Herceptin & Heart Problems?!?

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carpediemocc
carpediemocc Member Posts: 53
edited June 2014 in HER2+ (Positive) Breast Cancer

Just ound out Friday that I will be on Herceptin. I got home and was reading through the side effects on the heart and I have been freakin' all weekend.

Obviously some of you are/were on it and I'm hoping maybe you can give me a little more info. At this point I'm wanting to ask the onc if we can go ahead with the other therapies and leave this one out!

Thanks!

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  • plakatakr
    plakatakr Member Posts: 188
    edited November 2008

    They say any heart problems are reversible and definitely worth the risk.

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  • snowyday
    snowyday Member Posts: 1,478
    edited November 2008

    I was terrified of the heart problems as well and sort of still worry.  Herceptin isn't that bad, Did you have chemo and rads previously and if you did what was it.  There is another thread in this section regarding heart problems try search for that in the search box at the top and read my posts because I was a total basketcase before I started, but so far so good.  Make sure you request a Muga Scan for a baseline of your Heart before you start and they give them every three months in between.  It took a long time to convince me I should take it but I am. You too can do it.  Big Hugs

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  • mke
    mke Member Posts: 584
    edited November 2008

    Everyone has to weigh the risks/benefits for them. For me the potential benefits outweighed the risks by quite a bit. I didn't have any heart problems and had made it through Adriamycin without problems. Actually my MUGA scans improved through the year of herceptin.



    There is another website her2support.org which might be of use to you.

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  • lisa39
    lisa39 Member Posts: 255
    edited November 2008

    My MUGA scans have been improving too. I wonder if the Adriamycin had lowered my heart ejection rate... because now that the A. is done, the scores keep improving.  Don't worry about heart problems.  Those complications are very rare and as everyone keeps saying, it's well worth the risk.  Your medical team will monitor you closely to make sure your heart is ok. Go for it.

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  • DebbieB
    DebbieB Member Posts: 161
    edited November 2008

    I don't want to bust anyone's bubble but not all heart problems from chemo are reversible.  Also, heart problems don't always show up during or just after chemo.  They can show up years later!  Mine didn't show up for 6 years?   I was shocked and did not expect it at all.  I never had any symptoms until the 4 weeks before I was hospitalized.  The cardiologist said my heart catherization showed heart damage on my left ventricle which is consistent with damage from chemo.  I didn't have any blockages, didn't have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, didn't smoke, didn't drink, wasn't overweight...nothing like that.  That was one of the reasons doctors had such a time dx'ind me with cardiomyopathy and congestive heart failure. At 51, I definitely did not look like someone with heart problems.  My only symptoms were shortness of breath when I exerted myself.  I saw 6 doctors in 4 weeks and an ER doctor finally figured out I was having heart failure.  I'm now on 6 heart drugs that has my EF back up to 45-50% from 18-22%. 

    I knew chemo could cause damage to the heart.  I just never realized what the symptoms were.  And I never EVER expected problems to show up 6 years later!   So I would like to bring awareness to this issue.  I am LUCKY to be alive today.  The ER doctor said if I had waited I would have had a massive heart attack.  This is a serious side effect of chemo. The good thing is that only about 15% of us doing chemo will end up with heart problems. 

    Good luck to all of you!

    Debbie

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