Adriamycin/doxorubicin & Heart Failure

sandejosgirl

Hey all, I saw the section for Herceptin and heart issues, is there a thread going for the Red Devil?

If not? Then: I am coming up on 3 years post treatment (dec) and over the last year have had my EF drop from 59 last Oct to 45 this Oct.  I did dose dense AC-T and rads and am well aware that chemo/rads cause heart damage lol.  I am currently an active, normal weight 36 yr old, low BP, low triglycerides, etc.

Do folks have any recommendations of places to look for information?  I mean other than the general crap, I mean knowledge, on websites.  More than the one page, blah blah chemo can cause heart failure...

I am in the process of looking for a second opinion because the cardiologist I saw 2 weeks ago clearly was more used to dealing with overweight 65 yr old males.  I asked about exercise, cause when I try to run I feel like my head is going to exploded, and he was like, "Yeah, that's good for you."  Not my cup of tea for a doc.

leggo

Sandejosgirl, sorry your cardiologist is a moron. What a dumb response to your complaint. I suffered severe heart damage from Adriamycin and Herceptin. The cardiologist told me to be very careful exerting myself as the damage from those treatments is not the same kind of damage from obesity, lack of excercise etc., and there wasn't a whole lot I could do about it but try to keep it from getting worse. I did start feeling better after cutting salt out of my diet and being put on a beta blocker, but I think the damage has been done. I hope you can find a cardiologist that has a little more experience with cancer patients because feeling like your head is going to explode sounds serious. At the very least, keep a good eye on your blood pressure. A good BP monitor is only around 60 bucks.