Please post your two cents on Herceptin "side effects" real or perceived!

[gin-tx]

Side effects of Herceptin.

I too am on Herceptin and have joint pain but have not had the other drugs that you have mentioned you were being given. How does your thyroid problems affect your joints and bone pain. My onc sent me to a pain mgt dr who was not sure he could help me, he had my records from onc and my health history. He gave me an Rx for a pain patch and it has helped tremendously. I cut them in half, original pain was mid back, so I would use a half patch, it can only be used for 12 hours on, 12 off. I got relief and the pain got better, which the dr was quite pleased. Then I began having pain in the lower back just below waistline. I would use a whole patch which I did several days last week, got relief. I don't know if this is something to be used over long term but you might ask your dr about them. Every situation is different. I am much older than you are and have some leg pain, my biggest difficulty in walking is in a shopping center or grocery store, the floors are concrete and I don't last long so I don't get much done. Keep me informed of your progress. And if you are going to be doing radiation will you begin soon? I had a tumor on my spine that was detected right after bc diagnosis and it had to be dealt with (had 18 radiation treatments to shrink the tumor from pressing on my spine) so I missed doing any radiation. By the way I had BC in 1995, no chemo, only radiation at that time which was pretty standard treatment.

hugs,

ginkott1@aol.com

[tousled1]

Mary Lou,

Sounds like you managed to get through your treatment without too many side effects. As to when you will begin to feel normal again -- big question! Everyone is different and responds and bounces back differently. The hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, etc will grow back and about at the 4 month mark you should have a decent head of hair. A few months after you finish Herceptin you should start to notice improvement with bone/joint pain, running nose, etc. Just take things one day at a day and enjoy each and every day. You may find that you tire easily and this is quite natural. It takes your body a long time to get over all the effects of chemo. Good luck to you