Abemaciclib

Hi Chai  and a very warm welcome to the Community but sorry to hear about your diagnoses.

Navigating the cancer journey can be such a stressful and challenging time but getting support from people who have walked the ‘exact same' cancer journey can help a lot. (I have a completely different cancer).

The New to Community is like our reception desk where we look to direct you to the best part of the Community for you to get support. The Community is divided into dedicated Cancer Support Groups (Discussion Rooms) so can I recommend you join and post in our dedicated Breast Cancer support group. This is a safe place to talk to others with a similar diagnosis, treatment experience, to ask questions and get support.

To connect in with the group click on this link > Breast cancer then once the group page opens click on “Click to Join” when the black banner appears or “Join” under “Group Tools” (this all depends on the device you are using)

When you are ready you can introduce yourself by clicking “+new” or “+” in the top right next to the group title. You can copy and paste the text from this post into your new post.

It’s a challenging time for you so you may want to use the Macmillan Support Line is open 8am-8pm (timings may differ across services) 7 days a week on 0808 808 00 00. This service provides cancer information, practical information, emotional support, benefits/financial guidance or just a listening ear.

We also have our Ask an Expert section but do allow a few working days for a reply.

Talking to people face to face can be very helpful so do check to see if you have any Local Macmillan Support in your area, do also check for a local Maggie's Centre as these folks are amazing and give support to all the family.

Do get back to me if you need further help navigating the community.

Hi! Fellow mastectomy and breast cancer survivor here!
 I’ve been on Abemaciclib for a year now. High dose I really struggled with. I’ve been settled on 100mg with some months dropped to 50mg. 
My bloods are stable. Low white cells and low neutrophils but so far not picked up any nasty infections. 
fatigue is manageable. 
I get rashes that come and go. But not sure if it’s abemaciclib or the other treatment I’m on. 
some people worry about the hair loss. I had chemo and lost all my hair. My hair on my head is coming back well - growing fast. Eyebrows and eyelashes not so much which could be a side effect of this or hangover from chemo. I just fake it. 
diarrhoea - on lower dose much better. Doesn’t bother me. On the higher dose I couldn’t tolerate it and that affected life as I was too worried to go out due to the constant need of the toilet. 
if you have side effects - they can be managed with other drugs and/or dose reductions. 
I’ve heard some people be told they can’t go abroad on holiday - I’ve been abroad 3 times and my team didn’t say I couldn’t. Had no issues. 
I work full time, enjoy a full social life. It’s not really stopped me doing anything other than the first 4 weeks I was on it til I stopped it and dropped the dose. 
I felt very anxious when I first started because all I read was stories about how horrible it made you feel. There was nothing positive but it was relatively new. 
my advice. Try it. Each person is different. If you really can’t tolerate it at least you have tried. 
Claire