Herceptin Holiday...Anyone take one?
 

Hi- I posted not long ago that I had an abnormal stress echo which was followed up by a cardiac cath. Unfortunately, the results were somewhat inconclusive. My heart makes alot of pvc's (premature ventricular contractions), and there is a slight decrease in cardiac function plus I have a high cardiac output which didn't make sense because all the bloodwork I had came back normal. I am on Toprol XL (beta-blocker) and am OFF herceptin. My onc. doesn't want to risk it right now because although my LVEF on the last echo was 53% it was 67% a month prior. I switched cardiologists as I was not getting the answers I was looking for and like the new one. I'm unsure whether I should go get a second opinion at a major cardiac hospital. I think the pvc's are getting better at least when I'm not stressing my heart but I have these sensations in my chest like if someone were "pinching" my lower heart which is where the weakness is.

If you were taken off of herceptin due to cardiac issues how long of a break did you take before going back on? The plan right now is to see how my heart is at the end of the month and hopefully be able to resume herceptin. It would then be a five week break. I didn't ask how long a break I could take before it would be too late to go back on.

If you were not able to complete your year of herceptin how did/do you feel about it? I know there is much research going on about the length of treatment but until the definitive results are out, I'd like to stick with the one year. On the other hand, if I done for good at least I won't have had the emotional buildup to the last herceptin round.

Thanks for reading this ladies! I'm looking forward to your responses.

Jamie

Hi Paris -
Looks like from your sig that you got about 1/2 a year of Herceptin. I am stage IV so am on it permanently or until it fails me.

I did take a 3 month Herceptin Holiday beginning of 2007, just because I wanted it. I understand there is a long half life and it takes a couple of months to clear our system. I think you are still getting some benefit.

You can search this site and find a number of women have had to either take a break or stop their Herceptin due to heart problems. Often times the heart will repair itself with either time or time and some special meds. Then the patient was able to resume.

You can always get a new loading dose any time your docs say it is OK to go back on Herceptin. I don't think it is ever too late.

I had to go off Herceptin due to abnormal Muga. I received 9 doses (I think) At first I was pretty upset, but was thankful that I was able to tolerate that many. It was the opinion of 2 oncologist that due to the Muga I stop the herceptin and not receive anymore. I have since have requested Echo's instead of Muga's.

I had to stop herceptin because of a drop in my LVEF of over 10%. It was still in the 50s but had gone down from 65 and was not going back up despite the herceptin pause. My oncologist said the max pause is three months and if the hereptin can't be started again at that point, it is stopped permanently. (f course, if a patient is stage 4 that could be different.)

I ended up with about four months of herceptin and can only hope it was enough.

At first I was bummed to stop the herceptin but now have accepted it. My oncologist says I may have been cured of my breast cancer but I was definitely suffering heart damage from the herceptin. She said she did not want to be responsible for my developing a heart condition.

Stopping Herceptin
 

I, too, experienced cardiac problems (reduced ejection fraction). I had an echocardiogram, nuclear stress test, exercise stress test and a halter monitor for a day to monitor racing pulse. After all the tests, it was determined that the Herceptin, taken every three weeks, was causing the problem. I took a rest for about 5-6 weeks. My horrible cough disappeared, as did the fast pulse.

I then started Herceptin again, only this time I'm taking it every week. The onc has had good success is making this change for her patients. I've been back on the drug since last October and have no symptoms of cardiac problems. You might want to ask about receiving it every week -- its a chore, but worth it.