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Anyone taking Tagrisso for Lung Cancer?
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
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I am 71 and NSCLC found incidentally, stage 3B, inoperable. Had chemoradiation complicated by large pulmonary embolism. Radiation ended 6/15. Started on 80 mg Tagrisso on 7/21. Problems started mid August. Chest Xray + CT scan done. Shortness of breath, dry hacking cough and rapid heart rate. Repeat CT scan in mid September very scary with large amount of lung consolidation and aur bronchograms. High dose oral prednisone started with improvement and while tapering off day 10 severe shortness of breath. Prednisone back up to 40 mg. Still getting worse. Doc wanted me hospitalized. I did not go to hospital. Took myself off Tagrisso , 2 days now, and finally improving. Oncology does not think it is tagrisso pneumonitis but I thought that medicine would kill me before the cancer does. I just to be able to talk and breathe, or eat and breathe. Today it is easier.
I don't know if I will go back on Tagrisso. Have a Signatura blood test scheduled for Oct 13 to check for cancer DNA circulation in my blood and another CT scan in a few weeks.
Other side effects: dizziness, severe muscle cramps, mouth sores, slight rash and peeling nails.
I was supposed to take it for 3 years and only got to 2 months.
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2 Reactions@sueiamsue i’m on Tagrisso start with 80 mg now I am on 40 mg. I have stage four.EGFR NSCL I hate being on this pill. I’m so exhausted. I have muscle cramps also. I’ve been on the pill now for a year. I really don’t think it’s doing too much because I still have lung nodules that are growing. My oncologist gave me this pill, but my primary is very much against it. I am looking for other alternatives.
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1 Reaction@babs1956 the side effects from Tagrisso can be difficult (especially without an end point), they were for me, too. sorry to hear you're having progression and side effects still on 40mg. for what it's worth, my oncologist thought 40mg wouldn't be enough to be effective. so we're planning to try surgery and see if I can stay off of it - at least for awhile. would the Aliya ablation procedure be an option for you?
@sueiamsue I am glad you did what was best for you. sometimes the "targeted" therapies don't feel very targeted. is it possible you picked up a respiratory infection? I've had pneumonia twice since starting Tagrisso and I never had it previously. in both cases, I think they were triggered by seasonal allergies. I hope you're feeling better!
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1 Reaction@mamajite I wonder if my oncologist knows about this. I’m going to ask him. I thought immunotherapy would be good, but my oncologist told me that I have a EGFR lung cancer, which it would spread. Thank you so much.
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1 Reaction@babs1956 I thought I might chime in as I’m on Tagrisso 80 mg since late February 2026 and I tolerate it well with minimal side effects. My first month I got a forehead rash but with antibiotic lotion, it went away and never returned. I also had some skin splitting by my nails but that also went away. Tagrisso crosses blood brain barrier and has been shrinking my brain mets and also my original lung mass a great deal. I understand, however, everyone is different. Facebook has a Tagrisso group and also EGFR group of folks on various treatments. I’m EGFR Exon 21 L858R. I was on chemo and stopped and now have progression and probably a different mutation, since the Tagrisso continues shrinking my original mets. I’ll get a biopsy this week to see. But with EGFR —targeted meds are typical to treat, plus chemo and/or radiation.
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6 Reactions@artistrose i’m so happy to hear that you’re doing very well on Tagrisso. When I was taking 80 mg my platelets dropped very low and every part of my leg was black and blue and then he put me on 40 mg. I have two nodules that are growing very slow slowly I go a week from today for my next scan. I’m really believing that God is going to heal me. I feel so good. I don’t feel sick. But it sounds like you’re doing very well thank God.
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6 Reactions@artistrose it's good to hear from you! I'm glad you're doing ok on Tagrisso and that it's been helpful. Sorry to hear that you've also had progression. Are you having a bronchoscopy or needle biopsy this week?
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4 Reactions@mamajite I’ve had progression to four lymph nodes on my left side that weren’t there before. Probably a different mutation. I’ve gotten a blood biopsy recently and this Friday I’ll have a neck lymph node biopsy. I’m also restarting chemo this week.
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3 ReactionsWelcome to Mayo Connect @sueiamsue. It sounds like you've had a rough time with treatments, starting with the pulmonary embolism. We are all different, and not everyone can tolerate these targeted therapies. This sounds scary. I would have gone into the emergency department for a scan and observation. I hope you have weathered the worst of this. It might be interesting to see how your oncologist would suggest trying the Tagrisso again. Do you think they may be able to increment the dose up, to give your body a chance to adjust, while monitoring you closely?
Obviously you need to be able to breathe, but some of the other side-effects (mouth sores, slight rash and peeling nails) may be treatable.
Are you continuing to feel better?
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