Starting Avastin and have some concerns

hey there

sorry your scan was not what you hoped it to be but we just have to take it one day at a time as you already know.as far as your question about avastin i have been on this drug since march 2011 of course with breakes every now and then due to surgeries and then was off for a long period due to low platelets.finally had my spleen out in feb 2013 to get my platelets up which worked great so i am now back on avastin with xeloda.i have no problems on avastin and no side effects only thing for me is i have to have a 30 min infusion time as opposed to a 10 min infusion time for many people.good luck and i know you will do great...Godbless...johnnybegood

Avastin

Hi Donna - my mom has been on avastin since summer of 2011 ... some things to be aware of on Avastin:

- stuffy nose and nose bleeds

- elevated blood pressure

- headaches

- fatigue

- abdominal pain

My mom has experienced all of the above ... but these side effects are all mitigated by other meds. She has been on Lisinopril to control BP which as worked great. The headache has been a real issue for her but she controls that with Imitrex. I hope you have an easy ride on Avastin and that it proves very effective for you. It's a great treatment.

My experience with

My experience with avastin:

1. Increase in blood pressure

2. wounds were much slower to heal

3. constant chunks of congealed blood when blowing my nose and the occassional 5hr nose bleed that would just not stop.

dmj101 said:

Sounds like what I was expecting to hear.. Thank you!

Thank you all for responding so quickly.. I know I haven't been around much.. the counsellors at the hospital think I need to distance myself from cancer as much as possible and since I work in a related industry it is hard so this interaction I had to cut back on .. but truth be known I have been lurking just not responding.. and the loss of so many lately has really bummed me and now this scan not being what I wanted really blew me away...

Well I am taking Xeloda but a low dose as the hand cracks are running me crazy and now will be starting Avastin.. since Vectibix contributes to the hand problems hopefully some of that will clear up and they will be able to up my xeloda.. or I will have to go back to 5FU in the bottle but I really hate that and am holding out... really don't want to do any other of the stronger drugs... as yes I have discovered I am more vain than I thought and am so happy my hair is returning and this time it has a little wave in it.. was always pin straight. new look.. new guy that hopefully all this won't scare away the guy... Turned 50 last month and was feeling awesome.. till the scan..

Oh well Life Goes On and as so many others have told us.. Keep Living.. that is the only way thru this... So I will do just that.. and try not to dwell too much on what I got but what I can do.. ..

Thanks.. Donna

 

Hey Donna. Steve's Avastin
Hey Donna. Steve's Avastin side effects were the exact same as Ren's. I think you will be fine on it. Once Steve went off it, things began to fall apart.

Miss you on the board. To hell with what your counsellor thinks. Lol. There has been a lot of sad news here lately. I often wonder if I should take a break too, but at the same time, I find it extremely helpful.

I have the gut feeling Avastin will be very effective for you. Keep us posted.

Good luck.

Chelsea

dmj101 said:

Thanks Chelsea,
 I hope you

Thanks Chelsea,

 I hope you are correct.. I am going to believe I will be fine..

The support I get here has always made me feel better..

I will be around..

Donna

Donna -

Watch out for heart tics.....any thing funny in the breathing....either too shallow or too exerted....or the feel of catching your breath when you were expecting to receive that breath.....

I'm the rare goon on the board that this happened too.....I took it about 8-9 months I think.....and I developed this tic in my heart beat.....like when it beats on the downbeat, you are expecting to release air, but you got shorted on the upbreath and so it feels like the rug slipped out under you....or you were punched in the stomach.

It's a little scary if it happens....and I'd have to get it together and measure my breaths and try and manually override the breathing to see if the rhythm would get back......happened 100 of times a day.

Still have it....not as bad now, though I still miss a breath many times a day and just have to 'catch' it again. 

I'm the only one.....won't happen to you.....but I wouldn't be doing right if I did not let you know of the possibility.  The Avastin lliterature on their website clearly states that Avastin can cause CHF, congestive heart failure, over extended time and use. That's important to keep in mind as you do the drug going forward.   

However, it stopped short of defining what that time period is for these conditions to occur......

Looks like most people do well with it...at least up front....as with most drugs and the side effects...one should always be congnizant of past drugs taken and their  after-effects, as they may surface at a later date. 

As with all major changes, since we can't see the future....we have to take our chances armed with the best knowledge we can acquire.....and then justify and rationalize to ourselves that we had to take the chance with Trading Tomorrow - For Today...

I'm hopeful that you will be do fine with the treatment but just keep a close inventory on how your heart feels while on this drug. 

 

 

Avastin

Avastin was approved 1 month after I started chemo back in Feb/March of 2004. Out of the 6 months of FOLFOX, I did 5 months of Avastin. It shrunk my liver tumors so I became operable. The only real side effect was occasional spots of blood when I blew my nose.

I hope you do well with it...

Avastin

You should feel just as good on avastn as vectibix.  George is on vectibix and his CEA was down to .7 now it is 3.6 so he will have to switch to something else.  He felt good on avastin.  Nothing is killing the cancer for him he only gets a 2 or 3 month remission.  What next we don't know