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Re: Just started Herceptin, worried about effects on heart.
Hi, welcome to our site. There are so many wonderful women and a few men who will see you message and respond. I am a 7 year survivor of Inflammatory Breast cancer and I was given a 28% chance of surviving 2 years. Herceptin saved my life. Yes, Heraceptin has side effects and yes, it can cause problems with your heart. I had to stop Herceptin 4 times during my almost 5 years on this drug. It lowers your ejection fraction in your heart. My onc did Muga Scans to check on my heart and when the number went down, we would take a break and wait till it was ok. Your onc will have a cardiac stress test done first to see if your heart is healthy enough to handle the herceptin. Then they will do Muga scans to keep a check on it. The side effects of this wonderful drug are not bad. Some people have none at all. I had runny nose, brittle nails, red face flushes and dry eye syndrome. The other chemos usually have more side effects. Don't be afraid to use Herceptin. If your onc feels that you are able to take it, feel fortunate as it really works well for those of us who are Her2+++. You will here from many women who will give your their feeling on Herceptin. I wish you the very best. Mary L
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Mary L from PA Diag: Oct 2003 w/6mm mass, IDC grade III ductal carcinoma in-situ, IBC stage IIIB. tx A/C followed by Taxotere(only able to have 2 tx, allergic), mastectomy, 3 0ut of 7 positive nodes. 35 rads. Recurrence 9 months later, skin mets to mastectomy site. Tx Carboplatin/Herceptin. Stayed on Herceptin almost 5 years, had 3 more recurrences when I had to stop Herceptin due to my ejection fraction getting too low. Herceptin stopped and ned 3 years in Oct. 2010.
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