Vision Problems?

I was wondering if anyone has had vision problems while on Herceptin. I have noticed that I am becoming more near sighted but some days , it seems to clear up. My onc recommended an eye exam which I had today. My eye doctor can find nothing wrong except that I'm more near-sighted than I was at last checkup in October before chemo but he's stumped as to why it's better some days than others. I had this problem while on Chemo but I just figured it was the chemo. My onc seems convinced its not the herceptin but I'm not so sure. Has anyone experienced anything like this? BERTA

My vision has changed for the worse considerably during the past 2 years. Don't know if it's Herceptin (which I never considered), whole brain radiation, or simply age (I'm 47).

Love and light,

Lisa

Hi, Berta,

At least a few of us have noted Vision irregularities while on Herceptin. I know I have. If you seach the posts for this topic, you will find some common threads.

Mine is like yours, sort of coming and going, periods of getting worse, then improving again, except I am far-sighted. When I used to be off Herceptin for long periods of time (which if you are her-2 positive, I DON"T recommend..smile), my vision improved so much it was like the blind man who received sight in the Bible..smile. Even my eye doctor commented on it. I also noticed something equally bizarre, the vision tended to improve while on certain KINDS of antibiotics, whether or not I was also simultaneously taking herceptin...this fact bothered me so much that I volunteered to participate in an NIH Eye Institute study last year and even suffered through having my cornea's scraped for their DNA for the benefit of sciene..grin... and even the lead researcher-- who is very knowledgeable in so many areas related to the eye--could shed no light on this bizarre happening.

The only thing I can figure is it has something to do with the body requiring huge amounts of Vitamin A to build the army of fighter cells needed after the Herceptin goes in for the immune system to go clean up the tumor debris. If the vitamin A is not readily available from the diet or not in large enough quantities, it seems the body must pull it from storage...and of course, we all know how much A is needed for the retina and in the liver...I used to have a theory, which did not play out..., but was interesting, that the spots of what we call her-2 mets to the liver, were actully spaces left by the body pulling the A out of storage in the liver to take elsewhere to fight the more PRIMARY tumor or tumors... FYI, if you are ever stranded in the artic and mange somehow to kill a polar bear before it kills you, what ever you do, DO NOT EAT its liver...TRUE FACT: Polar bear liver contains so much Vitamin A that if even only a few ounces are eaten, it is lethal to humans, just so you know, smile..just in case you find yourself in that situation...and see, you thought having her-2 was bad...smile... Good luck everybody, Gina

I am also having same problem with my near vision. It was like this when I was on chemo 6 months ago and when I went for an eye exam the doctor said after the chemo if I eat good nutrition food it should be back to normal, indeed it came back to normal after I stopped chemo. Now I am just on herceptin since 6 months, the near vision seems to be getting worse. I am 37.


Julie

I was scheduled for an eye exam for new glasses just prior to mastectomy. Was Advised to wAit as chemo would probably affect vision if only temporarily. Have finish a/c and taxol/ herceptin and near vision is considerably worse. Hoped it would get better while just on herceptin.

Sassy

I know from teaching Childbirth classes for years that hormone levels can affect vision among many other things. Whether our hormones are manipulated intentionally in the world of breast cancer or not and they are just fluctuating naturally, it can make a difference. My vision has always been lame with extreme near-sightedness (since 4th grade). Now i notice that the phone book is just full of little dots, it doesn't REALLY say anything:) But I can tell a difference from when i have been made menopausal and gone back to premenopausal too. And we pray to get older and this can be a part of that too.
love, joy

I went for a routine eye check week before last - expecting a bump up in my prescription - right eye has been getting fuzzier. Turns out I now have a cataract, and from what I've seen this isn't all that unusal after chemo. More the steroids than the chemo itself, but basically all the various potions we slam down to kill the bad cells (and the stuff we slam down to help us cope with the stuff to kill the cells!) do a number in various parts of the body. I will have surgery soon - and then hopefully my right eye will lose this haze it has these days! Hope you sort out why your eyes have been acting up - I've heard Tamoxifen can cause problems too - I'm ER-/PR- so that's not my issue.

[sarah]

also got cataracts after chemo, seems it's not uncommon although it's never mentioned as a side effect.

Yup, me too! eyesight has gotten much worse after chemo. near sighted. Had TAC but not herceptin and am on tamoxifin. I believe it's deffinately the chemo. Was told by onc. about this when I first started chemo and noticed the change in vision. i remember when I was on chemo, I would see "floaties" when my eyes were closed. that cleared up a couple of months after I finished.