What are common side effects of herceptin?

[gdavis]

Hi,

I'm new here and my wife will be undergoing herceptin treatments for the coming large part of a year. She's had A/C and will begin Taxol/herceptin soon. We were wondering what the common side effects are from Herceptin and/or Taxol with Herceptin.

Thanks, any insight would be appreciated

my wife is 54 with dcis, er+/pr+ and her2 neu

[Lolly]

Hi, and welcome! I've had Taxol and Herceptin, but not together. Sounds like your wife is getting cutting edge treatment for early stage, so congratulations on that.

She should do very well, if she's gotton through A/C already. That's the hard part. I had A/C followed by Taxol for first-line treatment, and Taxol seemed pretty easy compared to A/C. The main problem for me was neuropathy, which was managed with Neurontin and Tylenol. My hair didn't start growing back in until after I finished Taxol, though.

Herceptin side effects have been minimal for me, but the first few treatments gave me "flu like" symptoms of aches and pains, fever and tiredness. All of that settled down after a month or two, but feeling tired for a day or two has remained standard.

Hope some of the others who've had Taxol and Herceptin TOGETHER will post; sometimes on the weekends it's kind of "slow" on the board.

Again, welcome, and best wishes to your wife.

<3,
Lolly

[Becky]

Like Lolly, I had Taxol and Herceptin separately but had the same side effects as Lolly did (with both drugs). I still get tired for a day or so after my Herceptin (and I also get a runny nose for a couple of days after the Herceptin as well).


Best regards,

Becky

[Diane H]

Hello, I had herceptin and taxotere together, taxotere is very similiar to taxol I think. My side effects i put down mostly to the taxotere, tiredness and neuropathy being the main issue. I also lost my eyebrows and lashes, but my hair did start to grow back while on taxotere. Much easier than A/C. I am now just doing herceptin and mainly notice a little tiredness right after infusion but I am also doing rads (which I finish up shortly) that adds to the fatigue. Wishing your wife an easy treatment, very probably she'll find it MUCH better than A/C. Peace, Diane

[jhandley]

Hi
I have just started on taxol and herceptin together every three weeks. It is cycle 1 day 4 for me and I have had a bit of mild nausea and a few knee aches today. My first chemo 4.5 years ago was on the taxotere trial (3 cycles of Adriamycin/3 taxotere and 3 CMF). I agree with the others Adriamycin was the worst. So far (touch wood) taxol is not as bad as taxotere.

keep in touch
Jackie

[sarah]

Got taxol and herceptin weekly (it's more tolerable apparently that way) for 6 months. lost my eyebrows and eylashes and most of my hair, never had nausea, had swollen feet and ankles - had to wear big shoes, being tired most of the time was the main thing for me - I read a lot of books (books on tape are great too for when you're too tired to read), I put on about 12 pounds most of which I lost as soon as I stopped the chemo without any dieting just the metabolism picking up I guess, I did have one panic attack but they can only last 20 minutes so once I realized that I never worried about them, I did have aches and pains particularly in my hands but from what most people go through with chemo, I think it was pretty minor. Keep a good attitude and reading helps take you away from "real life". Remeber Cancer is a battle and you're going to win. stay strong. good luck.
Courage, as the French say
Sarah

[gdavis]

Thanks for all the insights and experiences, this forum is really helpful. Unfortunately, my wife was supposed to have her last A/C cycle tomorrow, but started a fever 3 days ago, and though it is held back as long as she takes tylenol and now an antibiotic, she is not feeling very strong and we don't know if she has an infection that is trying to get conquered.


Time should help.

thanks for all the info!

[suzan w]

I developed a bad infection after AC #2 and had to put of #3 for 2 weeks...I have just finished AC #4, the last one for me...and am happy to say that I had very few side effects after #3..and so far so good after #4. It is on to herceptin every 3 weeks now for me...and then an aromatase inhibitor...dx May 05..invasive lobular...Stage 1,bilateral mastectomy June 14th..ER+, PR+, Her2++, node neg., all other scans neg. Then had Oncotype DX test done which put me at an intermediate risk for recurrence...which is why I did the chemo...

[gdavis]

my wife was to have her last of 4 a/c sessions today, but she developed an infection from mastectomy/post surgical/maybe implant??? or maybe only skin tissue. so they've delayed chemo for about 4 days to try to get antibiotics to tackle it. she's been on one kind of antibiotic for 3 days, but still getting fever, so they added an additonal anti-bi today.


Man is this stuff never ending or what?

I'm impressed with how much you all manage to cope with and keep going. I'm also impressed with spouses, etc who help keep in going too.

one day at a time, huh?

[lu ann]

I had taxol, herceptin, and carboplatin weeky for 3 weeks then 1 week off. I felt achy the first few cycles but got used to it. My hair did not completely fall out and started to grow back after the 4th cycle. Blessings to you and your wife, Lu Ann.

[gdavis]

I had to take my wife in to the ER on friday after visiting the surgeon who did the mastectomy. He saw the infection increasing and after 5 days on oral antibiotics, he wanted he to have IV antibiotics. So now she's there admitted for about 3 days of IV. Of course her A/C chemo session (4th) is now delayed until this is under control. We don't know how long that will be.


Thanks to everyone for you sharing the Herceptin experiences with us.

[Lolly]

Will be keeping you and your wife in my thoughts and prayers, as the saying goes;

"This too shall pass"

Hang in there,
Lolly