Topic: Arimidex

You are most welcome Carole :)

I was moderately deficient in Vitamin D......I take 2000u daily, it needs to be in a gel cap form and it needs to be D3....people who are highly deficient get a prescription for an even larger dose...1000u gel tabs are also available and might be fine for you if you are well within normal range, read up a little bit on the magnesium, it helps to stop the joint and bone pains when used with your D and calcium, I get my extra calcium in Total cereal , organic skim milk and then the calcium carbonate....it sounds like you stay active and spend good time in the sunshine , way to go !

I keep forgetting the cherry juice.  Will try to remember when I go to the mall this evening.  My ortho doc had me on an anti-inflammatory 2x/day for my knee and hip (both are much better) but I would much rather do the juice if I can find it.

Sameday:  thanks; very informative.  My fish oil is in gel form but the others are a pill and I can't remember which one is combined with the D3 - Ithink it may be the calcium.  Have to look when I get home.  I may need to take it separately anyway because I think the dosage is very low when combined with the other.  Only asked my med onc this week to test for D levels so have no idea where mine may fall.  My glucosamine/chondroitin has magnesium as does my multi-vit.

Kat43:  I've had maybe 3 very minor episodes of nausea since March when I started.  Nausea is one of the se's and from many of  these posts many of the se's may go away after a period of time (but we all have different experiences).  Here's a website with some information:  http://breast-cancer.emedtv.com/arimidex/arimidex-side-effects.html

SLEEP - I have found through personal experience that when I've had a good night's sleep (6 -7 uninterupted hours), the joint pain and muscle aches from Arimidex are much easier to handle.  I resisted using sleeping pills, although I suffered with insomnia.  But my surgeon's PA wrote me prescription for a mild sedative and encouraged me to use it in order to get some get good sleep.  She said it was important for bc patients to good sleep - not only while going through treatment, but afterwards too,  Then I was doing some research on fibromyalgia and learned that once again, SLEEP could reduce the discomfort of fibromyalgia pain.  I had tried benedyrl and Tylenol PM etc. but they didn't help me.  So, I decided to fill the prescription and try it.  Well, it worked and I'm feeling better than I have in many months.  I don't take the stuff every night, but when I'm having trouble, I use it.  I thought this information might help someone.

P. S. On 11/9/09, I will have my two year mammogram and meet with my surgeon for my breast exam.  Please keep your fingers crossed for me. 

Best of luck to Marilyn and Jan. I had my first milestone in August and everything was fine. I take 3 ibuporfen before bed and 3 in the morning to help with the aches and pains. Everyone have great weekend. Me - I'm working as usual.

About post lumpectomy-post rads mammogram:  I had lumpectomy 3/09, finished rads 6/09 and had a mammogram 9/09.  Good report... BUT it kind of stirred things up.  The mammogram pressure did not hurt but my op'd breast swelled again and kind of regressed to the way it looked and felt during radiation, just not as bad.  Very strange.

pam 

Thanks for the good wishes everyone.  Patoo, actually this is the 3rd mammo for me.  I had both breasts about 6 mos. out from rads, then one of lumpectomy breast only six months after that, and now both breasts again.  I never had any real discomfort with my mammos until after  my treatment.  Now it's a little ouchy, but it lasts only a few moments, then I'm free for six months again.  All in all, small price to pay. I have some fluid build-up in the space where they took out the tumor and the margin tissue and it hasn't all reabsorbed back into my system.  So, that complicates my mammos.  Also, it's caused me to give up wearing underwire bras, which I've worn most of my life.  Ugh!   Hang in there kiddo.

Hi Ladies,

Haven't been posting much but I've been reading the posts. 

I've been feeling pretty good lately (????).  Patoo, I've finished a bottle of sour cherry juice.  I actually love it!  I drink about 3 ounces a day.  You can find it in your health food section of your local grocery store or in a health food store.  The only problem is that I think it makes me gassy !!

My breast is tender too.  When I had my lupron shot a few weeks ago it really felt swollen and hurt.  It's gotten a lot better now. 

Marilyn, I too have some fluid build up where the tumor was.  It's tender there and when I had the mammo it hurt.  I still feel like there is a tumor there but when they did the ultrasound it was just fluid build up.  In time I'm sure it will become absorbed.

That's all for now. My hubby has the flu (I think seasonal).  Poor me, oops, I mean poor him!

Patoo!

Girl, get that mammogram! We may be twins but I'm a lot older than you (poor mamma)  and will tell you like I tell my daughters..... get your butt in gear and get the appointment! My Technicolor, radiation fibrosis w/ LE  breast hurts, too but not any more than the other one and it last only seconds!  There, now, did that help?  (I'm sure it didn't - but you know better - so get er done!

Been off Arimidex 6 months -- and honestly think a lot of what I blamed on Arimidex was indeed just menopause and age!

It is still easier to treat se's than cancer!

Cherry juice --- couldn't drink it because it messed up my bowels..... eating pineapple and Brazil nuts (supposed to have the same benefit.)  Might try the cherry juice again - just not every day. If you get the pure cherry juice without any additives - it is supposed to be just as good - but so are cherries - even canned cherries.

Never had my D checked. PCP won't do it. He said if a person eats right and gets some sun it would be very unusual to be low. I take 400 mg. calcium citrate with 500 mg. D3 once a day. I am going to ask the cancer Dr. when I have my mammogram and see him in March. ( I never heard that the D should be a gel cap  - will check into that! )

IMO  ---- a good night's sleep can not be beat for Fibro./ Arthritis/ and anxiety!  If I couldn't sleep I would take something!

Good day!

JO

Patoo - Tonic Water is fizzy.   I get it at Wal-Mart or Meijer and it's only about 85 cents a quart.  If you buy Schwepp's or Seagram's, you'll pay over a $1.00.  I've been drinking about 6 oz. of diet tonic mixed with about 4 oz. of Cranberry, Raspberry, Grape or Orange Juice.  I'm actually  starting to like it.  Also, if the cherry juice is just too sour or bitter, I may try to add a little bit of Splenda or Sweet'n'low - whatever.  Sour has never been my thing. 

I drink a few ounces of sweet dark cherry juice every day .. actually use it to wash down the Arimidex, Vit D, Curcumin, hyaluronic, glucosamine etc. etc. ....I don't dilute it. I buy it at the health food store and there are no additives.....it costs me $4.99 per jar which lasts me about a week.

Picked up the sweek dark cherry juice but didn't get the tonic water yet.  Maybe tomorrow.  Mixed it with water; wasn't bad at all.  Also took it to wash down meds altho I heard somewhere that it's not a good idea to take meds with anything other than water.  Something about interaction of other substances with the meds. 

Bought it at health food store; no additives, no cholesterol, no fat, no sodium, but 28g sugar.  I don't do sugar in anything else so not a problem.  Health food guy said some do drink it without diluting it but cautioned it may be too strong that way.

My 16 oz bottle cost 11.99 and at 2 tbs/serving, maybe twice a day, should last a couple of weeks.

I am not a regular at posting but have really learned a lot from reading everything. My med onc was very impressed from the knowledge I had picked up. Thanks gals!

Had my first post rad mammo (3 mo) last week. There was considerable pain and afterwards I started having the nerve flashes again ...they had almost completely gone away. I figure it was from disturbing the nerves. I have numbness in about half of my brest...thought by now some of the feeling would return. My last sugery was May 11,09.

I boosted up my glco/cond after first reading the posts from "the veterans" and am feeling much better . They were not going to test my vit D for a while because I was already taking it when all this started. After reading about how low some of your readings had fallen I pushed the issue and will have that done this week.

A few weeks ago I felt that I was slipping into a little bit of a depression. I was at Costco and found a product made by Natrol  called 5-HTP  mood inhancer.It advertises...promotes positive    mood ...helps control appetite...12 hour time release formula. Contains 5-Hydrxytrypotophan,magnesium,cellulose,calcium phosfate,hypromellose. you can read about it at  www.natrol.com.  I take one in the morning and one in the evening along with all the other supplements I take to fight the ses from Arimidex. My husband has seen a change and I don't feel so off the beaten track. I feel much calmer not so anxious.

 Take care all my sisters of the dreaded white pill. Hugs to all of you.  Have a nice quiet Sunday.

Chapstickmom, I began reading this thread a couple of months before I started taking Arimidex.  I wanted to find out what might be in store for me.  When it was time to pop my 1st little white pill into my mouth, I was half-way prepared to send out for crutches the next day!  Seriously, I was nervous.  Sure enough, the 1st week I had joint and muscles pains and didn't feel good.  I posted complaints and got lots of encouragement from the other ladies here.

6 wks later, I still don't need the crutches!  So far life is good on Arimidex.  In my case, stopping HRT and then starting a med whose job is to deprive my female body of estrogen has made me feel my age of 66 yrs.  Before bc, I didn't feel a day over 50. 

So when the time comes for you to swallow that first little white pill, don't expect the worse.  A lot of us are able to tolerate the SEs and enjoy life with the knowledge that we're taking our dr's advice in trying to avoid recurrence of bc.  Good luck! 

Good afternoon everyone,

I also was reading this thread while doing radiation and was very apprehensive about starting Arimidex which my onc had said to start the day after my last rad. Pleased to say that so far so good and next month will be one year for me. Hope things remain this way for the next four years! Like so many of you exercise is a part of my routine.

Pat