herceptin

Lhall

this is the first time on this site so I hope you  get this. I have finished my treatment of Taxol. Now I have to do Herceptin for a year. I heard that Herceptin puts a lot of weight on you is this true. And what other side effects can I look forward to. Any help would be great. thanks Lhall 

SusieSwan

Dear Lhall,

 I haven't heard of Herceptin making you gain weight.  I was on it for 1 year, as well as Tamoxifen (in which weight gain is a side effect) and stayed about the same through treatment.  My onc did prescribe steriods with every treatment so I think that made me unable to lose weight. 

I really had no side effects from Herceptin.

Hugs,

susan

Sassa

No, herceptin doesn't put weight on you.  As a matter of fact, I found that weekly doses of herceptin suppressed my appetite and made me lose weight.  The once every three week dose didn't have as great an effect but in the one year, 3 months between mastectomy, undergoing chemo and finishing a year of herceptin, I lost 25 pounds.

By the way, scroll down the page listing all the different forums, after the different types of breast cancer, the stage 4 and 3 forums, you will find a HER2+ forum where you will find a lot of threads dealing with herceptin treatment.

Lhall

Thank you for your response. You still have to be on steriods with the herceptin? I really hate them steriods I have already gain 5lb. from the chemo I was on Taxel I just didn't know if it was the taxel or the steriod that put the weight on. thanks lhall

Sassa

I wasn't on steroids with the herceptin. 

suemed8749

Lhall - I just finished my year of Herceptin a week ago, and I did not put on any weight (except when I pigged out over the holidays!) Like Sassa, I didn't get steroids with Herceptin, only saline.

Wishing you all the best, and come back any time you have a question. Like Sassa said, there are many great threads here for Her2+ gals.

GratefulGal

Lhall -

I will finish my Herceptin treatments in August. I did not gain weight with the herceptin nor was I given steroids. As a matter of fact, I gained the weight with the Taxotere and steroids. 

As far as side effects went, runny nose was the most prominent although I did have a few others. The best thing is to do is go to the HER2+ discussion forum and read there. It helped me tremendously as far as what to look out for. Eventhough I did not have all the side effects, it did help me with the ones I did experience as I knew that they were normal and it helped me from freakin out!!!

All the best to you!

vhqh

I've lost weight.....45 lbs.  I've been on Herceptin since January 2008.

Lhall

Thank you for all your help. I was just at the Hospital because of the pain in my legs and the swelling. They thought I had a blood clot so they did a Doppler test and it came back fine. My onc. is saying it's from the Taxol and not the Herceptin, but I didn't have this till I received a full dose of Herceptin. My treatment was Taxol every week for 12 weeks with half dose of Herceptin.but my last treatment of Taxol they gave my a full dose of Herceptin so I'm not sure which one did it. I'm done with Taxol now. And I go for Herceptin every three weeks. And I'm not sure if I want to finish it if it is the Herceptin giving me the pain and swelling to me this is worse than chemo. Any input would be helpful. Thanks Lhall

navygirl

lhall, my se's from Herceptin only every 3 weeks were worse than when I was on Taxol and Herceptin weekly. I switched to weekly and slowly they are coming back, but not all at once and (so far) not unbearable...just keep talking to your onc to manage your se's. They (or at least mine) is pretty resonable and flexible with helping me minimize the impact on my day to day life...hang in there...

angie27

Hi

I am on Herceptin Now, I finish in June, based on my experience I did not gain weight, and the only thing I felt was like a cold like symptom after infusion and then it goes away.  Also the only pre-meds I receive are tylenol and benadryl.

Trust me this is wonderful compare to taxol and AC.

Good Luck

Maire67

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Lhall

thank's for all  your help. you made me feel alot better about the Herceptin. Lhall

swaps

I have been advised to take my 3 weekly herceptin doses for as long as my body can take it and not stop at any specified point of time or cycle. Was that the case with any of you? I am a stage 4.

Moderators

Dear swaps, Welcome to the community. We hope that you stay connected and find support and information here among our community members We suggest that you check out this thread Herceptin for Stage 4 where you will find others who are taking perception and are also stage 4. Let us know if you need any help. The Mods