Kadcyla Side Effects

CoolBreeze · 11-24-2015, 06:13 PM

After two years of remission with only perjeta/herceptin, cancer exploded all through my abdomen and lungs. Pain was intense and I was getting pretty sick. Nov 8 I did my first Kadcyla. I had a rough ten days (nausea, pain, fatigue, constipation, heartburn, headaches, not able to walk) but am feeling better. Abdominal pain is much better and I've been on heavy duty pain killers and I am backing off. I'm not sure if it's because they changed my meds or if TDM-1 is working.

I get my 2nd tx December 2, so I'll see what it does to blood and liver then. Am going to need some better anti-nausea with this and a heartburn med. I'm at the point where I have anorexia-cachexia and I can't eat and am down in the 80s which is a bad sign. I'm hoping I get miracle #2 with Kadcyla as my son is getting married in May.

This is my 8th chemo and I've been in continuous treatment for six years, so I don't think anything would be easy at this point. But I'll take it for now.

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

phil · 11-24-2015, 06:46 PM

lorraines s/e got better after 3 cycles or so . I know u know this , but u need nourishment to help keep bone marrow strong, blood counts up - juicing etc. to keep kadcyla going . keep anti estrogen tx - zometa to block that pathway . we used paleo diet , (steak, greens ) whole pineapple weekly ,( heard bout papaya but didn't use it ) to get 7 full strength doses in , as plats went below 50,000 for awhile. we pushed for aggressive tx. because of good response . markers dropped right away , and could see cancer disappearing at ct scan after 3 or 4 doses . did a trick a couple times - took a 15 ' brisk walk just before blood draw , raised plats 10,000. did reluctantly have to reduce dose to 3.0, but still cancer went away . Here's Praying the same for you

vqtilley · 11-25-2015, 07:50 AM

Hi CoolBreeze - So sorry to hear you've been going through such a hard time! The pain factor sounds dreadful and the cachezia must be a major battle. But I'm glad you're on Kadcyla. Not to generalize, of course, but I had a major progression last April after three years on Herceptin and TDM-1 turned it around completely: my suddenly growing lesions in axilla, breast, lung, bone all shrank, vanished or went dormant. No sign of CNS recurrence, either, which was the big worry after my cerebellum lesion last January. I did have a lot of trouble with nausea on Kadcyla for a while: we tried all the usual anti-emetics, even a cannabis derivative, nothing really worked and I was miserable, but after a few months the nausea just lifted and disappeared, I think as my system simply adjusted to the drug. My lasting s/e on Kadcyla is fatigue. I still have about 2/3rds of a day's worth of energy which is sometimes hard to manage with my job. But the cancer is under control, so that's what counts. Good luck, stick it out ... keep us posted?