Chemo Causing Tachycardia and Shortness of Breath?

CSA
CSA Member Posts: 14
edited July 2017 in Chemotherapy - Before, During, and After

Hello! My original DX was IDC stage 2b with 3/14 nodes. I had 4 rounds of AC (1 every other week) without too many issues other than fatigue and some aches and pains. Was able to work full time during non treatment weeks. Then I started Taxol once weekly. I'm not sure if it was a delayed effect of the AC or if it was the Taxol, but around the second week I noticed shortness of breath and rapid pulse on exertion that seemed to get worse over the next few weeks. Otherwise I was tolerating the Taxol very well and working every day except for treatment days. After getting home from my 5th treatment though, I decided to walk in the yard for a few minutes to get some fresh air. Suddenly my heart began racing and I thought I was having a heart attack. When I say racing, I mean like nothing I've ever experienced before. I immediately lay down on the ground thinking I was going to pass out or worse. After a few minutes, It subsided enough that I was able to make it back inside but pulse rate has continued to remain high while at rest ever since. Around 120 to 130 bpm just sitting. I really thought it was a heart attack, so off to the emergency room I went. Long story short, nothing was found. Cardiologist performed a battery of tests over a 2 1/2 day hospital stay including EKG, stress, echo, scan for PE and enough blood work to make Dracula envious. Everything came back normal for the most part. He said my ejection fraction was 54%, which is on the lower end of normal range. No sign of heart attack. Cardiologist said he believes it's the chemo, but couldn't say for sure or exactly what was going on. He prescribed a beta blocker to get my heart rate under control, which seems to be helping as my resting rate is now around 95. Oncologist said it could be chemo and suspended Taxol for two weeks to come up with a new plan. They told me lots of things that didn't cause it, but never really told me what did, which has me worried. I can believe it is a SE of chemo, but I'd like to know exactly what is going on because I'm afraid that if cumulative effect, it may keep getting worse and/or I don't want to do any permanent damage to my body. I have meeting with oncologist on the 25th but curious to hear if there are any similar stories out there. So here are my questions. If this is a SE of chemo, what exactly is happening to cause this if tests are clear? Is it the AC or Taxol or a cumulative effect of both? Will it go away eventually or is this my life now? If I stop Taxol halfway through, how does that affect recurrence odds?

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  • Fiddler
    Fiddler Member Posts: 128
    edited July 2017

    Hi,

    Though I am definitely not a doctor, I can share what happened to me. I experienced what is called "chemo-induced pneumonitis," which was basically an allergic reaction to the Taxol which made my lungs become extremely inflamed and made it very difficult to breathe. I think you might want to get checked for this. My main symptoms were fast heart rate and shortness of breath. This condition is very rare (only 1% of chemo patients get it) and difficult to diagnose--can really only be diagnosed by a CT scan, it does not show up so much on an X ray. By the time I showed up at the hospital I could barely breathe. It was a good thing that I went to the ER when I did. There aren't that many chemo drugs that can cause this, but Taxol is one. I had had three out of four chemo treatments and so they cancelled my final treatment. They said in the large scheme of my total treatment (surgery, chemo, radiation, and Herceptin), missing the last chemo was a relatively small part of it.

    If this is what you have, treatment is mainly oxygen (I was in the hospital on oxygen for four days) and huge doses of steroids, and I bounced back pretty quickly. (Did not enjoy the steroids though.) Good luck!

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  • kcat2013
    kcat2013 Member Posts: 391
    edited July 2017

    CSA, I'm glad you got everything checked out. I had an elevated heart rate throughout chemo (particularly during the AC portion) plus periods of racing heart beat and shortness of breath. When it first happened my MO immediately postponed chemo and sent me off to a cardiologist for a work-up. Everything checked out fine. Cardiologist and MO said it was a result of the massive amounts of steroids given with chemo plus the general physical toll chemo takes on your body. For me once I was done with chemo my resting heart rate returned to normal and the racing heart episodes and shortness of breath went away. Keep in close contact with your MO and cardiologist about this, but hopefully it will resolve once you are done with chemo.


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  • kcat2013
    kcat2013 Member Posts: 391
    edited July 2017

    Fiddler, I did not know about this. I'm glad you mentioned your experience!


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