Arimidex
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M, are you aware that Viactiv has soy lecithin in it? I know there's no definitive answer on whether or not to eliminate soy totally if you are ER+, but I thought I would alert you anyway so that you can decide for yourself. Also, very few chocolate bars are without soy. Equal Exchange organic mint chocolate with a delicate crunch, 67% cacao has no soy. And remember one square/day for good health per Dr. Oz...are we having fun yet?0
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I've just started Arimidex and learned from a post on this site that my blood pressure medication (amlodipine) could increase how Arimidex works by 25-75%. The drug interaction site where I checked this is GENELEX, a pretty sophisticated checker. I don't even pretend that I understand everything about pathways, etc. but it is clear that there is a definite interaction. I sure don't want my side effects to be increased, but I know I do want to at least give Arimidex a good try so I will have my doc change my BP meds. Never had checked about interactions between drugs and supplements, but that will be the first thing I do now before filling any new prescriptions.
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Sunflowers
Is the relief from neuropathy only while having acupuncture treatments and does the condition eventually disappear?
Glenis
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Jo -
Happy to elaborate.
Vitamin D3 (and I'm sure you know that 50,000 IU is D2, not D3; by the way, from your point of view, what's the upside of D2 ?) is important for general health including: helping preventing loss of bone density; protecting against osteoporosis, muscle weakness, and high blood pressure; reduction of inflammation, boosting ones immunity, & as a natural mood enhancer.
In addition, according to what is now commonly accepted thinking, Vitamin D is equally important re: cancer. Both my medonc and gyno independently told me to start taking supplements which was enough to get me researching it.
For discussions about the anti cancer aspects, take a look at:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090706171500.htm and http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-07/joci-uta070109.php
For a clear discussion about it's general health benefits, see:
http://www.vrp.com/articles.aspx?ProdID=2130 ,
http://www.algaecal.com/vitamin-d/vitamin-d-benefits.html (please note, these first two are from supplement manufacturers but they provide good, clear explanations of the advantages),
http://www.livestrong.com/article/86363-benefits-vitamin-d3/
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2042659/vitamin_d3_benefits_side_effects_and.html?cat=5 ,
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9539254
or - my favorite - watch a really interesting You Tube speech, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FMlQeH8RFA
and, of course, NIH stuff,
http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitamind.asp , http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/patient-vitamind.html.
Also, be aware of the test your doctor is using. To quote from my notes taken directly from someone's post on this site, "Ask for the 25(OH)D3 test rather than the 1,25(OH)2D3 test. The first test is much more likely to give an accurate reading of overall vitamin D levels in the body." My oncologist actually gave me both tests and the results were quite different.
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Julia - Thanks for the heads up re; soy and Viactive. I wasn't aware of it but I'm one of those who's decided not to worry about soy as an ingredient. I have in fact read lots and lots of the debates about it. I used to eat primarily vegetarian including tons of tofu and soy protein (not for any ethical reasons but simply because I liked the taste, low calorie content and ease of preperation). Anyway, my breast surgeon joking referred to it as my "soy addiction" so I have cut back significantly on the veggie burgers and stuff (boy, do I miss Zone candy bars); if it doesn't say soy in one of the first few ingredients, I dont sweat it.
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I just checked out the site GENELEX, very informative. I have alot of research to do on there. Thanks for the site!
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Member of the Club and all Sister Arimidexians (or the A-Club).
Took a few days off the site. Hopefully, I do not have lymphedemia (spelling????)
Next week is onc visit. I did not go to accupuncture person or stop the medicine. Yes, my fingers are still puffy. I took my first golf lesson, but found it hard to even get into "triangle" position due to pain in left hand. My knuckers are swollen and left hand on thumb side still store towards wrist. I noticed some of you gals talking about "swaggering" to the bathroom. I am doing the same thing. My girls still are tender from exchange, and I realize that sleeping on my back is better. Still having night sweats. So, in a.m. getting up I use my elbows to prop me up, then "swagger" to the bathroom. At least I am not imagining this.
As to Soy products, I would like to thank you girls for the info. I too will keep my eyes on the product more carefully. If I could only stay away from sugar. I do know that if any cereal has an ingrediant of sugar in the first five ingrediants, stay away from it.
I guess every day is a new adventure. 4 years and 7 months to go as a Charter Member of the A Club.
Have a great day.
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The Canadian patent on Arimidex won't expire until 24 Oct 2012.
PM me if you need a nore detailed explanation on making a hyperlink. I'm assuming you've tried using the unbroken chain on the top menu. I use Firefox as a browser and initially had trouble pasting the highlighted url into the box provided, then discovered I needed to use Ctrl v to copy the link url instead of the regular cut and paste I was used to.
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JO-5 wrote: "I just don't feel a bit better and am very nauseous. I am so sensitive to meds, I'm wondering if this nausea is from the mega dose of D2? I was not this nauseous before"
Jo - If you google "Vitamin D" and "nausea", you'll see that mega doses of Vitamin D - whether D2 or D3 - can and do absolutely cause nausea. Talk to your doctor. Maybe he has suggestions, perhaps you can take a lower dose more frequently to see if the nausea subsides. Some anecdotal suggestions seem to be taking the mega dose at night or with a meal
I'm very interested to see if the D2 works and, if you know it, to know your doctor's rationale. Frankly, since they make a mega dose of D2 there must be at least a school of thought that agrees with your doc that D2 is the way to go.
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I will be interested in hearing what your doctor says. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology says that Vitamin D2 is much less effective than D3.
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http://www.peanutpetshelter.org/ShelterChallenge.html
a favor please-- will you go to this site, type in Peanut Pet Shelter and vote. This shelter was started by a group of gringos who relocated to Playa del Carmen Mexico. We've been there several times and these folks are really great. Lenny the Wonder Dog thanks you
He's a shelter adoptee -- way cool pooch..0 -
http://www.peanutpetshelter.org/ShelterChallenge.html
a favor please-- will you go to this site, type in Peanut Pet Shelter and vote. This shelter was started by a group of gringos who relocated to Playa del Carmen Mexico. We've been there several times and these folks are really great. Lenny the Wonder Dog thanks you
He's a shelter adoptee -- way cool pooch..0 -
Check with your doctor on your liver function. As a side effect, it can cause problems with the liver -- that could account for the pain in your abdomen. Good luck!
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I've been busy for the past two weeks and now reading up on everything. Went to VA for a long weekend. Ya'll have gone from vibrators, fat fingers, power surges, to Vit D. After being on "a" for a few months I coudn't get my hands around my hot tea cup in the morning. Most of my aches and pains have gotten better. I walk every day and go to a gym to exercise with light weights. Dr put me on caltrate twice a day now. I haven't been able to wear rings in forever. If I get a ring on it takes 3 weeks to get it back off. So I don't bother now. I took Femara and came back to "A". SE's were less with "A". I take ibuprofen each am and pm. 3 each time. But I dodn't take that as much now. Been on it since 1/09. Hope everyone has a great week.
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How long taking D3 before you 'might' feel less joint/bone pain? Or, has anyone really gotten any relief with extra D? Questions, questions, questions.
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My sister's had been complaining of terrible bone pain in her hips and legs. I finally convinced her to get her Vitamin D checked and her level came back 16ng/ml. She started taking 4,000 IU of Vitamin D3 per day and her bone pain started going away after two weeks. A month later it was completely gone. She also took 1200 IU of Calcium and 400 IU of Magnesium per day.
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sobx-
I hear you on the ring thing. I just had my wedding ring resized, can't get it over my swollen joints. I rode horse yesterday, had a great time. But later my knees told me what they thought of the ride. OUCH! My knees are the worst spot for pain from my 'A'.
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I'd also be interested in finding out ways to improve metabolism of Vitamin D. Any supplements to help ?
Edited to add:
Okay, I've been doing a bit of research and it appears that there are 3 reasons one may not be getting high enough levels of D, even with supplementation.
(1) Reduced absorption: Malabsorption can deprive the body of dietary vitamin D; only a small amount of 25(OH)D is recirculated enterohepatically.
(2) Abnormal metabolism: Vitamin D deficiency may result from defects in the production of 25(OH)D or 1,25(OH)2D.
(3) Resistance to effects of vitamin
i.e. due to mutations in the 1,25(OH)2D receptor, here 1,25(OH)2D is abundant but ineffective because the receptor is not functional.The article is complicated but fascinating: http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec01/ch004/ch004k.html
It appears that the solution varies depending upon the cause.
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Back to the conversation a week or so ago about nail fungus......
Consumer Report magazine had a small article about this subject. They did not have much good to say about the prescription meds for it. They did suggest trying Vicks Vaporub as it was harmless and cheap. So I tried it. In only 7 days my toe nail is very much better!!! I still might lose the nail but the hard skin ? fungus ? that was lifting the nail is almost all gone!!!! Can't believe it. I have been applying it twice a day for only a week.
Worth a try. :-)
pam
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OMG, ladies -- I'm a terrible mass of itching skin and am concerned that it might be the Femara that I started 10 days ago. No rash, just terribly itchy torso and arms, head, ears, etc. that keeps getting worse every day. Don't know whether to call the pharmacist or the onc, but guess it's time to call someone. Just wanted to share -- now I'll catch up on your posts. Thanks for listening...
-bonnie
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So sorry Bonnie... itching is miserable. Do call your doctor. He might not know why but at least could suggest something to give you relief.
Good luck.
pam
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Hello Bonnie, hope you have called someone and that it's on its way out. It does sound like an histaminic reaction. Hope you're much better very soon. Julia
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Bonnie, let us know how you are, please.
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Hi Patoo -- the onc told me to take Benedryl and continue the Femara/call if the symptoms get worse during the weekend -- yada yada yada..... Apparently, itching is fairly common with this drug and it usually goes away after a short time on the medicine. I am still very itchy, but no rash, so that's good.
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sunflowers, thanks for the acupuncture recommendation. I'd have to travel a bit to get treatment so so far I haven't although it's appealing on a couple of levels... but fortunately, my neuropathy (from Taxol last year) is slowly getting better.
In fact, I quit taking the Neurontin recently because my neuropathy was so much better... and that's when the Arimidex aches came back quite a bit. For those who might remember my earlier post about this, I've been back on Neurontin 4 days now and my Arimidex aches are almost gone again. That's just my story, I don't know if anyone else has similar results -- but it may help someone else -- so I post it.
Patoo, I started taking 1000 IU of D3 (this was well before I quit the Neurontin mentioned above) and within a week had relief, although I'm thinking now I might increase that more, I don't have much left in the way of aches but my knees can still flare up a bit. Obviously, for me, the Neurontin is masking a lot of my aches, but before I took the D3 I had more, so I think both are helping me. Next time I see my oncologist I'm going to ask about measuring my D3 levels.
I take my D3 with my calcium citrate in the middle of the day (because I take morning and night meds that can't be taken within 4 hours of calcium -- juggling, juggling, to keep everything straight!), no nausea for whatever reason.
I keep reading about the importance of weight-bearing and resistance exercise in preventing bone loss so I'm upping my time with that as I slowly get strength and energy back.
Oh, yes, to post a link, an easy way is to type some text (like "vitamin D reference" or you could just type in the link URL if you like), then highlight it. When you highlight the text, the little link icon will appear (next to the text icon in the bar at the top of the post box); click on it, paste in your link, click "insert," and you're done.
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JO,
Here is a little something from NIH about Vitamin D and cholesterol for your doctor.
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JO, this cholesterol stuff is really frustrating.
I've had moderately high cholesterol for more than 10 years -- total cholesterol hovered around 270 or 280 (fasting), and LDL was too high. But my HDL has always been high, too (55 - 60), and my triglycerides were always very low.
Lipitor, and more recently, Crestor, brought everything back to where my docs wanted it. My lipid levels were nice and stable for years ... until Arimidex. After 6 months of Arimidex, my LDL was creeping up again -- not really high or even in the "alert" range, but enough so that my PCP increased the Crestor dose one notch.
I've been doing fine on Crestor -- no SE's at all, AFAIK. So far, so good ... until last month. Now, my PCP says, my "small density" LDL is "up slightly", and he wants to start me on a slow-release niacin (Niaspan), plus omega-3. The omega-3 is no big deal -- I bought some a few months ago and should have been taking it all along. But, I DO NOT want to start taking the niacin.
It's really strange how I feel about that. I went through a nasty chemo (TC x 4), and I've had 2 years of Arimidex, and I have no doubt that before this is all over I'll need a bisphosphonate for my bones. I take Synthroid and a BP med, plus Citracal and a daily vitamin. Yet, I am fighting to avoid that daily niacin pill.
Any reason why I should not be concerned about taking a prescription, slow-release niacin? The SE's sound very messy, especially the intense hot flushes and itching and the risk of liver damage. He advised that I take an aspirin about an hour before the Niaspan, and take them both late in the evening (before bed), to decrease the severity of flushes and skin reddening. Sounds like fun.
I strongly suspect Arimidex is messing with my blood lipids. That won't end any time soon. But, what if the Vitamin D3 in the Citracal is what's causing my cholesterol levels to seem high? I guess I just need to know more about how D3 interferes with total and LDL cholesterol measurements, and whether stopping the D3 supplement for awhile will really make any difference one way or the other. If D3 supplements interfere with cholesterol measurement, why doesn't the natural D3 we make every day mess it up, too? Also, I didn't just start taking D3 -- I've been taking Citracal or Viactiv for at least 6 years. <sigh>
One more reason why I should get off my butt and lose those 10 meno-pounds, I guess ...
otter
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my head is spinning.
Can you all really keep this stuff straight? Please share how - thaniks.
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Patoo - I for one, CHEAT. I keep folders, subfolders and files with all this stuff on my laptop. "Arimidex" is one major subfolder with drug interactions, side effects, side effects and prevention, hot flashes and diet, etc each as sub files. I have another for "Vitamins and Supplements" and many others. When Nature girl mentioned Neurontin (which my Mom took recently after a hip replacement) I thought it was worth noting, so added it to my "side effects and prevention" file. I'll even cut and paste interesting posts so I'll remember exactly what you guys say.
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MTG, how do you even find your laptop when it's buried underneath all that stuff???
patoo, I cannot keep all this stuff straight. You would not believe the number of pdf files I have stashed away somewhere-or-other on my computer. Sure, I keep them in folders etc.; but I can't keep those straight.
I can juggle the facts about the meds I'm taking and the treatments I've had, because that's the kind of thing I had to do when I was working. My job involved finding and reading journal articles (biomedical sciences) and making sense of them; and then remembering enough about them that I could sort of recall having read them before (and, thus, avoid looking them up all over again!). We used to use 3 x 5 file cards for that in the old days, writing notes or abstracts for each article on each card. Now there are software programs that can be used to organize such things electronically.
But I don't keep track of my BC information that systematically. There have been lots of times when I've seen a question or comment on the boards and remembered reading a good article about that topic, but haven't been able to re-locate the article I read.
<sigh> I just blame it on chemo-brain.
otter
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