Discontinued herceptin due to LVER

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leftfootforward
leftfootforward Member Posts: 1,726
edited June 2014 in HER2+ (Positive) Breast Cancer

Just looking for anyone out there that had to stop Herceptin due to cardiac problems. My latest echo showed a LVER (40%). I had started at 60% and have been on lisinopril for a few months already.  Now I am off to see a cardiologist, am not able to continue my herceptin treatments (would have been finished in March of 2012), and am on a beta blocker.  I hate worrying about not getting the full year of herceptin treatment in. Not to mention needing a new cardiac medicine. Would love to hear your stories.

Thanks 

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  • mom2twins34
    mom2twins34 Member Posts: 185
    edited December 2011

    Hi yorelh,

    So sorry that you have to stop herceptin...  I experienced a 17% drop, so not quite as significant as you, but my oncologist was still threatening to stop me for good.  As a compromise, he decided to let me "take a break" to see if my echo improved--I think he was just trying to make me feel better because I was very reluctant to not finish my year.  What was supposed to be a 3 week break turned into almost 2 months because of an unexpected surgery and other issues, but I think those extra weeks helped.  After only having drops in my LVEF since starting the echos, I actually had improvement on the last one and was able to resume, at least for now.  He doesn't fully support it, but I feel comfortable with the choice to continue.  We'll see what happens with the next echo, though--I'll get them every six weeks instead of 12 now.  

    Maybe you could ask your oncologist to let you take a break for a couple of months and redo your ECHO to see if you have improvement?  Maybe he/she would let you get some of the rest of your year in if you improved?  I'm not sure if this is an accepted practice, but I've heard of it working for at least one other person.  I'm also on a beta-blocker.

    So sorry about this and I hope things get better...  I understand the fear of not getting it all in, but also how scary they make congestive heart failure sound...  Nothing is ever simple with this disease!  Best wishes to you... 

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  • seeay
    seeay Member Posts: 56
    edited December 2011

    Hello

    Mine dropped significantly and I stopped, saw a cardiologist, who recommended a MUGA rather than an echo, which is much more accurate. Sure enough, my heart was fine,s o I was able to continue with Herceptin. I go again next week. You may want to get a MUGA scan instead.

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  • leftfootforward
    leftfootforward Member Posts: 1,726
    edited December 2011

    thank you all for your responses.

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  • sewingnut
    sewingnut Member Posts: 1,129
    edited December 2011

    There is another thread called  Herceptin Heart Attack you could look at. All the women there have had to stop Herceptin for a while or all together.

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  • drsfelix
    drsfelix Member Posts: 10
    edited December 2011

    Hello my LEVR came from 68% down to 36% on echo , on MUGA although my function had declined it was not so bad . I had another dose than I had to stop to have more time on beta blocker n ace inhibitor. Once I improved , even before ii was back to normal I decided to.finish my course , under monitoring with MUGA . It took 18 months before my heart was back to its original.level . But today 2 yrs later I do circuit training 5 times a week , ride my bike , swimm 3 times a week and I do steep climbing once a week .... I never thought I would get back to this ! I am 55 and recovering my health every day ! Good luck :-)

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