MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish
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Welcome to all the newbies! I've been awol....the anastrozole is killing me. About week 6 the side effects really starting kicking in and by last Saturday (week 7) I was absolutely miserable. I had at least 25 hot flashes that day and ached all over (every joint and the muscles in my legs and arms). My right hand was so weak and sore that I couldn't open the cap on the orange juice or turn on the faucet. I kept moving since that's what everyone says you should do but I was absolutely exhausted by the end of the day and my husband had to help me up from the couch in the evening and I had to take the stairs one at a time. I'm just wondering how bad it could get.
I've given myself a few days break from it and I'm feeling much better today. I keep wondering if I actually need to do this to myself. I looked at the cancermath site (which I know is out of date) but it says that if I had the ooph (which I did in December), with my pathology, there would be no benefit to taking the tamoxifen so I'm wondering if it's the same with the anastrozole. Guess I need to have another talk with my MO....
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Momine...You bet. He has me on Trental 400mg 3x a day. I have to take this with 400IU of Vitamin E, just once daily. He also just recently doubled the amount of Gabapentin I was taking. I now take 600mg of that 3x a day. The Gabapentin is for the neupoathy.
LovesChristmas...I am so sorry you are having such bad reactions to the Anastrazole. I take it too, went off it once then back on it starting last month. I get some whopper headaches at times and some days the fatigue is rough. It is not real severe but I do notice it. I hope your body can begin to tolerate it better. if not discuss what your options are with your doctor. Ask him if you really need it and make sure he explains all the benefits vs. the risks in your case. I hope you can find some peace soon. HUGS!
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Yes, the LE PT experts are the ones that recommend the garments. My LE doesn't get red, but I get the mound of built up fluid and it hurts! Feels like I'm lying on a tennis ball. Then I know I have to do my GENTLE patting motions to get the fluid moving on. My DH does my back area, but I do the neck, chest and arms.
It wasn't recommended that I get a torso compression garment but she offered the sleeve one. I said wouldn't I need the hand covering too (gauntlet?) and she said yep. I said too much drama for what is right now only on my back. I'm lucky!! I felt if I compressed my arms prophylactically (sp?) that it might force more fluid into my torso. So I haven't used a gauntlet and have no intention of doing so. My arms do get heavy at times, and I find that I have to use 2 arms (one holding the other) to do things (think moving hangers on a rack), but it doesn't happen all the time.
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Thanks Barbe! I will see what they recommend and try to get what I need. I just feel this huge sense of relief knowing I am going to be evaluated by a qualified LE therapist. The swelling is so painful, on my breast itself but also in the underarm. Getting some of that trapped fluid moving will sure be a relief.
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OK, I am not a doc, but from the drugs he is giving you it seems that he thinks you have fibrotic lesions and/or that your veins are not working properly. Getting collapsed, fibrotic veins is common in connection with cancer treatment and contributes to LE problems. I would think, but ask, that the only thing that would counter-indicate LE therapy is if you have an actual blood clot somewhere, but it doesn't sound like it.
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Here I am a boomer 56 yrs old-Anyone like me has Sjogrens Disease and DCIS, lumpectomy, completed radiation therapy and on SERMs (Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators- Tamoxifen I have had several flares
during and after radiation treatment.. With radiation treatments I experienced notable increased tiredness and gastrointestinal problems
. How have others coped and what did you do? Please share your experiences-symptom flares?0 -
My RO told me I had truncal LE from the rads but that there was no treatment. My Med Onc took one look, put me on gabapentin for the pain and sent me to the LE therapists who started massage, put me in a compression bra and measured me for a sleeve to wear when doeing heavy stuff so it wouldn't develop into arm LE. So my experience is that ROs are idiots and totally ignorant about truncal LE. The vascular problems that radiation causes cannot be cured or even well treated most of the time, so IMNSHO RO's delay sending women out for proper therapy for truncal LE to hide thier ignorance and so we won't find out that it's a known side effect of rads that they choose not to tell us about ahead of time. But then, that's just my opinion and I'm well known for being totally against rads after my experience.
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mkmware-I do no thave any experience with Sjogrens Disease but during rads I became very dehydtrated and drank like 10-12 glasses of water a day. I could not drink enough fluids. Had dry eyes, constipation, etc. It finally went away after rads.
Nativemainer I am with you-hate rads. No one could pay me enough money to but my body through that crap again.
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Welcome, mkmware! I have had the same surgery and treatment as you, and the icing on my cake is I have fibromyalgia. I get hand and foot neuropathy pain and some of my other joints ache at times. Hard to tell if it is the Tamox., or just the loss of estrogen (thru' natural menopause;) or the combination of the two. I did get tested for Sjogren's, as some of the vague symptoms are the same as fibromyalgia. My eyes and mouth get incredibly dry at times. I keep some liquid tears drops in my purse. I use Biotene or ACT mouthwash for dry mouth. A LOT of medications cause dry mouth, so if you take anything other than just Tamox., it could be contributing. During and right after rads, some people get heartburn and esophageal burning. The RO's want to tell you it is not caused by rads, but it is. Too many women have reported it. When the rads hits your ribs, it causes some "scatter" to nearby tissues. The reflux feeling from that usually resolves within a few weeks after finishing rads for most people. Anyway, everything you describe sounds about par for the course, more bothersome than worrisome EXCEPT the SOB, cough and chest pain. Rads gives a few women excessive inflammation & scarring in the lungs (pulmonitis or pneumonitis) and it can be a serious condition. This is something you should mention to the RO on follow-up, or really to the next doctor you happen to see. I believe a plain film x-ray can indicate if this is happening in your case.0
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It comes to my attention that this is Fat Tuesday. We need some no calorie King Cake, ladies!
Happy Madri Gras!
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elimar~are the sisters above any relation? Or is it simply that they are 'sisters'?
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That IS a picture of sisters. No relation to anyone here, so just some generic, real life sisters to represent us B/C sisters. They looked the right age and happy, so here they are. :-)0
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Good choice for this picture Eli. I have to admit the big plastic lipped women were just a tad on the creepy side!
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They are lovely looking sisters. Nice pic choice.
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Eli~ you know how to pick the pictures.
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Have to agree with Janis on the picture. Green lips were creepy. Love the new pic!
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We just thought it was funny, especially dressed up and her in her wedding gown.
Thank you!
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Meece,
I am sure it was fun and I totally support good girl time silliness. Thank goodness there are no pictures of my girls & me with our boas singing into the curling irons while watching Mama Mia on the girls trip last year.....lol
Please know that I meant no disrespect just thought the big lips pictures were a tad creepy...
Hugs to everyone....Happy Friday!
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Thank you for the welcome, Janis, Paula, Sherry and all. Yes, a rought way to meet, but on the up side, if one has to get cancer, there is not better time, i suppose, and definitely no better crowd to hang with.
A lot of good info on LE, am watching my arm, big arms on both sides but the surgery side feels thicker and heavier, underarm still swollen after 3 months.
Eli - the surgery I had was lumpectomy instead of a biopsy first, and 11 nodes out, 1 cancer. I am using DIM vs Tamox or Ari... and tweaking thyroid and hormones now, don't know where it will end up since thyroid worse than ever. Seems I am mutifocal and dealing with that, reexcision, or MX or DMX or trusting my protocol for now.
DianeRose, give me laser anyday, in fact, wish I had thought of that and shopped around longer for the BS w the laser. Will if there is a next time.
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Odie, no offense taken.
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odie16, No offense here either. I do reserve the right to be slightly creepy on future occasions, because you know what they say. One person's "creepy" is another person's hilarious.
Essa, Sounds like there will be another round of surgery for you at some point. This time, we'll be holding your hand (which I hope will back to normal size by then.) I'm sure you have read tons on LE and you know sooner is always better than later to get some PT for that. janis, who posts here, is currently having concerns about LE (truncal/body.) You just never really know which lymph pathways are disturbed til the symptoms begin.
If B/C is the "gift that keeps on giving," where's the freakin' return counter?
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Today, I put an assorment of colognes from our youth at the top of the page. Scent memory is one of the most powerful and primal memories. Some of us were posting about the vintage fragrances that we loved on the "Middle-Aged Memories" thread. (You know, the one that I am always trying to recruit new posters for.) So, if you have a minute to go down memory lane, go there and post your fave old scent.0
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Eli, you made me start my day with a giggle! Being in retail I know all about those impossible returns. I'll hop over to the new thread and check it out! Thanks, Kitty0
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Seriously, can we mark BC as Return to Sender??? Not at this address! Undeliverable!
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Return to sender. Address unknown. No such number. No such zone.
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I'd like to return the hot flashes to sender, no such address
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Sherry, this is the second time my hormones have been taken away abruptly. First a total hysterectomy 16 years ago, now the Arimidex. I am not having too much trouble with hot flashes, I can fan them away easily. It is the night sweats I hate the most. All the covers have to come off and stay that way till I get cooled off. Makes for some very long nights.
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I would have liked the judge to have awarded my BC to my ex- He wanted everything else
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Jean Nate for an old scent anyone???
Sherry, sleep on a beach towel all the way over your pillow too! You will sleep right through a flash.
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Barbe how does a beach towel help? I don't sweat I just get really hot and clammy. The sad thing is I have been on Tamox for a little over a year. At first the hot flashes were really bad and then they went away. They have then come and gone but never anything bad. Then all of a sudden they returned almost as bad as when I first started.
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