Hi all I’ve been on herceptin for 5 years and have tolerated it very well, however I have noticed that recently at night when I am resting I experience very fast heart beat or palpitations, does anyone else have this? and if so what if anything can be done about it? It is very worrying as I am on herceptin for life and it has been keeping my secondary in check for the past 5 years. Any advice would be most appreciated. Xxxx
Hi Sarahlouise - make an appointment with your oncology unit to get checked out. I developed palitations while on chemo and it was down to a magnesium deficiency. I just had to take some sachets for a couple of weeks but it can require more urgent treatment intravenously.
I hope it’s just something as simple as that as it’s easily fixed and I’ve had no problems since.
Best of luck.
X
Hi sarahlouise
Sorry to hear you are having problems. As DBNO says it could be as simple as a deficiency in something that can be quickly rectified. However I have had lots of heart issues before I started Herceptin and in fact a few problems now. It is known to cause problems, as are some other treatments such as some chemo regimes - which is what caused my poor heart function in the first place. There is a thread in the main section of the forum, in the living beyond BC which is called ‘diagnosed with cardiomyopathy’ and there are quite a few ladies, mainly primary, who have problems. I have detailed in that thread a lot of my treatment and also mentioned the consultant cardio- oncologist who I see at The Brompton hospital in London. They are the main, if not only, cardio oncology unit in the UK although I think ere is one being set up in Leeds. Definitely mention this to your oncologist or get an echo cardiogram done sooner than you need it - assuming you are still getting them regularly? A referral to cardiology might happen but in my experience there is little communication its hated knowledge between the two specialist areas despite this being a growing problem with more and more people surviving cancer for longer. In fact I was interviewed the other week to talk about my experiences as there is new research coming out that cancer itself affects the heart function, not just the treatments and, as with all secondary cancer patients we of course need permanent treatment, not the 18 weeks or so that primary BC patients routinely have.
Nicky x
Thanks for all of your comments it really helps to know i am not the only one suffering with this problem and that it could be a result of all the chemo treatments I’ve had in the past. I am due for my 3 monthly echo scan this month so will mention it then, as I am on herceptin for life I get a bit scared of mentioning anything that might make them stop the herceptin, which in my case is a miracle drug it’s a difficult situation to be in…
Hi I’ve just had three herceptain and perjera my heart beats really fast when I get my stats checked this worries me since I’ve only just started the treatment I’m on docetaxcol too so it could be that. Have you all had good results with herceptain ? Julie x x