Herceptin and a cough?

Oh Swim, ditto ALL you said!!! A big chunk of my molar cracked off right after chemo, so I had to have a crown - that's what I get for buying the "healthy" Whole Foods corn chips - they're super hard and I paid for it. In more ways than one - crowns are pricey!

If you book that cruise, please send me the name of your travel agent.

Hi Swimangel,

How are you feeling? Were you able to speak with the onc about your cough?  I've been thinking about you!

Pam

swimangel-

I actually ended up with a toxic pulmonary reaction after eight months of Herceptin.  Started with a very small pulmonary infiltrate in April, 2008 that showed up on a chest x-ray and then on a chest CT. My oncologist heard very faint crackles in the base of my lung. By June, I was running a temp and went to the ER where they thought it was pneumonia; was admitted for a week. They held the Herceptin then, but it wasn't definitely diagnosed until August after a thorough workup by a pulmonologist. She did a bronchoscopy with a cell wash that showed a inflammatory drug reaction that was then healing. Fortunately, she never had to treat it aggressively with steroids; she just continued to monitor it until last week. And it is now 60% healed per high-resolution CT scan; she signed off of the case now.  I often wonder if other women experience pulmonary symptoms which self-heal after Herceptin is finished and which noone wants to pursue for a diagnosis. Good news in the end though!!

Hi swimangel -

I have been away for a bit so I am just catching up on what has been going on.  I am glad your cough is a bit better and that you have plans to check it out further if it continues.  You might try taking 1000 mg salmon oil and 200 mg CoQ10 as well.  I started taking both when my heart function decreased and when I finished the Herceptin in February my ejection fraction was better than when I started!  It's worth a try!  Take care!  Pam

Glad to find this post. I realize it's a bit old, but I have also endured a cough while taking Herceptin. It's an annoying dry cough, feels difficult to breathe sometimes, and is something that worsened with the progression of treatments (started towards the last several treatments and progressively worsened). Just makes me curious how many others out there have experienced this same SE. Apparently 20-26% of Herceptin patients develop this cough yet Doctors seem to ignore it. 

Anyhoo, anybody else out there who has experienced this? And if so, how long after you finished Herceptin did it go away? I just had my last treatment March 4th. I'll be seeing my onc in another week or two, have an echo scheduled around the same time, and will schedule a PET for the following month. I'm really hoping it's an SE and nothing more serious. I had a similar cough when taking the TCH. I dubbed it "chemo cough."  Oh the joys!  

Glad I found this thread. My mom ( who is 82 !!) started Taxol and Herceptin about 6 weeks ago.

At the 2nd taxol infusion she had an allergic reaction...so she can't do that one anymore. Today they tried taxotere and a bad reaction to that one too.

The herceptin she has taken every week. She has had a bad,ugly,phlemy cough since day one. whe we ask her onc about it, she says the cough doesn't have anything to do with the treatments. Tho, the onc did want her to go for a chest xray and mom won't go!!!

So, after having allergic reactions to taxol and taxotere, the onc is not sure what she should have my mom do, if anything at all. What are mom's chances being Her2+ ??

hugs and love to you all....hope you are all doing ok

Candie

AnneMarie,

thank you so much for your response. I am in the process of getting on touch with her Dr about the echo cause I did read that she should have one every 3 months.

Mom is doing herceptin once a week and will do so for 12 weeks and then once every 3 weeks for 7 months. She will also start arimidex.

I will be in touch.

hugs

I have had a junkie cough that's been going on 4 weeks now.  I also had crackle and wheezing and very fatigued.  I was on taxol and herceptin for 12 weeks and then in January switched to just herceptin every 3 weeks.  I never had a cold or a fever or anything, just suddenly coughing.  Was put on 2 different antibiotics but still have the cough.  I use an albuterol inhaler, flonase and claritin but still coughing.  My Pcp thinks it's due to herceptin.  I had a chest xray and they said it was normal but MO said she could hear wheezing and crackle but they would just treat symptoms as I have to stay on herceptin.  Very discouraged.  Will this ever get better?  I see this is a very old thread but surely I'm not the only one on herceptin who developed a cough.

Hello all,

I am being treated for bc mets. I finished the nasty cocktails of Taxo, Herceptin, Pertuzamab Mar 2015 and now being treated with the less intense Herceptin and Pertuzamab every 3- weeks. I did get laryngitis for 10 days during the first 6 nasty treatment period prior to March 2015, I recovered but the "raspy voice" stayed. Then I noticed as I go through the Herceptin and Pertuzamab, I have developed runny nose and mild throat clearing coughing. I use nasal rinse to keep it from getting worse. The allergy season kicked in, the runny nose continued on. The last week of Feb I got my 3rd scan and was told it was "stable" and my onco said it is good as this is one of the goal --keep the cancer under control. On the Ct result note there was something that said "there is a new small nodalirity, possibly from inflammation. Otherwise left lung (where my mets tumor is) is clear;.. No other identified progressive ...No lymph adenopathy..." She also listened to my lungs. At that time my runny nose and cough seemed to feel to be starting to get worse and I had low fever of 99 deg F oral

So I asked my doc about the small nodularity - she said it maybe be because I have colds and cough. It was indeed have gotten to full blown cough. She Rx me antibiotics telling me to take it if my coughing gets worse. I asked if I could take it then but she said, it is not good to take antibiotic when there is "nothing to kill". I was also having acid reflux at the time -- feeling of golf ball going up and down my throat, a bit difficulty swallowing, urge to burp. I told my doc too that the reflux may be contributing to my coughing. She said I could take zantac, zyrtec (switched from Claritin), guafenesin, use nasonex., lots of fluid etc I stopped the guafenesin, it makes me feel lazy- lazier I should say because zyrtec has the same side effect.Those meds helped a bit, I got a little bit better but the tickle in my throat is still lingering -- it is day 30 today since Mar 1 when it became full blown cough and colds triggered also by panic-anxiety, lack of sleep.

30 days of the same tickle - cough is worrisome - I am worried. I called our hotline onco nurse (my doc is on vacay) and she is sending me to my primary doc so my doc herself could listen to my lungs-- check for wheezing/pneumonia. I have not have high fever and a feelling of fatigue. All these are taking place while I have been feeling okay - energy wise; the zantac helped so the acid reflux had eased up. I still go to workout at leat 3x a week, when I workout the tickle goes away. I don't feel it when I eat . It eases up when I drink warm water. The tickle gives me the urge to cough but I can keep myself from coughing. I have an appointment today to see my primary doc. I'll get back to let you all know what she says. I hope it is not bad news. I also want to share that regular acupuncture and herbal supplements (onco doc checked and said okay on the herb suppl) is helping a lot specially the muscle joint/ fatigue, the energy level, anxiety and to some degree my coughing. I feel like my coughing is improving but the improvement seemed very slow and "small increment".

I hope everyone feels better. One day at a time.

Best,

You can read my post.

QrMe

McWill-

Welcome to BCO! We're sorry this cough is giving you such a hard time, sometimes the side effects can be a real struggle. We're glad you've found a semi-solution, and with only 3 treatments left, you're almost done! Fingers crossed the cough clears up when you're done with the Herceptin!

The Mods