Chemo affected my heart

lovi1971

hi! Chemo seems to have badly affected my heart. Taxol mostly. Now that I have completed my chemos, I get major palpitations and sometimes breathlessness. Has anyone had a similar problem? How did you deal with it? Thanks!

marijen

Have you seen a cardiologist? There are studies on chemo and the heart at NCBI Public Med.

Kicks

What is yoir Cardiologist saying and what tests/scans have been done to DX the issues so appropriate TX can be done?

We are each so unique! I had no issues at all during Chemo (A/C neoadjuvant and Taxol adjuvant and haven't in the years since even though I'm 71 now (63 at DX).

macb04

Well, I had developed heart palpitations and would sometimes get really out of breath when I was walking. My Naturopath recommended Hawthorne Tincture, 1 dropperful twice per day. She said if that didn't help, to go see a cardiologist. It seemed to work very well and caused me no side effects which was greatly appreciated.

Hawthorn (Crataegus spp.) in the treatment of cardiovascular disease

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3249900/

Denise-G

I had a heart attack during chemo, but never knew it until testing was done after Taxol. I remember the night, but thought it was

chemo SEs. My MO sent me immediately to a cardiologist who has been wonderful to me. The heart meds helped immediately.

My sister had rapid heart beat after chemo. She, too, sees a cardiologist.

PauletteK

Denise - how did you feel that night? Maybe you can give some info so other aware of the problems.

Denise-G

Paulette - I had pain down my left arm, tightening of chest, shortness of breath -- I wasn't that alarmed because I was told shortness of breath happens with chemo, and I had had a lot of it. My cardiologist said there is really no such thing as a "silent heart attack", just symptoms that go unnoticed.

PauletteK

Thank you Denise... that's scary!

Ianthe

I finished Taxol end of July. I was wheezy and breathless with a chest tightness sometimes throughout all my chemo (inc the first EC regimen) but two months post chemo, it appears to be much better. At least the wheeziness has cleared up and am far less breathless. On one occasion (on EC) I picked up a chest infection and just thought it had lingered on without clearing completely. However, a different onco told me that chemo can cause breathlessness in general. Was never like this before I started, with the exception of when I contracted something but even then, it wasn't as severe or lasted so long.

Moderators

Ianthe-

We want to welcome you to BCO! We hope you find this community to be a source of support. And we're glad to hear the wheeziness and breathlessness has cleared up!

The Mods