HER2 Support Group Forums - View Single Post - serious earaches---navelbine side effect??

Chelee · 09-19-2010, 01:00 AM

Tricia,
When I recurred last December I was doing Herceptin/Navelbine I complained of terrible pain on both sides of my jaw...right in front of each ear lobe almost. It really hurt! I also told my onc I had what felt like the beginnings of a mild ear infection in both ears. Both of my inner ears were bothering me...not bad, but just enough to get my attention. The days I had the navelbine infusions I was also waking up around 4:00 AM in the morning and could hear my heart pounding in my ears...it was loud...woke me out of a dead sleep. That really concerned me. I informed my onc but she said she'd never heard of that before. She did start me on Neupogen to raise my WBC...but the jaw and inner ear pain was still there.

I can tell you as time went on the jaw pain improved. It was still there...but very mild...to almost not noticable at times. It's like my body adjusted to Navelbine? Which I was glad because it was much easier to tolerate then other chemo drugs. I know Herceptin/Navelbine is a good combo for lung mets and other recurrence...the two have a good synergy togther. But I can tell you I researched the jaw pain last Dec. I did see it "was" one of the side affects. And it did get better as time went on...hope some of this helps. You have a good medical team so they will figure this out for you.

Chelee

09-19-2010, 01:00 AM	#5
Chelee Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Southern, CA Posts: 2,511	Re: serious earaches---navelbine side effect?? Tricia, When I recurred last December I was doing Herceptin/Navelbine I complained of terrible pain on both sides of my jaw...right in front of each ear lobe almost. It really hurt! I also told my onc I had what felt like the beginnings of a mild ear infection in both ears. Both of my inner ears were bothering me...not bad, but just enough to get my attention. The days I had the navelbine infusions I was also waking up around 4:00 AM in the morning and could hear my heart pounding in my ears...it was loud...woke me out of a dead sleep. That really concerned me. I informed my onc but she said she'd never heard of that before. She did start me on Neupogen to raise my WBC...but the jaw and inner ear pain was still there. I can tell you as time went on the jaw pain improved. It was still there...but very mild...to almost not noticable at times. It's like my body adjusted to Navelbine? Which I was glad because it was much easier to tolerate then other chemo drugs. I know Herceptin/Navelbine is a good combo for lung mets and other recurrence...the two have a good synergy togther. But I can tell you I researched the jaw pain last Dec. I did see it "was" one of the side affects. And it did get better as time went on...hope some of this helps. You have a good medical team so they will figure this out for you. Chelee __________________ DX: 12-20-05 - Stage IIIA, Her2/Neu, 3+++,Er & Pr weakly positive, 5 of 16 pos nodes. Rt. MRM on 1-3-06 -- No Rads due to compromised lungs. Chemo started 2-7-06 -- TCH - - Finished 6-12-06 Finished yr of wkly herceptin 3-19-07 3-15-07 Lt side prophylactic simple mastectomy. -- Ooph 4-05-07 9-21-09 PET/CT "Recurrence" to Rt. axllia, Rt. femur, ilium. Possible Sacrum & liver? Now stage IV. 9-28-09 Loading dose of Herceptin & started Zometa 9-29-09 Power Port Placement 10-24-09 Mass 6.4 x 4.7 cm on Rt. femur head. 11-19-09 RT. Femur surgery - Rod placed 12-7-09 Navelbine added to Herceptin/Zometa. 3-23-10 Ten days of rads to RT femur. Completed. 4-05-10 Quit Navelbine--Herceptin/Zometa alone. 5-4-10 Appt. with Dr. Slamon to see what is next? Waiting on FISH results from femur biopsy. Results to FISH was unsuccessful--this happens less then 2% of the time. 7-7-10 Recurrence to RT axilla again. Back to UCLA for options. Last edited by Chelee; 09-19-2010 at 01:01 AM.. Reason: Spelling...