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09-13-2007, 11:00 AM
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#1
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Junior Member
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 2
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Pain in the joints
Hello all
This is my first time writing in a forum though I've been reading and getting good advice through here for about a year. I've got two more treatments of herceptin (out of 30) and am looking forward to what we hope is the end of this wild ride I've been on for the last year and a half. I've had intense joint pain that I attribute to the herceptin. Mornings and evenings are rough and I feel rusty and gimpy. I take hydrocodone - 5 mg 3 times a day and am able to feel mostly normal. I can go to the gym again and work in my studio (I'm a potter) but by the end of the day I'm back limping around and am spent. My question is how long does it take for herceptin side effects - like joint pain - to wear off after the last treatment? Though the pain meds have helped me through all this, I know I can't continue on them indefinately. And, what about this weight gain? I'm about 17 pounds heavier though I'm working out 5 days a week and eat a mostly plant based diet. Is is menopause, chemo, herceptin? I'm hoping that I shed these extra pounds after treatment and there will be muscle underneath to go with my new, store bought bosoms. Health and happiness to you all, Rosemary
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09-13-2007, 07:31 PM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Canada
Posts: 2,193
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herceptin
Hi Rosemary
Sorry you're having all this pain while on herceptin. I had minimal joint pain during taxol and herceptin, but at some time I also started taking tamoxafin and then switched to arimidex. I was never positive about what was causing the pain. When I finished herceptin, I still had joint pain but it was from the tamoxafin and then the arimidex. Same goes for the weight gain.... I started gaining weight when I started taxol. The steroids (pre-meds) made me very hungry, but I also started herceptin with my first taxol, so maybe it was the herceptin, or maybe both! Then the treatments put me into full menopause which can also lead to weight gain. I've stopped gaining weight, but it has been very hard to lose it -- very stubborn weight. Don't know if this is helpful; basically I couldn't really tell what was causing what; there were too many different things going on. Good luck with everything.
__________________
PinkGirl
Dx Aug/05 at age 51
2cm. Stage 2A, Grade 3
ER+/PR-
Her2 +++
Sept 7/05 Mastectomy
4 FAC, 4 Taxol, no radiation
1 year of Herceptin
Tamoxifen for approx. 4 months,
Arimidex for 5 years
Prophylactic mastectomy June 22/09
" I yam what I yam." - Popeye
My Photo Album
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09-13-2007, 08:09 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 3,154
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Rosemary,
Don't dispair, those aches and pains will fade out after completion of herceptin. As far as those pounds, it took me 2 months after completion
of herceptin to drop 10 pds. The weight will come off, just exercise and
keep walking. Best of Luck!
Regards,
Jean
__________________
Stage 1, Grade 1, 3/30/05
Lumpectomy 4/15/05 - 6MM IDC
Node Neg. (Sentinel node)
ER+ 90% / PR-, Her2+++ by FISH
Ki-67 40%
Arimidex 5/05
Radiation 32 trt, 5/30/05
Oncotype DX test 4/17/06, 31% high risk
TOPO 11 neg. 4/06
Stopped Arimidex 5/06
TCH 5/06, 6 treatments
Herceptin 5/06 - for 1 yr.
9/06 Completed chemo
Started Femara Sept. 2006
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09-13-2007, 09:14 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Acworth, GA
Posts: 2,104
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Rosemary,
I was plagued with joint/bone pain while on Herceptin. I took pain meds and also I found that Glucosamine/Chondroitin Complex helped a lot. As for the weight gain it will eventually go away.
__________________
Kate
Stage IIIC Diagnosed Oct 25, 2005 (age 58)
ER/PR-, HER2+++, grade 3, Ploidy/DNA index: Aneuploid/1.61, S-phase: 24.2%
Neoadjunct chemo: 4 A/C; 4 Taxatore
Bilateral mastectomy June 8, 2006
14 of 26 nodes positive
Herceptin June 22, 2006 - April 20, 2007
Radiation (X35) July 24-September 11, 2006
BRCA1/BRCA2 negative
Stage IV lung mets July 13, 2007 - TCH
Single brain met - August 6, 2007 -CyberKnife
Oct 2007 - clear brain MRI and lung mets shrinking.
March 2008 lung met progression, brain still clear - begin Tykerb/Xeloda/Ixempra
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