Arimidex - Coping with the SE's
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I picked up Claritin at Target this evening. Forgot to take it before bed though. Is it ok to tae in the morning? I'm lying in bed and me feet or pulsing as I type. Ugh.
Michelle0 -
Guys I think there is a herb that can eradicate B C. Anyone doing research on the same?
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I will be starting Arimedex (generic) next week as soon as my rads are done. I'm looking for AI sisters out there regarding the time of day they take the pill and why. I know it will probably end up being an individual thing as to which works best, but I'd like to hear others' experience with this. And just in case, I've already bought a package of Claritin!
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I am in my 3rd month of Arimidex and so far, no SEs. I take it first thing in the morning...always at the same time and it says to take it with fluid. I usually have it with my coffee. I take it first thing cause I figure if I get hot flashes, better in the morning than at bedtime. So far nothing bad. If I did get any bone pain, I would start Claritin at once. I took it with Neulasta and I had no pains at all.
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I bought one of those 7 day pill counters & put it on top of my underwear drawer. I take it in the morning so I won't forget. It is all a matter of personal choice. If you find that you have some SE after you take it, then you might want to play around with the timing to see if that makes a difference.
Do not be afraid to try it. Most people do not have terrible SEs. It is only natural that people who do have problems post more, everyone else is just out living their lives.
And remember Als are a HUGE gun in our fight against recurrence. Chemo gave me a 20% risk reduction, Arimidex 40%. I am very, very grateful that it is an option and have had (almost 5) great years while on it!
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ruthbru
Are you taking Arimidex just for 5 years or will they extend it? I have heard different opinions.
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I take mine in the morning-I get hot flashes at night, but I'd rather have them at night than at work-speaking in front of a groups of people.
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spunky..
How long have you been taking Arimidex? Other than hot flashes any SEs?
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This Claritin thing is strange - but I know what everyone is saying - IT WORKS. So wth is it? And what are the SE's?
As someone who knocked her blood glucose levels to the sky by taking Niacin, which did WONDERS to reduce my cholesteral, just the BEST NUMBERS since starting on the A Team, almost 5 years ago -
I am becoming (SADLY) aware what a @$%#$!@#^$ balancing act this game is...grrrr...BTW, so HAPPY with my cholesterol, that I'm back taking niacin!!!!
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Sunflowers...I haven't had my cholesterol checked yet and I do take lipitor so I wonder. I am also concerned about my glucose as well. I need to see my GP soon. You are so right about this being a balancing act...one thing is good then another thing appears. So is life for us I guess!
The Claritin thing is amazing and as the MO told me it is harmless to most so why not try it?
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Were any of you given the Onconotype Dx test? I am really mad that they did not offer that to me and that I have been waiting since Feb for the genetic testing people!! I am gonna call around and see what I can get. Going to MO today,scared to death,cause I quit taking the Arimi after long list of side effects shortness of breath,extremely high bld prz,swollen mouth and still being treated by gen phys after a mth for these side effects.
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Claritin (loratadine):
serious but rare side effects are allergic reactions, liver toxicity, bronchspasm, faiting, low platelet count.
Common side effects are fatigue, drowsiness, headache, dry mucus membranes, diarrhea.
There are no significant interactions between loratadine and anastrazole.
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Layla
No I wasn't given any tests like that...in fact never heard of them until I came on this forum...hmmmmm now I wonder too!
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I take all my pills in the morning. My daily cocktail is: calcium, vitamin d (2000iu), biotin (for my hair), probiotic, fish oil, arimidex and now claritin. I also get a B12 shot once a month. I need to get one of those 7 days pills thingies cause I'm tired of sorting my stuff out every morning. I don't know if the Biotin is working for me. I lost ALOT of hair on top. I didn't have chemo but I've had a lot of surgeries. Drs say it's from anesthesia and the trauma my body has been through. It's slowly coming back. My vitamin levels were lower than low. I was taking 50000iu a week of vitamin d but my numbers started to creep up so they lowered it. I'm trying to so all I can to minimize bone loss by strength training daily and keeping up on my vitamins.
We shall see how my feet and neck feel today!
Michelle
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I think Claritin is cetirizine. I suspect it works to reduce the body's over reaction. At least that's how it works for allergies. I take it during the Spring for reaction to pollen.
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Michelle, it takes a while to see any results from the Biotin. But my advice is to stick with it. It has helped me tremendously with the thinning hair.
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I've taken Claritin for two days now and the improvement in pain is remarkable! I still have some, but it's not the grinding, gnawing, burning pain I usually have! Yay!
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YEAH, SCOOT...I forgot to mention it cuz I take it all the time for allergies. Just stopped for a few days to "test" the pain - and WOW...creak, creak, creak...
SO why do we think this stuff works????? I'm SO blinkin afraid somebody is gonna' tell me it's "bad" for E+, or the liver, kidney, whatever....does ANYBODY know?????
ETA: just pm'd cp418, she's about the most "scientific" one I read on these boards - maybe she knows. I'm HONESTLY afraid to ask my oncologists, in case they tell me to stop taking it!
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I bought Claritin this morning and will begin taking it tomorrow morning. I sure hope it helps me. I'm one of the unfortunate ones who has a lot of pain daily from Arimidex. I've tried several things and nothing works, so this will be a welcome relief if it does.
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Me too, Rocket. I'm hoping it's the Claritin and not the self-imposed bed rest I've had for the last few days. I doubt it, though - I've done bed rest before without the same results.
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Re: Claritin
"Claritin" is a brand name for the active ingredient "loratadine" (http://www.rxlist.com/claritin-drug/clinical-pharmacology.htm ). Claritin is an antihistamine -- hence its use to treat symptoms of allergy. The drug blocks the "H1" type of histamine receptors. There are also "H2" histamine receptors, but that's another story.
Cetirizine is similar to Claritin but they aren't the same drug. Cetirizine is the active component in "Zyrtec', which is another antihistamine that blocks "H1" histamine receptors (http://www.rxlist.com/zyrtec-drug.htm ).
I suspect, but don't know for sure, than Zyrtec was developed by a different pharmaceutical company to compete with Claritin. Both were prescription-only at first, but are now available OTC. It would be fun to do an experiment, to see if Zyrtec has the same effects on bone pain as Claritin seems to have.
Confession: I had bone pain with Neulasta, but never tried Claritin. The pain was truly awful after my first tx but wasn't so bad with subsequent tx's. I bought some OTC generic loratadine, and it's still sitting in the medicine cabinet. If it's not too old, I think I might try it for the AI pain.
I have no idea why Claritin (or Zyrtec, or perhaps other antihistamines) might work against bone pain from Neulasta, much less the aches and pains from an AI. When I was reading about all this during my chemo adventure 4 years ago, I developed a theory -- a real, live, physiologically plausible explanation -- that I thought might explain the effects. I'd been reading about possible causes (the "pathogenesis") of the bone pain, and it made sense that an antihistamine might counteract that process. But it was a tenuous theory even then; and chemo brain seems to have erased it.
otter
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Is it plain Claritin that is being tried because I've also seen a Claritin-D and I can't remember if it matters which one you take.
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schatzi14-I've been on it Arim 1 month and 2 days (yes I'm keeping track). Hot flashes seem to be it for now, although I am noticing some general achiness in my neck and shoulders-but that could be age or any number of things.
Layla-I was given Onc tests (2, one for each breast). They were expensive-insurance doesn''t cover the whole cost. I was happy to pay it though, since my scores were low enough to keep me from having to have chemo.
mrochon-I take almost the same laundry list of meds, except fish oil. I'm going to add Claritin to see if I get rid of the general aches.
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from what I remember, it needs to be plain Claritin (not D)....at least for the Neulasta pain (I can't at all remember why...chemo brain, or selective memory?).
schatzi, I am probably done after 5 years, as I was node negative and only mildly estrogen positive. I think it is really a case-by-case decision (ie educated guess) right now.
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Layla, I had the Oncotype test done. Usually it is given to node negative women, and a low score indicates a low chance of recurrence, so a low score means you may not need chemo. I had a positive node but I was eligible for a clinical trial, so was able to get the test. My score came back right on the line, and I decided to get chemo to do everything possible to prevent recurrence. Since it is a fairly new test, and expensive, I think the testing varies depending on where you are treated. I'm glad I got it, the more information the better.
I am having a lot of pain with anastrozole, and tried Claritin today, and had a better day. We'll see tomorrow, I hope it works for me. It is plain Claritin that is recommended, not D.
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Hi everyone, I've been on Claritin for years for allergies before trying it this winter for my AI-bone pain, and have had none of the potential SEs to it. So glad it is working for so many! Honest, I have no investment in Claritin :-) My MO totally supports the Claritin. I ran it by the pharmacist at work and he was interested in this use of it, and said there were no contraindications. (I run my complete list of RXs, vitamins and supplements by him whenever I change or add something.)
I take three prescriptions including anastrozol; I take my scrips in the evening before bed along with biotin, cranberry, folic acid, and vitamin d. In the morning I take a whack of things including Claritin, Vits. C, E, l-glutamin, and fish oil. I also take herbal supplements, Reishi mushroom, and TeGreen (equivalent to 6 cups of green tea) at dinner. I have pillboxes and set it all up on Sunday evenings so I don't have to think about it before bed or while getting ready in the morning.
I had the oncotype test done as soon as I had my biopsy results. On a scale of 1-100, I scored a 19 -- just outside the zone of "chemo probably not worth it". Arrrrggghhh. I really didn't want to go through chemo but when I discovered the Penguin Cold Cap therapy to prevent hair loss due to chemo, I decided to go forward with both. I realized I was young, healthy, insured, employed, and had paid time off to go through it. I didn't want to look over my shoulder the rest of my life worrying about recurrence and having to face a day when I wished I'd done more to prevent cancer from coming back. I'm glad I did. I had virtually no SEs from chemo and I kept my hair as well (TCx4@3). The oncotype test is expensive and not all insurances cover it. I had to argue a little but eventually got it covered.
Cheers,
Susan
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schatzi14
one of the many things I've learned as a BC THRIVER, is we really have to be our own advocates with some of our doctors. My oncologists are wonerful, caring, and THEY ADVOCATE FOR ME. Which is how I think it should be, but know many aren't.
My PCP's - I hvae to FIGHT for everything. It was my ONCOLOGIST on a check up visit who tested my Thryoid when I complained of being s-o-o-o-o tired, WOW. TSH was SO HIGH, came back to PCP, who fought with me about taking meds. Changed PCP ;-)
SERIOUSLY - I think we are responsible for making sure we are routinely tested for cholesterol, blood glucose levels, TSH ( thyroid stimulating hormone) levels, and Vitamin D.
Susan: Most insurance covers Oncotype test now, and Genomics is VERY good about working with patients to get the test covered. VERY GOOD.
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Histamine is one of the chemicals the body uses to fight inflammation, and the inflammatory process is also involved in the bone marrow's production of blood cells. So it makes sense that Histamine blockers like Claritin and Zyrtec would block some of the bone pain caused by nuelasta and the AIs.
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My experience has been that Claratin also works for the dry eye and associated problems of Arimidex, as well as with the joint pain. I wish someone had a scientific explanation for this.
My only guess is that some people may have a threshold allergic reaction to Arimidex, or to some of the fillers in generic Arimidex? It sure would be good to get to the bottom of this, and it does not seem that any of the internet information or any of the package information is very helpful.
Maybe something to do with histamines? IDK.
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Sunflowers
I already have thyroid disease and have been taking synthroid for decades. I need to make an appt with my GP to check all the other levels. Was just waiting till all the treatments were done. I asked my MO if I needed a bone density test cause of Arimidex and he said "not yet". I will ask my GP cause I trust him. As for the oncotype I assume that it was not needed or else I had it and he never told me. Is it basically done with a blood test? Sure had lots of those. In Canada we all have Federal health insurance therefore, so far all this has cost me nothing. Even the Neulasta was covered by the pharmaceutical company and the rest by our private insurance. So far that was all my own insurance had to pay for. I am also over 65 so most meds are covered by the gov't too. Much like your Medicare I think. I am also a big fan of Claritin and if the Arimidex causes joint or leg pain, I will try it. Thanks for all the info
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