Hi everyone

Hi Sue

I have metastatic Her2+ bc as well.  I have only been on hereptin in combination with chemo so I am not sure what side effects can be attributed to what. I have heard a number of women complain of the joint pain and fatigue and runny nose as a herceptin side effect and brittle nails.  

I seem to cope OK with the side effects that I get - I think most of mine are related to the chemo that I take (I'm hormone -ve so not on any AI's).  The hot flushes and night sweats for me don't impact my life too much - I have just been given a gel pad for my bed at night which to date I haven't used but with the nights warming up it may be useful for the flushes.  I don't find the joint pain too debilitating so far - I just feel like a bit of a nanna at 39 some days. I have fatigue too but I'm a believer in remaining active to combat fatigue - not overdoing it - but not giving in to it - exercising moderately where and when I can.  With the "nose" side of things - I "douche" my nasal passages twice daily with saline and also use an antibiotic ointment on my nasal passages - this has worked for me with keeping my nose under control (I also take an antihistamine daily but this is for hayfever prevention).

I have accupuncture weekly to keep on top of side effects and I believe that this helps me enormously.  

This is a link to a US based website that I find really useful - this post was started in 2006 re: side effects from herceptin and Tykerb - there are some useful tips on there.

http://her2support.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=23696

Al the very best.

Amanda x