Herceptin on Hold

Susan956

I was wondering if any of you who have been taking herceptin have ever been placed on hold. I had noticed that I was retaining more fluid last week and the Doctor got an earlier than planned Echocardiagram. It showed a lowered ejection ratio. I looked at a number of reports on the internet and apparently about 20% of the people can't take herceptin without causing heart problems. My questions is if you have ever been put on hold for herceptin did the ejection ratio go back up and were you able to continue. I have finished about 40% of 1 year of Herceptin, so I was wondering if it was likely that I might be able to finish it. It has such a good benefit for avoiding recurrence that I am really hoping I can finish. Any information will be greatly appreciated. Take Care all.

JKAlley

Susan, I had to go off herceptin, it's been a while so excuse my vagueness on time frames, it will be 2 yrs in June since I finished. I think I was maybe a little over half way through & I had to stop. The muga scan showed my heart function had decreased - don't remember any of those numbers. I was off for about a month maybe, had another muga that showed I was back to normal - at least as normal as I get - & my dr put me right back on. I was able to finish my years worth of herceptin after that with no more problems. Soooo, don't give up, chances are pretty good I'd say that you can get back on. Good luck, Jud