Rapid heartbeat

• By ishton
• Posted October 6, 2008 at 9:28 am

While I haven't started it yet, my doctor has told me the Taxol can cause rapid heartbeat.
Good luck and God bless to both of you.

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• By emma1947
• Posted October 6, 2008 at 11:13 am

I am a female, aged 61, who has been experiencing the same thing for over a year. Mine resulted from a tumor encasing my superior vena cava. I had radiation treatments and it took care of the tumor but there is still scar tissue restricting the blood flow. My body compensated by making new veins all over my chest and abdomen. My pulse averages 110-120 bpm. The doc also blames it in part to anemia from the chemo. He says my heart is trying to compensate for lack of oxygen in the blood. They also say they cannot use laser treatments to break up the scar tissue, but I don't understand why. Maybe its too close to the SVC. I figured it out though, my heart is beating on average over 42 thousand extra beats each day! Seems that would wear it out pretty quickly. It worries me but docs sort of brush it off. Irritating! Linda

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• By janiegirl
• Posted October 6, 2008 at 12:31 pm

Sorry to hear your mom is having a rough time. I have had a rapid heart rate since the beginning of my treatments in Feb and it has continued even though I finished chemo and radiation 5 months ago. The doc did not take it seriously at first but later everyone did. The tachycardia makes me short of breath and extremely tired. The good news is my heart is in good shape...I've had a cardiac cath and EKG's, and an echocardiogram. All have been normal except the rate was rapid but the rhythm has been normal. After the cath I was put on a beta blocker and this has reduced my resting rate to between 85-105. The electrophysiologist wanted to increase the beta blocker but my BP is too low to do that. Everyone agrees it's treatment related and will eventually go away on it's own, just when no one knows. I had a mediastinal lymph involved and 37 radiation treatments in that area and I had 9 rounds of chemo using 4 different drugs. Who knows what the culprit is but I just pace myself and try to get some type exercise each day. I couldn't do much of that when I was in treatment because of extreme fatigue but I'm working on increasing my walking distance now. I was an "on the go" person so it has been quite an adjustment. My goal right now is to walk the 1 mile walk in the "Free to Breathe" event Nov 8th in our area. My best to you and your mom! Jane age 59

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• By risliz1218
• Posted October 6, 2008 at 3:43 pm

Wow! Thank you for leaving a reply to my question, and I am glad I read your post. I wonder if it is the carbo/taxol combo? I hope you and your mom are receiving good care at Dana Farber. My mom's oncologist is at Mass General and they have been pretty good there, not too hopeful but informative.

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• By hopefuldaughter
• Posted October 6, 2008 at 6:31 pm

Thank you everyone for your responses, it's good to get perspectives in case the doctors overlook something. Any other experiences are welcome and I wish you all the best.

Pam

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