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Re: Herceptin & Tykerb Together
Hi @bnb. I'll tell you what works for me: 1) Take it at night, so if there's going to be an issue you get it out of the way first thing in the morning. 2) Stay on top of any diarrhea, including taking Immodium when you notice pre-diarrhea symptoms (such as gas pains, tummy rumblings, etc.) 3) Stay hydrated. 4) Eat yogurt and take probiotics, 5) keep your fingertips lubricated. For the skin issues (inside my nose, and my fingertips) I love, love, love shea butter. L'Occitane sells pure, 100% shea butter. It's expensive, but it's amazingly effective for all kinds of skin conditions. It's an amazing moisturizer and it's anti-bacterial.
Some people advise a low-fiber diet, but I actually think the opposite works better for me.
My research nurse asked me to log the days I have diarrhea and note how many doses of Immodium I take. The last cycle I had it around half of the mornings. This month I started taking a probiotic every morning with breakfast. I don't know if it's causal or coincidental, but the incidence of diarrhea is down to less than 1/3 of the time. I might just be getting used to the Tykerb.
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Amy
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4/19/11 Diagnosed invasive ductal carcinoma; 2.3 cm tumor, 1 axillary lymph node
HER-2+, weakly ER+ (10%)
4/29 CT scan shows suspicious lesions on liver and lungs
5/17 liver biopsy
5/24 liver MET confirmed--Stage IV at diagnosis
5/27/11 Begin weekly Taxol & Herceptin
7/18/11 Switch to Abraxane & Herceptin due to Taxol allergy
8/29/11 CT scan shows no new lesions & old lesions shrinking
9/27/11 Begin taking Arimidex
10/17/11--Brain MRI--No Brain mets
12/5/11 PET scan--Almost NED
5/15/12 PET scan shows progression-breast/chest/spine
5/22/12 Stopped taking Arimidex
6/5/12 CT scan shows everything stable
6/11/12 Started Tykerb and Herceptin
8/1/12 CT scan--stable. "Osteolytic" lesion seen 5/15 now "sclerotic'" i.e., healed.
8/13 Bone density scan clearly shows sclerotic areas on L-3 and L-4, but no holes.
9/24 CT scan--No new mets. Everything stable. The way I read it I'm now NED.
11/19-Stable CT scan
12/13/12 CT Scan--NED
3/11/13 CT Scan--no new confirmed mets but odd looking area in left lung getting larger.
4/2/13--Biopsy of suspicious area in lower left lung. Mets to lung confirmed.
4/30/13 Began Kadcyla/TDM-1
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