chest issues ABVD

Hello

I recently finished 6 cycles of ABVD last month and I had a higher heart rate throughout. My resting heart rate would be in the 90s sometimes which was quite scary. 

Since finishing treatment it has gone back down. 

I cant say exactly what caused it but i would suspect a combination of things.

Firstly I was extremely inactive throughout my treatment and put on a lot of weight.

I also have anxiety issues which may have contributed to it.

Lastly I have heard that we can become anemic and our heart has to pump faster to get oxygen around the body with less cells.

I didnt experience a tight chest though.

Hang in there. I found treatment tough as well but you'll be at the finish line before you know it.

Mike

Hi, I am just dropping in past from the NHL Group next door.

So I had a completely different type of Lymphoma and treatment journey but some of the issues you are facing do crop up during treatment and for me the heart rate thing did following my very last chemo...... long story but you can hit our forum names to see some of the stories. But in a very high percentage of cases this all settles down once treatment is completed.

I am actually left with Atrial fibrillation (AFib) this is a quivering or irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia) that can lead to blood clots, stroke, heart failure and other heart-related complications. I am doing ok and being monitored...... the main trigger is infections normally resulting in a hospital say........ but if your team are happy - I would as they are the experts.

I was on GSCF injections for about two month (once a day) after my second Stem Cell Transplant and these were not a problem.

When you feel up to it try putting some information in your profile. This really helps others when answering. It also means that you don't have to keep repeating yourself. Just click on YOUR username, select 'Edit Profile'. Put as much or as little in your profile and you can amend it at any time - you can see members profiles by hitting our forum names.

Hi, 

maybe this effect is from the well known Bleo which some hospitals reduce or even delete from the chemo mix partway through if you’ve had a clear scan?

might be worth asking about?

hugs xxx

Thanks for the reply Mike - well done on getting through the 6 cycles, and I hope the final scan brought good news. Yes I understand the inactivity - I have been hit by various side effects and the sepsis, so I too have been very inactive which only compounds things. I seem to be having a good week this week and so am determined to at least walk a bit every day and try to do some stretches. The anemia makes sense - I was anaemic prior to diagnosis and I do know that this doesn't help heart rate. Hope you have a good xmas and best of luck. 

HI Mike- thanks for the reply. I just updated my profile as suggested. Good to know the GCSF injections might not be the cause, I was worried about those. Good to know also that these things can settle down after treatment.

Hi Moomy

Thanks for getting back. Yes I have heard about the bleomicin (sp?) side effects...but sadly the month before I started treatment they changed the protocol and now do not remove it after there second cycle as previously. But yes I will ask about it next time I am with the doctor...hopefully will have my halfway scan this week.

x

Just for info, I have read the ASH (American society of haematology) report which seems to be suggesting a better and less toxic outcome using Adcetris but stopping the Bleomycin in first line treatment rather than ABVD. However they did find that adding G-CSF injections helped as treatments sometimes get delayed due to counts being too low. 
That’s the ECHELON trial; interesting times. 
Hugs xxx

Hi Moomy - thanks for this.

Interesting reading, I wonder if there are different protocols in different countries.

I wonder whether it is even possible to request dropping it, even if your consultant has decided to give it to you for the whole treatment? 

Anyway, thank you for info!