Arimidex - Coping with the SE's
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kittydog
can't remember - have you tried wrist splints???? I had the identical problems you're describing at the 3 month point. Doc had me stop for 6 weeks, when I started again, I was ok. Wore wrist splints, and went to physiotherapist for treatment and exercises to do. Good luck - hope you heal too.
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hello i am new here
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Thanks Sunflower...no I have not tried wrist splints...want work over my night time tribute sleeve. Plus the ones I have looked at here leave the thumbs out. I hope he can do something that simple.
Seems like I have been on this pill a year this June. So many of my problems have improved...even the stiff joints unless I sit to long and even the hot flashes have calmed down. Now if the darn neuropathy would go away I would feel great...but it has been two years now.
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sorry kittydg, didn't look closely at your signature line to see the Horrible L. Darn. It was the wrist splints WITH THUMB support that really helped me - I'll bet they would work OVER your sleeve, but I'd check with doc first
The BEST ones have velcro closings - NEVER use the rubberish pull on ones - but you knwo that
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Hello all, I have a question... is anyone on Calcium and Boniva or something like Boniva? My onc put me on Boniva last month she said they like you to take it while on the Arimidex? If so, any side effects?
I appreciate any insight thank you, Ginger
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Ginger
have you had a bone density test? If not a problem, surprised anyone would suggest adding a medicaion. I've been on Arimidex for almost 5 years - bones have been fine. Genetics plays a HUGE role in this one....also, calcium, all the supplements.
never heard of the "they like you" - I'm at Dana Farber Cancer Insitute - had a baseline bone density when started Arimidex, every 2 years after that, since bones seem fine. BTW, I'm 67.
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Ginger I too have been on Arimidex for over a yr and Tamoxifen for a yr prior to that. I just had a bone density test done and my bones are fine as well. No Boniva or anything similar ordered for me. I'm not even taking Calcium at this point. I only take Vit D3.
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I would have to second that. Did they do a bone denisty test first. Mine was also fine and I want have another one till next year. I would not take those drugs unless it is necessary. I know lots of dentist that want even treat you because of the side effects. Of course not everybody gets them but it is one drug I am leary of.
Thanks Sunflower...I am sure he will find a solution. He did a great job with with shoulder when I tore the rotator cuff during my radiation treatments. But....then it was his PT that set of my LE...I know I was just prediposed to this darn stuff. Before long I will be in compression all over.
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Welcome justme1,Are you taking Arimidex? Have you had any surgery yet? Your diagnosis is like mine,due to family history, I decided to get bmx with TE and my drs felt it was a wise choice. I was happy until I got my first saline filling in the TE. Now I'm not so sure,lots of pain and when not in pain,downright uncomfortable. I complain a lot I know it could be lots worse. I dunno how the stage 4 girls make it. Now I know why my mom didnt fight harder when she had ovarian cancer. All the pain and pills just wear you down and depress you. Dont feel like doing anything anymore,all i wanna do is take a Tylenol and sleep in the recliner. Am I just suffering the 3 wk out blues? Will this pass?
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Welcome justme1. Layla2525, this is all still new to you and your feelings will probably pass but, if they don't please don't hesitate to get meds to get you through.
Hi everyone. Went to primary doc this afternoon; she took a look at my leg, felt the heat and sent me directly to ER to rule out DVT (blood clots). They did ultrasound and no clots found ' YAY! So, yes, it is cellulitis and I'm on an antibiotic for 10 days. Thanks for your support.
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Glad to hear from you patoo & that you got your leg taken care of!
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adding a welcome to the new ladies
and I get a yearly bone density test & my bones have held up OK. I eat 3 calcium chews (which also has vitamin D), drink two glasses of milk (or one glass & some yogurt) every day, and do lots of weight bearing exercises & lifting of light weights every week. I wouldn't add another medication unless I was in the osteoporosis zone.
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Thank you all for your responses, I will not be taking it this next time (which will be the 2nd one since its a once a month pill) I did have a bone densitiy before starting the Anastrozole (Arimdex) and it was fine. She did have me start taking calcium with Vit D, so I do take that. I feel better hearing all these responses. This is the place to get the "real" facts. Thank you all again. Ginger
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Less than a week on generic Arimidex and I feel like my skull has a meat cleaver in it. Nothing helps. Please tell me the headache phase isn't forever. I can function if I feel like barfing (which I do) but this is near-debilitating. Overall, I've been very fortunate on this recent (four-month) journey but ouch. Suggestions welcome!
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Pandemonium
I'd check with your oncologist about the head pain - headache, well, not surprising, but the pain you're describing seems to border on the Migraine level. "Common" nausea, a known SE of Arimidex - check in with your doc just to be sure all is well. The first few weeks - really the first 3 months - on the A Team are a HUGE ADJUSTMENT for our bodies - seems to level out, normalize, get used to things, however you want to describe it after the 3 month point.
Many of us had severe symptoms at 3 months - mine was CTS, hand pain, my doc had me stop for 6 weeks - when started again, was fine.
Very powerful this 1 mg teeny-weeny little white pill AND, the good news, seems effective in keeping the Beast away! Good luck - but also check with your doc about that head pain.
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Pam, I'm just one week also on generic Arimidex and no headaches at all. Just a little swollen and tired. Call your Oncologist. Mine told me if I have trouble there are others you can try.
Layla I think we all get down at some point due to the way this has changed our lives so much. I'm on Wellbutrin and just started taking Xanax for anxiety. Never had anxiety in my life but last few months I've really needed the Xanax. It may be the irritability is from meds too, who knows but it takes the crankiness and the edge off at a low dose when I'm stressing at work. hey do what you need to in order to get through all of this. 6 months ago I didn't have one med in my system, my how things change. I'd rather combat and feel quality of life than allow SE or anything else win and bring me down. I'm fighting to live, so why not live well!!
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I agree with no mention of Boniva here. Just baseline bones scan with caltrate or Ozcal with vitamin D0 -
Thanks. Fatigue I have but not sure about swelling. Yet. Already plan on calling oncologist first thing Monday morning. Been on Paxil since hysterectomy 9 years ago at age 42 and generic Fosomax for 2+ years because already had osteoporosis in a few spots. Am small and small-boned. Have not really had any side effects from Fosomax. I am taking the Arimedex in the evening because it seems, based on reading, that it may help with some of the SE. And yes, I have not been a migraine person but this I believe is pretty close. Sinus headaches, yes, but this seems different. Heck, if my head is going to hurt this bad I may as well finally quit caffeine and get it all done at once. Thanks and I'll keep you posted. Tomorrow (sunday) is four months since diagnosis. Still sort of unreal.
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Pamdemonium - Sorry about the headaches. I have a long history of migraines which have been very well controlled over the past 5-6 years with MigreLief. Despite continuing to take it I was very discouraged when I started getting pretty bad headaches within a few weeks of starting Arimidex. I even had to take my heavy-duty migraine drugs a few times. However, the headaches did taper off after about a month. So.....hopefully, your headaches will just be a temporary thing. Hang in there!!!
As others have mentioned, always best to run it by your oncologist!
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Pamdemonium -here is something you can try to relieve your headache (reflexology). When your thumb is against the side of your hand (along your first finger), there will be a small rise near the base of your thumb where it joins your hand. Using you opposite hand, pinch and rub this area. If you have the right spot your hand will hurt. Continue to pinch/rub this spot for about a minute and see if your headache subsides. If your headache is on the left side rub the right hand...if your headache is on the right side do your left hand. Hopefully, that will alleviate your headache enough that you can get through until you can get with your doctor.
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I, too, am amazed that this tiny little white pill, Arimidex, can be so effective.
Re: anxiety...it hit me about 4-6 months after my diagnosis. I was going through so much, it took me awhile to figure out exactly what it was that I was feeling. I tried antidepressants but they zoned me out. Plus I really wasn't depressed. Finally, I asked for something for anxiety, was given Buspar, and it's made a world of difference.
I was still having periods until the 1st day of my chemo. At age 52, the chemo put me into menopause. My older sister commented that menopause can cause anxiety.
So the anxiety may not be 'something in your head'. It can be hormone-related. (see post from a menopause website below).
I don't think my onc really put the two together: chemo induced menopause/one cause of anxiety. I think she thought my issues were due to the diagnosis. With so many women going into menopause due to chemo, you'd think there'd be advice on what to expect with menopause.
For women in their 40s and 50s who are going through menopause, one of the most common causes of anxiety is decreased estrogen levels. Estrogen declines during perimenopause, or the time before menopause, as the body prepares to cease egg development and menstruation. Scientists have discovered that estrogen has a significant effect on the brain's regulation of moods and emotion.
While this relationship appears complex, experts do know that changes in estrogen levels have a direct effect on the neurochemicals serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine, and melatonin. Since all of these chemicals play an integral role in emotion and mood regulation, disruptions caused by estrogen fluctuations can lead to anxiety during menopause.
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Three more months left for me on the little white pill. Bones were great when I started and have gone slowly downhill. I am going to look into some "treatment" when I get off this one that I am taking at the moment. I could have had the infusions, the pills and I chose to take one step at a time.
Anyone hear of ladies who stop arimidex after the full 5 years following up with raloxifene for their bones? My sis has been on evista for about 5 years to help her bones. She didn't have breast cancer but cervical cancer. We are both 5 years out now.
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I am thinking that the bones may rebound on their own once we are done (as long as we keep up with the calcium, weight bearing exercise etc). I am three months behind you in being done mcgaffey!
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kdajay, funny you would mention the thumb-web thing for a headache...
I was visiting in-laws today, and complained about a sinus headache. It's a classic one (for me): pressure and dull ache on the left side of my forehead and left cheek below my eye, nasal stuffiness on the left side, and a mild left-sided headache that's triggering some queasiness. I know a couple of Advil or Aleve will knock it out, but I wasn't near my drug cache at the time.
One of my in-laws is a self-described pain reflexologist (or whatever). So, he takes my right hand and starts massaging around in my thumb web until he finds "the spot." Then he says, "This is going to hurt for ten seconds, but it will make your headache go away!".
Now I have a sinus headache and a sore hand.
otter
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Ruth, I keep thinking that and then I wonder. I will go and take my last bone scans to my gynecologist who is good and see what he thinks. I am moving home, USA, but will be going back and forth for awhile. I am feeling pretty good about it all. What a miracle to be alive in this magnificent place.
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Otter,
Your headache reminds me of a type of migraine headache. The feeling of fullness in the sinuses is part of the pattern as well as everything you described. I had migraines for years, from age 14, before they were finally diagnosed in my mid 20's. I even took Misoline an anti seizure med for some time because I was misdiagnosed as epileptic. My early migraines did not involve headache, just all of the other symptoms. You may want to see a headache specialist because a proper diagnosis can really set you free.
Ginger
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The DivineMrs.M,
I was so happy to read your post. No sooner did I think the Arimidex was being tolerated and the anxiety began big time. I was just at the grocery store and felt weak, dizzy, hot, pale and very anxious like I was going to faint. I took half Xanax and it helped a little but hate that feeling! Do you think my Oncologist will prescribe Buspar and does it make you tired? I work a stressful office job and need my mind to be clear and my energy to stay in tact, no falling asleep lol.
Have you ever looked into Cymbalta? Supposed to combat anxiety, muscle and joint pain, along with being an antidepressant. Seems to cover it all in one pill. Anyone else try this for the anxiety that Arimidex brings on and to ease the joint pain?0 -
The DivineMrs.M,
I was so happy to read your post. No sooner did I think the Arimidex was being tolerated and the anxiety began big time. I was just at the grocery store and felt weak, dizzy, hot, pale and very anxious like I was going to faint. I took half Xanax and it helped a little but hate that feeling! Do you think my Oncologist will prescribe Buspar and oes it make you tired? I work a stressful office job and need my mind to be clear and my energy to stay in tact, no falling asleep lol.
Have you ever looked into Cymbalta? Supposed to combat anxiety, muscle and joint pain, along with being an antidepressant. Seems to cover it all in one pill. Anyone else try this for the anxiety that Arimidex brings on and to ease the joint pain?0 -
Bogie, I absolutely love Buspar, one, because it helps so much with anxiety and two: it does NOT make me tired. It is NOT addictive. The nurse practitioner of my primary doctor was who prescribed it for me. She said it's a medicine that's been around a long time. She said she used to work with an older doctor who often prescribed it for anxiety symptoms. It takes the edge off my anxiety. My anxiety was such that I was physically trembling. The Buspar started helping the day I began taking it.
During chemo, I was prescribed Ativan to sleep at night. It helps with anxiety, but makes me very tired. Also, the onc doesn't like to prescribe it because of its addictive properties.
What I like about Buspar is that I'm still me, still have feelings: happy, sad, excitement, anger, but the anxiety has been relieved by the medicine. I have not tried Cymbalta but have tried Serafem, Prozac, Zoloft and a couple other antidepressants that all zoned me out.
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Mrs. M,
I have heard of Buspar, but didn't know too much about it. I was on Wellbutrin to quit smoking year ago (successfully). I was going off it in the fall when my breast surgeon told me to stay on it when he told me I had cancer so I wouldn't get depressed, so I did. I don't think it helps the anxiety that started from the Arimidex. Sounds like I will ask my Oncotype or Primary M.D. I would like to replace it with Buspar. If not that then Cymbalta. Although I heard Cymbalta makes you tired.
Thank you for such a clear and concise explanation. I can not have an episode like that again...grrrr.
I will let you know what they come back with!0 -
Ginger, you're right -- my headaches do sound (and feel) a lot like migraines. I know this because I had migraines when I was a teenager and in my early 20's. Same feeling of fullness and dull ache that grew worse and worse until finally my head was throbbing. Well, half my head, anyway -- they usually were one-sided. Kind of scary.
I even had the sensitivity to light and odors, so that I had to lie down in a dark, quiet room with a cold washcloth over my eyes. Oh, and bad nausea. Nothing touched those headaches. My grandma used to get them, and my mom, too. They called 'em "sick headaches." Back then, all we had was aspirin or opiates, and I only had access to the aspirin. <sigh>
As I hit my late 20's, the headaches went away... completely. I didn't get headaches at all until I moved to the Deep South and developed allergies (didn't have allergies as a child). Now, my headaches are very predictable. They coincide with high pollen counts and allergy season, and they follow right behind a few days of hayfever-type symptoms or a cold and sinus drainage.
Not to worry -- my symptoms are totally manageable with one or two doses of ibuprofen, nothing more. These headaches feel like mini-migraines, but unlike those migraines, these headaches respond to simple OTC NSAID therapy. Plus, I get them so seldom -- maybe only twice a year. Oh, and I did see a sinus specialist. There's nothing going on in there except less-than-optimal sinus drainage, for which he prescribed... wait for it.... ibuprofen and Sudafed, PRN.
otter
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