[Lauriesh]

I have not done a dose reduction, but I have taken breaks from treatment because of side effects.

I have been stage 4 for 2 1/2 years and have been NED for almost 2 years.

I took last summer off, 3 months of no treatment, and it was wonderful. Side effects went away, and now that I am back on for the last 5 months, the side effects are coming back, but still not as bad as they were last spring.

My ca 27/29 has been reliable for me, so we closely monitored that and the her2 serum over the break, with the understanding if it started rising at all, I would go back on treatment.

My dr was not thrilled with me taking the break, telling me that it obviously increases the risk of the cancer coming back, but my thought was I am on this med to keep me alive, but if the side effects are so bad that my qol is so crappy, what is the point of staying on the meds.
I plan on taking another break this summer as well, as long as my scans still show ned and my tm's are still low.

There have also been discussions on here about how a preservative, benzyl alcohol, is added to Herceptin when it is mixed, and how that contributes to the joint pain from Herceptin. I now have mine mixed without this, and it does help cut down on joint pain.

Laurie