Please post your two cents on Herceptin "side effects" real or perceived!

[tousled1]

I am on Herceptin only and I experience the following:

1. trouble concentrating and trouble with short term memory also trouble with finding words - I know what I want to say but sometimes the word just won't come out or the words come out mixed up and sometimes backward
2. severe joint pain - sometimes when I get up in the morning it feels like my bones are just going to snap
3. dry, brittle, peeling nails
4. fatigue (low blood counts)
5. continuous runny nose
6. slight headache (was sent for a brain MRI -everything ok)
7. itching - various parts of the body
8. deteriorating eyesight
9. hearing loss
10. insomnia
11. weight gain

These are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. I know some people may say the eyesight and hearing loss may be age related but I totally disagree. I didn't have any problems before starting Herceptin. Overall, I would have to say that Herceptin and I do not get along. Since on Herceptin my entire life has changed -- I'm not able to to the things I normally did. I started out on the 3 week cycle and thought if I went every week it wouldn't hit me so hard so I started every week. I could tell you how I would feel each day -- the only time I felt almost normal was the day before my treatment. Now I have switched back to every 3 weeks in the hopes that I will have more than one good day a week. Had my first 3 week dose 2 weeks ago so I go back next week. So far, I don't notice that it's any better than weekly but I'm going to give it a chance. I just want to feel somewhat "normal" and be able to have the energy to do things.