Eribulin - Side effects?

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donnadd
donnadd Member Posts: 84
edited October 2016 in Stage IV/Metastatic Breast Cancer ONLY

I've been treated with CMF, Adriamycine and Gemzar/Cistplatine all with minimal side effects (minimal success too :( . Emend and steroids really held off the nausea. Some hair loss but never all. Now I'm starting Eribulin and am unsure what to expect. My onc said it will be a harder chemo and to expect nausea. The oncology nurse told me it will be easy and I won't even need anti-nausea drugs. Can some people who've had eribulin treatments tell me what to expect?

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  • blainejennifer
    blainejennifer Member Posts: 1,848
    edited October 2016

    I've just completed about 6 months of Halaven (eribulin), and it really did the job. It is the only treatment that got me to NED (or as NED as one can get with bones mets - even healed ones leave a shadow on the PET scan).

    There is a Halaven thread in this forum. Do a search, and it will pop right up. It's not hugely active, but has good tips.

    I never had nausea from the infusions, but I did have an ongoing problem with anaemia. Never enough to take medical measures, but enough that I spent about 50% of my time chilling out towards the end. I asked to leave the Halaven regimen because of this.

    But, the takeaway is that the stuff did the job, and quickly. It was tougher than Taxol for me, but every one is different. I did lose all my hair, but didn't have a problem with neuropathy till the very end. I have minor foot drop now, but my hands are fine.

    It is really a fabulous drug, and quite successful as a third-line treatment. I am hoping you'll be pleased with the results. I know I was.

    Now I am doing CMF. How was that for you? I'm having trouble with nausea on this one, for the first time ever, really.

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  • donnadd
    donnadd Member Posts: 84
    edited October 2016

    Thanks BlaineJenni. I'm so happy to hear that Erublin was such a successful drug - I'm praying that this will work for me since nothing else has (I have triple negative BC ER-/PR-, HER2- which is harder to treat so nothing else has worked so far.). They've been pushing off Taxol and Eribulin till now since I also have MS (Multiple Sclerosis) - I already have numb hands and dropfoot.

    What did you mean by "I spent about 50% of my time chilling out towards the end"?

    I did pop a lot of anti-nausea pills with the CMF but mostly it made me feel just sort of "uncomfortable" for 2 days. I think Emend is the best drug for nausea

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  • blainejennifer
    blainejennifer Member Posts: 1,848
    edited October 2016

    Donna,

    Towards month 6 of the Halaven, I spent 50% of the day resting on the sofa. That's what I meant by chilling out. At least, that's what my teen termed it. Now, I am not current as to teen terminology. I just learned during the the debates that the "cyber" refers to a sex act, which explains said teen giggling like a maniac during the internet security portion of the debate. Yup, I'm old.

    According to my MO, I have kind of joined the TN club, as I don't get any traction from the anti-hormonals, except for Faslodex - which has come and gone for me. And Faslodex is the only drug in its class of estrogen degraders.

    In a just universe, MS would suffice, don't you think? It's completely unfair for you to have both. My BF has MS, so we compare numb feet and hands. She consents to this because I'm older, and she hasn't the hand strength to throttle me. Please let me know if I've crossed a line - she and I do the dark humor thing.

    I'm going to pester the MO for Emend. I laddered the Zofran and Compazine during the worst bit, but still felt seasick.

    Here's a cool study on Eribulin, that basically says it rocks: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC42430...

    Jennifer

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  • Crone
    Crone Member Posts: 160
    edited October 2016

    Hi donnaddand blainejenni,

    I am currently on Halaven and rather than have two threads going, I will post on the Halaven site but will check this one also.

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  • donnadd
    donnadd Member Posts: 84
    edited October 2016

    Hi Crone - you're right - I shouldn't have started another eribulin thread here. I will check the erubilin thread and not talk any more erubilin talk here (I hate when people open threads in the wrong place ThumbsDown)

    BlaineJenni - I know what chilling is (I've gone through a few teens too) I was concerned that you felt sick during the chemo itself. The first time I had adriamycine they gave me Pramine in my IV first to ward off nausea. For some reason it made me crazy. Just totally unrelaxed. I couldn't just sit. I was crazy. I kept standing up and just wanted to leave. The nurse said it was normal, though uncommon, to have that effect. So that's why I worried that you felt sick 50% of the actual treatment.

    I've had MS for 30 years and I guess I've gotten so used to its limitations that I've just accepted it as that's how I am. But this cancer thing really makes the MS look good.

    You're really giving me hope for eribulin.


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