Heart Damage from Adriamycin

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mary625
mary625 Member Posts: 1,056
edited April 2016 in Stage III Breast Cancer

Has anyone had confirmed heart damage from Adriamycin? If so, how was it found.

I flunked an ECG or EKG or whatever they're called today. :

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  • lkc
    lkc Member Posts: 1,203
    edited March 2016

    hi Mary. Get an echo.. An ECG is not diagnostic

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  • peacestrength
    peacestrength Member Posts: 690
    edited March 2016

    Hi Mary, I had heart and high blood pressure/beat issues while receiving adriamycin. I had both an EKG and Echo...I believe 2x's since adriamycin...I agree with LInda about requesting an Echo.

    I started taking CoQ10 after chemo.



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  • mary625
    mary625 Member Posts: 1,056
    edited March 2016

    Didn't even have to request it! Got a ticket to an echo tomorrow courtesy of the Red Devil. I'll let you know how it turns out.

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  • mary625
    mary625 Member Posts: 1,056
    edited April 2016

    YAY! Passed the echo and the stress echo with flying colors! No heart damage at this point. EKG has some issue because of the way my heart is resting in the chest.

    Having the Red Devil issue hanging over for the rest of my life though...that's going to get old fast.

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  • Denise-G
    Denise-G Member Posts: 1,777
    edited April 2016

    I had a heart attack during Adriamycin that was confirmed later by a nuclear stress test.  I remember the night it happened, but I thought it was side effects from Adriamycin.  It was found because my ECHO showed major drop in EF from 65 to 29 after Herceptin.  I have permanent valve damage.  So, was immediately sent to a cardiologist expert in this kind of area.     The good news is I've been on heart meds for almost 3 years.  I am stable and have no symptoms currently. 

    For anyone having any heart issues, run to a cardiologist!

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  • peacestrength
    peacestrength Member Posts: 690
    edited April 2016

    Awesome, Mary! Glad you are doing ok, Denise

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  • itsmylifenj
    itsmylifenj Member Posts: 8
    edited April 2016

    So happy to have found this thread.... I have a mitral valve prolapse and a leaky valve (or is that the same thing?). I have known about the MVP since high school (I'm almost 50), take antibiotics for dental work and have an echo every year. After one echo, the cardiologist told me that the leaky valve showed moderate to severe regurgitation but there were no super-worries, I passed the stress test (not nuclear) and subsequent echos showed less than moderate regurgitation.

    I've had two echos since AC/T. Today - more than two years post chemo - I had an echo (third one since my dx), he said my leaky valve is only minor and my heart function is 54 (anything over 52 is normal) but since I had chemo he wants me to have a nuclear stress test.

    So - I thought if we got through chemo with no heart issues then we'd be in the clear. Am I wrong about that? We are now at constant risk for heart issues because we had chemo? I did not know that.

    I don't want to take a nuclear stress test.... (she says while stamping her foot like a toddler!)


    off topic - I also asked him about a statin. I had been on crestor for high cholesterol. My primary said I didn't have to take it anymore; my cardiologist said we'd talk about it after my nuclear stress test, that he disagrees and I should probably keep taking it.

    More foot stomping: I don't want to take a statin.

    argh! words of wisdom?


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  • anotherNYCGirl
    anotherNYCGirl Member Posts: 1,033
    edited April 2016

    itsmylife, - i, too, had a pre-existing heart murmur when I started AC, but an echo seemed to show that I would be able to tolerate it. I do think we have to be more conscientious with heart check ups after AC, but better safe than sorry, right? (Although I have yet to have a stress test.)

    I have been on a low dose of blood pressure med since the first AC infusion, but now take even less, and may try stopping soon.

    As for statins, - is your cholesterol that high? My husband reduced his statin pills to every other day, - maybe you can ask your dr about doing that for now?

    I know how you feel, - we just want our pre BC life back!! (she said, stamping her foot! )

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  • Kathleen26
    Kathleen26 Member Posts: 210
    edited April 2016

    Yes, damage from Adriamycin can apparently show up years after chemotherapy.

    http://www.livestrong.com/article/38871-longterm-s...

    Sort of got glossed over by my MO, but my ability to absorb such things was not very good at the time. I've heard of people showing damage 20 years later which was attributed to Adriamycin. At that point, it's hard to prove a direct link, but supposedly the statistics are well-known. With people living longer after cancer treatment, these types of long-term effects are becoming more common.

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  • cp418
    cp418 Member Posts: 7,079
    edited April 2016

    I'm monitored now by a cardiologist twice per year for a heart murmur with two leaky valves. I did know about the murmur prior to AC+T. However, when I mentioned it to the MO - he brushed it off along with my strong family hx of heart dx and stroke. I was told this is the standard of care. Basically take it or leave it.

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  • mary625
    mary625 Member Posts: 1,056
    edited April 2016

    I do feel the MOs are glossing over this. They order the pre and post-chemo echos, but they don't counsel that the damage could show up at any time later. The only reason that I got re-screened by echo since treatment was because of the need for anesthesia for my reconstruction. It seems that most anesthesiologists are asking for an echo prior to surgery for anyone who took Adriamycin. After this last echo because of the abnormal EKG that I had associated with starting a diet program, the cardiologist said that I should have an echo every two years.

    I do not have any prior valve problems. I do have PVCs which are considered benign.

    I am taking a statin because of some studies around statins correlated with lower rates of metastasis. My cholesterol was only borderline. I'm planning to re-evaluate my use of Metformin and Simvastatin at my 5-year point--probably the 5 years after I started them following chemo, not the 5-years from diagnosis. Hence, I'm on a good diet program and am hoping that if I get closer to my healthy weight, I will feel safer coming off of those meds which I've been taking to help prevent mets.
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