Arimidex
Comments
-
For most people SE are minimal, so go into it with a good attitude; remembering that it is our best defense against reoccurance. Most estrogen negative ladies would be THRILLED to have the options we postive ladies have. Best of luck! Ruth
0 -
Thanks Ruthbru-I am going to stay positive and not let it get me! I hate to see the price of it though. Not sure how much is covered by my BC/BS. Over the counter price is $405. But I have the prescription card so I think they cover almost 2/3 of the cost.
0 -
If I get mine 3 months at a time, I 'only' have to pay one co-pay. So check & see what your plan says (mine is a BC/BS also). If that is the case for you, your doctor will have to write the prescription saying it is for 3 months worth at a time or they won't fill it that way (personal experience talking).
0 -
I believe that BC/BS is run by a bunch of crooks!!!
0 -
I've had a private policy with BC/BS of Florida since 1990 and never had a claim until my BC diagnosis in 2009... well, I did have routine mammograms about every 5 years that they paid for. Otherwise no claims. I did not even know how my deductible (it is HIGH) worked. I thought I would make it to Medicare in 2012 without using my insurance. I was wrong! I've got to say they have been great. Of course I wish my deductible was lower and I wish I had drug coverage. But I don't because omitting those features kept my premiums affordable. I have been able to go to any hospital or doctor and my insurance has never balked at any scan or lab test or procedure my doctors ordered. My premium did jump up about 12% when my renewal date came around in late 2009 but it is still lower than many people my age pay for non-group policies. I am so thankful to have insurance. Just feel sorry for BC/BS that my cancer showed up before I turned old enough for medicare!
Just saying....
pam
0 -
ruth,
BCBS plans are independent licensee's and they are not all run by the same people. Some are for-profit and some are non-profit. I am not defending the insurance industry on the whole, but think you should just be careful making blanket statements like that. If we are looking to lay blame, there is plenty to go around. The entire health care system is a mess and that includes the payor's, the providers, the pharmaceutical companies and those individuals who abuse the system. All of those entities contribute to costs that are out of control.
Just my 2 cents.
0 -
I'm just mad at BC in my state because they don't consider hair a body part; if I lived 100 miles to the east in the neighboring state, hair IS a body part & they would have paid for some of the cost for a 'cranial prosesis' (which I know I spelled wrong, but my spell checker won't work & I'm too lazy to go look it up).
0 -
My fourth day on Arimidex and had a huge charlie horse this morning. I gather this is one of the side effects? Am I hearing tonic or seltzer helps? any other things to be aware of?
0 -
Sounds like tonic water is the key drink. Sometimes people get charlie horses because of low potassium, so eat some bananas in case it's that.
0 -
Lovemyfamilysomuch:
I am off the arimidex too. I will be on something else in a couple of weeks. I agree with you, wouldn't that be great to be able to give our unused drugs to someone else, instead of flushing them down the toilet! Actually, there's a question where should I put them?
0 -
DON'T flush them down the toilet (or you will be ingesting them anyway
), but bring them back to your pharmacy and have them disposed of properly. I believe a law was recently passed (in my state anyway) that you can actually turn in unopened prescription medications, and they then can be given to people who can't afford them. It would be worth checking with a pharmacist about that too. 0 -
I am finging something intereesting. I have pains in my fingers and toes also. I have alot of arthritis in my left hip. My ortho surgeon gave me pills to try. He is trying to prevent me from having a hip replacement. since I started taking the pills, my fingers and toes are feeling better too. I am taking mobic 15mg.
have a good day!
0 -
oh..about the unused arimidex. Give them to someone who needs them!
0 -
ruthbru~ I had to get a perscription written out for a prostectic cranial blah blah....and my insurance paid for a wig. It was very cute. Raquel Welsch "bewitched" with blonde highlights. I purchased two of them just incase something happened to one of them and sure enough I was checking on a pizza one night and melted one of them in the front a little. I plan on donating my wig to someone....whoever wants it. It was very nice and a lot of people thought that I went through Chemo without any hair loss. Are you still wearing your wig? Hope all is well
Hi everyone....enjoy your day......oh and I still dislike arimidex.....so much
Balsie
0 -
Balsie......nice touch singeing your hair. (round of applause here!). I had a gas oven kind of "explode" in my face when I was a kid and can still smell my hair to this day. NEVER RE LIGHT THE PILOT. My words of wisdom for the day.......
Wonder if the American Cancer Society would take used wigs. I bet they would. Lots of us ( I didn't need chemo) have no wig benefit in our insurance plans. I didn't, so I would have had to pay out of pocket if I needed one.
I had a "jacki" ( like a hospital "johnny", only female) given to me at Dana Farber. It was fab to wear in the hospital. Looked like a baseball shirt. That's my style anyway, but it also came in a silk fabric. It came from www.alittleeasierrecovery.org ( a little easier recovery) w snaps on the front and up the sleeves. pockets inside for the drains, etc. ANYWAY, they told me to "pass it on" and, unfortunately, I did have to. One of my dtrs friends has BC and she was go grateful for my " re gift." I think Dana Farber wrote for a grant of some kind. I remember that day, picking up my "pouffies" ( I had bilateral mastectomies), a nice soft velcro vest, etc, and my baseball shirt. I am sure there is someone out there who would appreciate your generosity. Try to donate the wigs if you can find someone to take them. They will love you forever!
Sue
0 -
Lots of good posts to read today as I was catching up on the communication. I have heard that it is best to have a good lawyer to help with applying for disability. Have also heard that it can take up to two years, which is a long time to be without income.
Jo, smart decision not to go skiing! I tried it when I was in my 20's and ended up experiencing a thrilling trip down the mountain in a toboggan with a couple of ski patrolmen as my escort. I had fallen in dramatic fashion and dislocated my right shoulder. Imagine the thrill of having umpteen layers of clothing removed in the hospital emergency room so the dr. could pop the joint back together.
So far I'm able to continue playing golf and walking for exercise and doing my housework and yardwork. After a round of golf, my finger joints are sore and stiff. I had carpel tunnel symptoms after my BMX surgery. I bought a wrist brace to wear at night and started doing hand exercises, squeezing rubber balls, etc. The symptoms went away. I guessed that nerve damage during the surgery had caused the symptoms. My sympathy to those with severe aches and pains.
0 -
My insurance policy directly states that prosisis for 'missing and absent body parts' are covered, and I did have a prescription for a 'cranial prosisis', but BC in ND does not consider hair a 'body part' (BC of Minn. does believe that hair is part of the body, Balsie, because your legistature mandated that they do so). My oncologist, who was new in the state, was shocked, wrote a letter to the insurance people etc. I appealed it all the way to the N.D. Insurance Commissioner (who denied it, and shortly afterwards resigned to go to work for the insurance industry......hence my dislike for 'the system'). Anyway, I bought a fantastic wig with my own money (actually two, 'hair and a spare'
), and nobody knew I was wearing a wig unless I told them. In fact, a friend of mine who knew I was going through treatment, but hadn't seen me for awhile commented, "Well, at least you didn't lose your hair." I know that American Cancer takes used wigs, and will give them to people who need them for free. Mine are still in my closet, though, because I am too superstitious to get rid of them. Maybe, when I can do that, I will know that I've moved on.........oh yes, I used wig as my excuse for not getting near the oven (or a burner) for a long, long time!!! 0 -
I picked up my Arimidex today. I have to wait 2 1/2 weeks to start it. I'm not feeling so hot after my ovary removal on Weds., so I need to recoup first. I picked up a fine cold in the hospital too! I have no energy at all.
I talked to my pharmacist about Arimidex, and she said try to take them at bedtime with a small snack to help with SE's (naseau). I am also going to have to up my calcium intake as my ovary removal can speed up bone loss. I get sick from milk, but I'm going to try it again. I love milk, grew up on the farm with real fresh milk and now it makes me sick! I hate calcium pills, they need to make a gel one that's easy to swallow.
0 -
Horsegal13,
I am so sorry you are experiencing this total estrogen depletion shock! I think this process is so much harder on you younger women. So unfair! Hang in there and know you have our sympathy and compassion.
pam
0 -
Get VIACTIV Calcium Chews plus vitamin D. They come in chocolate, carmel, strawberry (once I found a box of mocha) flavors. Only 20 calories per chew. I take 3 spread out over the day; and drink a glass of milk and eat a carton of yogart (or make a fruit smoothie with yogart). There are some really yummy yogarts out there now too. Find some fun ways to get the calcium.
0 -
Been on arimidex almost a year, Thought I was pretty lucky so far, have manageable hot flashes, some sleep issues, dry eyes, two fingers that are numb at their tips, hands that would fall asleep at any time of the day or night, stiffness with my knees when I get up from sitting too long and a raise in my cholesteral. But all in all not bad enough to stop me from what I could do before.
A couple of weeks ago though I developed a new SE that isn't as easy to handle. It seems I am developing trigger thumbs. It is amazing how much we use our thumbs and the impact this is having on me. I find it hard to open things from the door to a jar, it's hard to grasp items, it's hard to hold a book to read, it's hard to write with a pen, to type, to pick up my grandson and on and on.
I have an appointment with my Docter tomorrow to discuss what can be done. I've read that a SE of armidix is the thickening of the tendons in the hands which can lead up to surgery. I want to do everything else I can before that happens. Hoping braces and drugs for the inflamation will help.
A year with minor issues and boom in three weeks this. Isn't it funny how the SE come and go with this drug.0 -
U32374, yes, it is a strange med. I also have minor se's and am just waiting for something to come that is difficult to live with. Hopefully I will be spared - I am the biggest baby alive! Hope you get some answers and simple relief short of surgery. Please come back and let us know. I wonder if it can be alleviated with the braces and hand exercises. That's what I'm hoping for you.0
-
U32374-- I also developed trigger fingers after taking arimidex for about three months. Started out in one thumb, I couldn't bend it (but sometimes it would "pop" to a bent position and then back up... which became increasingly painful). Went to an orthopedist, he diagnosed trigger finger and gave me a splint to wear and recommended ibuprofen. None of that helped. Finally he gave me a cortisone shot in the thumb... it took about two weeks but that did work. Thumb still wasn't normal but it could be used. Then I developed trigger finger in the other thumb, splinted it etc. but no improvement, so I got a cortisone shot in that thumb, too. Around the same time I woke up one morning and the original thumb was "triggered" again tho' not nearly as badly, and I had trigger finger in a couple of other fingers, too. ALmost a year later, my thumbs are still "triggered" but not nearly as badly as before the cortisone shots. Mostly it is in the morning, and after I'm up for a few minutes it tends to go away. THe next step would have been (or still might be, if they get worse) surgery or going off the arimidex and trying something else. I'm reluctant to do that because, as far as I can tell, trigger finger can be a side effect of aromasin too and that drug can also have other side effects that I don't have now! My other fingers are "triggered" too, but not as badly as the thumbs. Some mornings I wake up and only two fingers are "triggered, " but on occasion it's as many as eight. Most of them are only somewhat "triggered, " though, and it also goes away after a few minutes awake. Some mornings, though, I feel like I wake up with two very achy "claws"! My fingers and hands ache a lot, much of the time, in fact. Also, every once in a while, all of a sudden it feels like one of my thumbs has become almost dislocated, it's super painful when I move it. Then the pain goes away and it's ok again. These side effects aren't pleasant but I guess I've decided to put up with them as long as I can. I think if the thumbs get to the point where I can't use them again, I will probably opt to have the surgery... or I guess I might try aromasin. One thing is for sure, it is hard to function without your thumbs! Good luck! Let us know how it goes!
0 -
Does it help when you move them around, squeeze a ball etc. or does that just make them worse? I just ask because for me with the joint pain; walking, exercise etc. really helps decrease the creakiness.
0 -
Hi All: See that some of us are complaining about joint pain in hands. As stated previously I wrote that my left hand is basically become nonfunctional. In fact, I was going to call onc. today to see what could be done. Does this pain ever go away so surgery would be avoided? I have used the squeeze ball and exercise and brace, but I can't move my hand sideways without alot of pain. I see that someone wrote about tendons thickening.Wow.
Will be back later to catch up. Meanwhile, I will place call to onc.
Have a great day.
0 -
Don't flush the pills. Believe it or not I tried another drug - femara and aronmasin and came back to arimidex so I was glad I still had some pills and hadn't thrown them away. wait and see which one you end up on.
I also take ibuprofen each morn and nite to help with the finger stiffness.
0 -
Horsegal13-I am going to have an ooph after radiation due to my BRAC + status, and then start Arimadex. Let me know how it goes for you. Best wishes for a speedy recovery!
0 -
Just wondering .. does anyone take Aleve for sore joints and muscles . Does that interfere with any other drug we are on?
Anyone else want to join the I hate Arimidex club ( but sure do hope it works)
Balsie
0 -
This website has an article that cites a small study showing that high doses of Vitamin D help joint and muscle pain associated with arimidex.
Here is the beginning. I copied and saved the article but didn't keep where it is on this site. It might be worth a try.
What breastcancer.org says about this article…
SABCS: Vitamin D Reduces Aromatase Inhibitor Pain
The small study reviewed here suggests that very high doses of vitamin D taken each week may help ease muscle and joint pain associated with taking an aromatase inhibitor as part of the treatment plan for hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer. These results were presented at the 2009 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
Best wishes,
Deirdre
0 -
Hi, this website has an article indicating that high dose Vitamin D seems to help with arimidex caused joint and muscle pain. It begins: "The small study reviewed here suggests that very high doses of vitamin D taken each week may help ease muscle and joint pain associated with taking an aromatase inhibitor as part of the treatment plan for hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer. These results were presented at the 2009 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium."
I saved the article but not where I found it so I can't provide a link. Perhaps a search would work.
The article states that the women took 1000 mg calcium and 400 IU Vit D3 daily. They were also given 50,000 (yes, four zeros) IU Vitamin D weekly for 8/16 weeks and monthly thereafter. It worked less well monthly. Apparently these women maintained better bone health than the controls on the placebo.
Yu have to be carefully monitored by doc to avoid dangerously high calcium levels in blood and urine, kidney stones, and kidney damage. You can't do this if you have kidney problems or other conditions worsened by Vitamin D. The article says this needs more study.
Best wishes, Deirdre
0
