Avastin and Congestive heart failure

Glv49
Glv49 Member Posts: 206 Member
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Hi,
If you don't rem me.. I am a seven year in July Stage IV colon cancer survivor. My husband got dx in 2008, he had a liver resection last April and was NED until he had a PET/CT in Nov. it showed some very small spots on his lungs, they didn't light on the PET .. so our onc watched them for a month and they got slightly larger, she put him on Folfiri and Avastin, which he has been taking since Dec. Last Thurs morning, he couldn't breathe when he woke up, and sounded like his lungs were filled with fluid, he went to the hospital by ambulance, and was very grey looking and hardly breathing, they got him stabilized, and put him ICU for three days,, seems he had a heart attack, and congestive heart failure that they say is from the Avastin.. by the way it shrunk the lung tumors.. he had quadrouple bypass on his heart in 1998, and a cath last year, and all was fine. They said his heart is only pumping about 22 percent right now.. needless to say, he is very weak and tired.. The doc says it may come back once the chemo wears off .. just wondered if anyone else has had this bad experience??

Thanks,
Gail

Comments

  • angelsbaby
    angelsbaby Member Posts: 1,165 Member
    #2
    No Gail
    But i remember you , I am sorry your husband is not feeling well i hope all will clear up like the dr is hoping for. my prayers are with you and your husband

    michelle
  • msccolon
    msccolon Member Posts: 1,917 Member
    #3
    sorry to hear it!
    I had much Avastin and never had any bad side effects from it, outside of bloody nose and high bp, controlled by meds. I hope your husband gets better soon, that's got to be very scary!
    mary
  • AnneCan
    AnneCan Member Posts: 3,673 Member
    #4
    Gail,
    I am sorry this has
    Gail,

    I am sorry this has happened with your husband. I have been on folfiri + avastin, but have not had any serious side effects. I hope your husband is feeling better soon.
  • Shayenne
    Shayenne Member Posts: 2,342
    #5
    AnneCan said:

    Gail,
    I am sorry this has
    Gail,

    I am sorry this has happened with your husband. I have been on folfiri + avastin, but have not had any serious side effects. I hope your husband is feeling better soon.

    Hey Gail!
    Nice to see you! And so sorry to hear about your husband. I been on Avastin since Feb of 2009, and have not had any heart problems with it at all. It's been working very well on the tumors. I really hope your hubby does get better, is congestive heart failure a side effect of Avastin usually?? I really didn't know that, it's got me a little nervous now.

    Hugsss!
    ~Donna
  • Sundanceh
    Sundanceh Member Posts: 4,392 Member
    #6
    Avastin
    Hi Gail

    Avastin hurt me as well as helped me. I did it for about 8-months and began developing some issues with my heart - I find I have to catch my breath suddenly, when the heart beats out. It happens more times than I count anymore, it's a little scary sometimes.

    The onc always ruled out any issues due to Avastin...but I was not having any issues before Avastin was introduced and many months out, I began having problems and still do...and my last batch was Nov2008, so it looks to be permanent.

    Note: I'm the only one on the board who has had an issue with Avastin - not news to me 'cause I seem to differ so much from anyone else in my protocols. But that is why I wanted to offer this to you - just another perspective, not necessarily the right one, but mine.

    I did read the "pharmaceutical white paper" that came with Avastin. It does say that prolonged use of Avastin can lead to "congestive heart failure."

    But it did not specify just how long that would be. I don't have it as badly as your husband, but I've got an issue - hope it does not affect me over the long term.

    Take Care
    -Craig
  • John23
    John23 Member Posts: 2,122 Member
    #7
    Worth reading?


    "Enrollment in an Avastin clinical trial has been halted after six
    patients developed clinical congestive heart failure. According
    to a report in The Wall Street Journal, the trial protocol
    requires that enrollment stop if six or more cases of clinical
    congestive heart failure are seen in the first 200 patients."

    Read about it here: Avastin Study Patients Develop Congestive Heart Failure, Enrollment Suspended
  • Glv49
    Glv49 Member Posts: 206 Member
    #8
    Sundanceh said:

    Avastin
    Hi Gail

    Avastin hurt me as well as helped me. I did it for about 8-months and began developing some issues with my heart - I find I have to catch my breath suddenly, when the heart beats out. It happens more times than I count anymore, it's a little scary sometimes.

    The onc always ruled out any issues due to Avastin...but I was not having any issues before Avastin was introduced and many months out, I began having problems and still do...and my last batch was Nov2008, so it looks to be permanent.

    Note: I'm the only one on the board who has had an issue with Avastin - not news to me 'cause I seem to differ so much from anyone else in my protocols. But that is why I wanted to offer this to you - just another perspective, not necessarily the right one, but mine.

    I did read the "pharmaceutical white paper" that came with Avastin. It does say that prolonged use of Avastin can lead to "congestive heart failure."

    But it did not specify just how long that would be. I don't have it as badly as your husband, but I've got an issue - hope it does not affect me over the long term.

    Take Care
    -Craig

    Thanks to all who posted...
    Thanks to all who posted... I am glad many of you haven't had the problems my husband had. But, he was doing good until recently, his doc was just saying after the next treatment he would have a break for a little while. But now we see her next week, and I know he won't be taking Avastin anymore., thats for sure. He is very weak, and resting a lot and hoping things get better.


    Thanks,
    Gail
  • lisa42
    lisa42 Member Posts: 3,625 Member
    #9
    I've wondered about this
    Hi,

    I'm sorry to hear of the heart troubles your hubby had with Avastin. I've always wondered about that as being a possibility with staying on it long term. I was on it for quite a while. I stopped it when I had a recurrence while on it. I was always a little worried about the heart issue, though.

    You take care-
    Lisa

Discussion Boards