Any tips on supplements with Herceptin?

moonwolf

I will be starting Herceptin this week.  Does anyone take anything to minimise side effects please?

JeninMichigan

I have been on Herceptin since May 1, 2008.   Herceptin doesn't bother me much except for the nail issue (splitting, etc).  I take Fish Oil daily.  I also take coQ10 Enzyme to help my heart.   I will say that my muga score this time around actually improved from 60 to 62 and I have added coQ10 since the last time around ... maybe that is what helped?  

Jennifer

LJ13-2

Tylenol and Benadryl are pretty much the standard in mitigating infusion-day side effects (flu-like symptoms).

moonwolf

Thanks.  It went well yesterday - just very slight nausia (S?).  Hope that's it side effect wise!

moonwolf

Jen - you mention nails - are you on chemo as well?  When I was on chemo Taxotere I put Vit E oil and tea tree on nails every night and my nails are fine.  With the mention of nails it makes me wonder if Neuropathy (tingling/numbness) is an issue with Herceptin.  I'm sure I read it somewhere.

I no nothing about muga scores yet.  What should the score be?

GramE

I had neuropathy (numbness) before herceptin and it used to be on and off.   Since I am on herceptin almost a year -- last one is July 16 - I have numbness in my ring and little fingers ALL the time and sometimes in my feet, like they have gone to sleep.   The feet only lasts a short time.

Drippy nose is a common side effect and i joke that I should have bought stock in Kleenex.   And I was thinking of inventing a nose diaper.  

 If nausea is a problem, you can ask that they slow down the drip.  I get mine over an hour with a bag of saline at the same time to dilute it going in.   The first or second tx I had some dizziness and the slower drip took care of it.

A muga  or echocardiagram should have been done before Herceptin was started.  Then at least every 3 months.  If your score drops below 50, they usually stop for a while and the heart recovers and you can do it again.  A muga requires that a vial of blood is drawn, mixed with radioactive dye, then reinjected and a scan is done -- takes about an hour.   An echocardiogram requires no dye but I was told not as good a test.   It is to see if the ejection factor of your heart is working the way it should and you do not retain fluid around the heart.   Ejection is when the blood is pumped away or out of the heart muscle.   Mine never changed -   69 was my "score".   

I used tylenol 3 for the bone aches that came after about 4 months of tx, but only to sleep the first or second nights after tx.   Never when I was driving the car.   Regular tylenol worked most other times.   Calcium, Vit D and magnesium are the only supplements I took. 600 mg twice a day.   Also, drink, drink and more drinking of water, juice or ginger ale almost every hour after tx and the day following.  

My nails were horrible after AC and Taxol but almost a year later, the finger nails are pretty normal and the toe nails are almost all grown out.  The lifted and were dead, so I was told to snip them off (toe nails).  Keep the finger nails short also and no nail polish.    

JeninMichigan

I was on chemo last year but that ended August 14, 2008. I have been on Herceptin since May 2008.   My nails just peel and split.   I file them very short but it is just aggravating that they split so much.  No nausea for me.    I do have the drippy nose which is a mild inconvenience.  

I will try the tea tree oil .. that is a great idea.

My muga scans were done a little differently than above.  I just get two injections of the radioactive dye.   One and then about 15 minutes later the second ... through an iv.  My MUGA score was  60 and this last one actually improved to 62.   

Jennifer 

coonie

I finished a year of Herceptin this past January. The only SE I noticed is a drippy nose. Doctor told me to take Zyrtec. Still have drippy nose, but it could just be allergies. Good luck. Herceptin is usually one of the easy treatments!! And a miracle drug.