Anyone taking Tagrisso for Lung Cancer?

Posted by babs1956 @babs1956, Jan 27 5:30pm

Is There anyone taking Tagrisso And feeling well on it. I’m taking 40 mg of Tagrisso I have a little bit of Dizziness. I was on 80 mg but I developed a lot of bruising on my legs so my doctor put me On 40 mg. Is this a good drug?

Thank you so much,
Barbara

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Lung Cancer Support Group.

@colleenyoung

Welcome, @camiladeline. i moved your question about the best time of day to take Tagrisso to this active discussion:

- Anyone taking Tagrisso for Lung Cancer? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/tagrisso-for-lung-cancer/

I did this so you can read previous posts and connect with others on Tagrisso like @babs1956 @acguidon @camorton47 @firefly33 @whahoo and many others who may have thoughts about time of day and whether taking at night worked for them.

Camiladeline, how are you doing? This must be all so new.

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Hello, I take Tagrisso in the morning. Around 9 am

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@acguidon

I have been taking Tagrisso for about 14 months for stage IV lung cancer. A recent PET Scan revealed an increase in the size of my cancerous lung nodules. This coming Friday I will see my oncologist to see what she will prescribe to decrease or eliminate the cancer: Does anyone have any suggestions or comments?

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@acguidon, how did your appointment go? Any changes to your treatment plan?

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I have been on Tagrisso for a little over a year. I started by taking it after lunch, but it irritated my stomach and I could barely eat 2 or 3 bites of Dinner. I moved it to 8 pm and it is better. I also had several sessions of acupuncture which greatly reduced stomach issues. I hope this helps.

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@colleenyoung

@acguidon, how did your appointment go? Any changes to your treatment plan?

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Yes, when I was waiting to see my doctor, she heard me coughing and told me to stop taking Tagrisso because it might be causing inflammation in my lungs. She prescribed me steroids and Prilosec and wants a CT scan of my chest and lungs. She also told me that my PetScan results remained unchanged.

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@acguidon

Yes, when I was waiting to see my doctor, she heard me coughing and told me to stop taking Tagrisso because it might be causing inflammation in my lungs. She prescribed me steroids and Prilosec and wants a CT scan of my chest and lungs. She also told me that my PetScan results remained unchanged.

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How long were you taking Tagrisso when you developed a cough?

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@acguidon

About 14-months

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Ok ! Thank you

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@glendap56

Thankyou it’s great to be able to take part in these discussions. I started taking supplements when I got my cancer diagnosis while I waited for treatment and to try and help myself stay strong. However I appreciate the fact that I can take Tagrisso and immediately stopped the supplements in case they interacted with Tagrisso. I’m also interested in what vitamins and supplements others take and what effects they have on treatment and or the body.

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Hi, I’m taking Tagrisso too. 40 mgs. I continue taking supplements. I take vitamin D3 10,000 Curcumin, Beta Glucan. Vitamin C. Vitamin K2. Milk Thistle, Magnesium, MSM,

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@camiladeline

I just picked up my prescription for Tagrisso would like to communicate with those taking as far as best time of day to start it. I wanted to take it at night but not sure.

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@camiladeline, initially, I had to take Tagrisso away from food to avoid stomach upset - at least two hours after and two hours before a meal. Four years later, I can even take it with food without a problem.

It's more important to take it at the same time every day to maintain a constant level in your bloodstream. Granted, that's more important to some people than others, but we're guessing I had my recurrence because I took it at different times and skipped a weekend day every now and then, which my oncologist had told me was OK at the time.

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@flusshund

@babs1956, Tagrisso has been the proverbial godsend for those of us with certain types of EGFR mutation. It's a small molecule targeted therapy that has dramatically extended both PFS (progression-free survival) and OS (overall survival). My lung cancer (LC) metastasized to my brain in 2020, which is when I started Tagrisso. Four and a half years later, I'm still doing well on it and am currently cancer-free. I have two friends who have been on it for over 7 years and are both still active. One is a personal trainer!

My experience with Tagrisso is that the initial side effects, like the ever-popular diarrhea, die off after a few months. That's how long it takes the body to adapt to it. Hopefully, your side effects will also disappear over time.

The one thing I learned later that I wish I'd known early is that the most important thing is to decide what time of day to take it and then stick to that time to maintain a constant level of the drug in your body. Initially, I chose two hours after breakfast and two hours before lunch, and that's still when I take it. Consistent time is more critical with some people than with others, but it turned out I'm one of those people. I had a slight recurrence about a year ago that we successfully treated with 1 round of targeted radiation. My friend Larry had a similar experience. Neither of us has had any other recurrence since the first one.

Targeted therapy is the future of lung cancer treatment; new ones are being developed almost daily! It's actually a challenge to keep up with them all. You can learn more at lungevity.com, go2.org, and, if you're ready for a deep dive, you can join the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer and see the same information your oncologist is reviewing. Lungevity and GO2 are much more user-friendly. 🙂

Welcome to the club no one wants to belong to, where there are more of us living our lives with lung cancer than ever before.

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Thank you so much for this information. My husband was just diagnosed with Stage 4 Lung cancer and will start treatment on Monday tentatively the insurance red tape. Any recommendations to do for prepping your body before.

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