Depression and Herceptin? Treatments?

[rentrac]

Dear Mab,
what you are describing sounds like peripheral neuropathy. It's a common side effect of several chemos. It can show up in the form of pain, needles&pins, tingling or even numbness, and it comes and goes. I developed some in my fingers toes from different chemos (I don't even quite remember all of them, there have been too many! Definitely take it easy on the parts that are affected, and if it is affecting your feet, make sure you check them carefully every day. It's a common problem for diabetics as well, and I saw too many cases of folks who developed horrendous injuries and infections in their feet because they couldn't feel!

Unlike many diabetics, though, many, many folks who have neuropathy thanks to drugs like chemo usually recover full sensory nerve function once the offending drug has been stopped and the nerves have time to heal.

But take heart, there is a new drug on the market called Lyrica. I tried it and it helped me a lot while I was on Herceptin. In fact, I'm developing neuropathy again thanks to Tykerb and Xeloda, so I'm planning to ask my onc about starting it again. (I may be an MD, but I'd be an idiot of a doctor if I tried to treat myself! Besides, my specialty is child psychiatry, though cancer is getting close thanks to this home study school of medicine I found myself in.) Hope that helps.

With warm wishes but not burning feet,
Rentrac