off.

kk1

Thanks for the reply, kk1. Has the Hashimoto disease (that's what I have, too) affected your blood counts at all? Have you tried anything else besides synthroid? Thanks! Mindy

Omega-3 fish oil may correct Hashimoto (which can lead to hypothyroidism).

This what animal testing has shown & what I pesonally experienced (I must say I am not a cancer patient) with my TSH now well bellow the threshold level after having danced around it before going on the fish oil pills.
However Synthroid may be necessary to control TSH in most people.

Regarding Aromasin: it was originally thought not to have any effect on bone density. However it is now known that it can affect it especially in the neck.
So monitoring of bone density is recommanded.
A recent publication of the results of clinical trials has indicated that Zometa can preserve bone density in patients treated with aromatase inhibitors such as Femara, Arimidex, Aromasin....

While I was on chemo both my red and white blood counts were low. White count got so low that I had to wear a surgical mask to prevent infection. I was getting Neulasta shots the day after chemo to bring up my white counts and Procrit shots the day of chemo to bring up my red count (hemoglobin). I am now only getting Herceptin and my hemoglobin continues to be low. I usually hoovers around 12.5 and 2 weeks after my Herceptin treatment it plummets to below 11. So when my hemoglobin drops below 12 I still get Procrit shots. I am eating better than I ever have and take a multivitamin, B complex, B12, COQ10, and fish oil tablets.

reishi extract
 

Hi
Reishi mushroom extract helped me when I had low blood counts. I use one called Immune Support by Greenridge. There is some evidence that it helps herceptin work better too.
Jackie

Hi Mindy;

no my counts have not dropped, but they were never low during the chemo either. It does take a very long time for your body to fully recover from the chemo and some people seem to continue to have low counts while on herceptin. Hopefully your counts will recover once you finish with the herceptin.

As to the hasimoto's I have only used synthroid so far. FYI- I find that my mood/emotions seem to be highly influenced by my T4 levels. I find that if my thyroid function decreases dramatically then I tend to get really cranky and angry at the smallest little things and I have difficulty sleeping. I and my husband have learned that if I start acting like a "you know what with a capitol B", which is not my normal personallity, then it's time to get my thyroid funtion tested. So far each time they increase my synthoid dose my general mood improves and stablizes. So don't assume that if you feel emotionally unstable that it is necessarily related to having to deal with the cancer thoughts all the time....it could just be your thyroid hormones which are easy to correct.

KK1