Jeff,
I had
Erbitux in 2013, along with Taxotere, for six weeks. The first week is usually a loading dose, 400mg, which they monitor you closely due to two rare severe side effects, one beng allergic reaction, and heart failure, which may occur the first two infusions, and so they may reduce, slow down or stop the infusion if needed. They gave me bendryl infisuons to reduce risk of side effects, Tylenol probably to reduce fever, which had a slight one later that night, and the Benadryl out me to sleep each time, and the rest of the weeks about 250mg
Erbitux, along with the benydryl, that took about an hour.
The common side effect for
Erbitux, and other monoclonal antibodies, is the rash, so at the first sign of any tell the staff, and I was given minocycline, which basically cleared the minor facial rash, but not the arms, legs, head itchiness, which drove me crazy. They recommend using Dove liquid soft soap for sensitive skin, head and shoulders for dry scalp, and a variety of creams aquaphor, cetaphil, aveeno fir my skin, including putting them while wearing socks, gloves from the hand and foot syndrome, in addition too, band aids on my fingertips. I didn't want to use crazy glue, but that was recommended for the fingertip cuts.
The facial rash was said to be indictive of the drug working. But I have read it's not, and is a side effect of the monoclonal antibodies, and not that the drug is working or not. Not sure if it stil holds true, but
Erbitux was said not to work in about 5% head and neck cancer patients, and there is no assay test for this unlike there is for colorectal cancer, which doesnt work in 40%, and an assay tests for the mutation of KRAS gene mutation is done before starting. There is a new drug, not sure if's current use, that increasesv the effectiveness of monoclonal antibodies.
Erbitux can effect red blood cells, and I needed a blood transfusion about Midway through, cause dehydration, mucocitus, conjunctivitis, constipation, at least in my case, needed extra IV infusions, which was a lot better than my previous chemo's, but is not without side effects. Not sure how long you're doing
Erbitux, but do know some on long term chemo maintenance with such.
Here are some links about
Erbitux, and you can also use the search button here for previous posts, and good luck tomorrow.
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs//label/2004/125084lbl.pdfhttp://chemocare.com/chemotherapy/drug-info/erbitux.aspx
