Best Of

Will be finishing off my 5 years of Arimidex in August. I was a little 'creaky' and 'flushy' in the beginning, but I just kept busy and moving. Once my body adjusted, I was fine and I have had not had any problems; weight stayed the same, bones are still good as is everything else.

A couple hints to help those just starting out:

* I think some of the SEs attributed to arimidex are actually 'just' post treatment SEs. I especially think this is true of feeling down/mood issues. You have been on a fight or flight mode since your diagnosis, and suddenly you are DONE! That takes a good deal of physiological adjustment, at least it did for me.

* if you have been exercising, keep at it. If you haven't been, start. It's great for the mood, the figure, how you feel about yourself, helps fight any weight gain, keeps your joints limber, keeps the bones strong, etc. etc. etc.

* a daily serving of prunes is a good bone builder

* be grateful that there is something we can take that really does reduce our chances of recurrence. I can't think of any SEs that would be worse than that. For me, chemo reduced the chance that cancer would come back by 20%, Arimidex by 40%....that is HUGE!

I was on Anastrozole for one month and went to my Dr. and told him I could not take it for 5 more days let alone 5  years. It affected my sleep to the point I was sometimes awake for 24 hours at a time. I hurt all over, and I cried at a Hallmark commercial. I had no appetite, was constipated and was bone tired even if I did sleep. He changed my medication and within a matter of days I began to feel better. I have a few minor things still going on, but I'm unsure if the radiation is affecting those, so I won't know for sure for another few weeks if that is true. I feel soooo much better. For me, I would simply go without if Anastrazole were my only adjunct treatment option. Thankfully we do have other options out there.

 My Dr. says I may have to change to Tamox because of osteoporosis and my inability to take anything for it. I'm scared I will have more side effects again if I change now, but don't want to hurt my bones even more by taking it. It is so confusing! I have read that some recommend Tamox for 2-3 years and an AI for the balance of the 5 years. I may go that route. I'm trying to firght the osteo with diet and exercise, but I won't know how effective that is working until next years bone density test.

Anyway, I hope that's not TMI. :-) I know we are all different and react differently to treatments. This was mine with Anastrozole.I hope your experience is better. Good Luck!