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.

chedder2008 | @chedder2008 | 3 days ago

Thank you for the great tip. I will certainaly stock up.

Matthew K | @flusshund | 3 days ago

@chedder2008, if you're asking how to prepare your body for Tagrisso, you don't have to do anything except be sure you have Imodium. Everyone starts with the diarrhea side effect, which, fortunately, usually dissipates over time.

Lisa, Volunteer Mentor | @lls8000 | 3 days ago

In reply to @chedder2008 "He is so optimistic. We (our children and I) are a mess." + (show)

@chedder2008, This time is understandably one of the hardest things you will face as a family. Give yourself, and the children, time to absorb what's happening. Don't be afraid to ask for help in the form of therapy, or whatever type of support you may need. It will get easier, and I hope he starts feeling better so that you are able to see the hope for his future.

sierranevadagal395 | @sierranevadagal395 | 4 days ago

Lots of great comments here. I've just been on 80mg Tagrisso for a month now. Having read the suggestion of taking it at the same time and away from meals was very helpful. I take my pill every night just before bedtime. My primary side effects are dry skin patches on my face and a runny nose. Oh, and burping which isn't painful but a bit embarrassing when out in public. 😉

chedder2008 | @chedder2008 | 4 days ago

Thank you all so much for your kind words. I am praying for minimal side affects and the treatment working.

babs1956 | @babs1956 | 4 days ago

In reply to @chedder2008 "He is so optimistic. We (our children and I) are a mess." + (show)

Hi I too am stage four lung cancer and I’m on Tagrisso 40 mg. So far so good.

chedder2008 | @chedder2008 | 4 days ago

He is so optimistic. We (our children and I) are a mess.

Lisa, Volunteer Mentor | @lls8000 | 4 days ago

In reply to @chedder2008 "Thank you so much for this information. My husband was just diagnosed with Stage 4 Lung..." + (show)

Hi @chedder2008, I'm glad that his doctors performed the biomarker testing to identify the mutation, but sorry to hear that he is stage 4. Now that you know what's driving the cancer, it can be treated with precision and appropriately.
Give the Tagrisso some time. Side effects for the targeted therapies can be worse during the initial days but may lessen over time. Recommend that he drinks water, it can help the body process and flush the medication.
I take a different targeted therapy for a different mutation, ALK. I'm also stage 4, and I'm doing well. There is more hope in lung cancer today than ever before. He's in good hands. How is he handling the weight of the diagnosis?

chedder2008 | @chedder2008 | 4 days ago

In reply to @flusshund "@babs1956, Tagrisso has been the proverbial godsend for those of us with certain types of EGFR..." + (show)

@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.

Jump to this post

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.

Matthew K | @flusshund | Mar 10 7:18am

In reply to @camiladeline "I just picked up my prescription for Tagrisso would like to communicate with those taking as..." + (show)

@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.