Arimidex - Coping with the SE's
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Someone posted a link to an article a couple of weeks ago (maybe notself?) and it talked about the benefits of prunes to help prevent osteoporosis, but further down said something about how they help boost estrogen in the body. Can't remember the exact wording and I've tried but can't find the link. But then it got me to really googling about foods high in phytoestrogens and I sure wasn't happy with what I found. Seems like what is good for the heart, bones, etc., isn't always good for us estrogen positive gals. I've avoided soy, but never even thought about natural foods being something to be concerned about. I really do like my MO, but she has never mentioned anything about foods to avoid. Just gets me wondering if the amount of estrogen we get through foods is so miniscule that it doesn't really matter? Just asking the question, I'm really confused at this point!
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jacksnana I am tempted to go through and pull out some excerpts of some excellent info on soy from some webpages Ive saved from the "soyonlinesrvice" website which appears to be no longer up. I avoid soy if at all possible. It is the darling of the food industry and woe betide anyone who seriously starts digging into the sordid story of soy.
OK, sometime Im going to try and find out why this websites gone awol or contact the copyright holder but in the meantime Im going to paste in an excerpt and if anyone wants all the links and stuff just pm me.
QUOTE:
PHYTOESTROGENS
The endocrine disruptors in soy.
You've probably heard quite a bit about phytoestrogens. The plant compounds that mimic estrogen are touted by some as miracle agents that will prevent cancer, coronary heart disease and osteoporosis (just to name a few).
But there is a much darker side to these compounds which are phyto-endocrine disruptors by any other name. You'll be shocked to learn that these compounds may actually increase the risk of breast cancer and cause thyroid disease, and angry to discover that soy formulas manufacturers refuse to remove them from their products despite knowing that babies fed soy-formulas risk irreversible damage.
And for a touch of the bizarre how about:
* Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) Company informing the FDA that they had found that soy phytoestrogens were generally recognised as safe (GRAS).
or how about:
* Protein Technologies International (PTI) determining that the soy phytoestrogens reduced the risk of coronary heart disease. The PTI petition was so bad it was even contradicted by the American Soybean Association (ASA).
Follow these links for information on the following topics:
UNQUOTE
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Musical: Thinking about going to NZ next year. Which would be the best month? January? February?
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Hi kjiberty, I suppose it would depend on the activities you want to do but either month is good as they are our summer months and Feb is usally hotter but not always. We all know crazy weather events are happening world wide, and here is no exception. Where I am we had massive unprecedented flooding in Feb 2004. Another good reason to choose Feb (well I think anyway) is a lot of people have gone back to work. Jan is typically holiday time and schools are out.
HTHs
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Good to know, Musical. I have an an appt. w/my BS on 1/25 and a mammo on 1/23, so if we go, I will shoot for february. What do you consider hot? (ie. what temp)
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jacksnana...I think at this point we are all confused. Most MO's either don't know or don't care about foods we eat it seems. I guess it's hard to generalize...basically we are on our own as far as things we ingest be it either food or supplements.
For me, less is more!
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Schatzi: I totally agree with you. Moderation is the name of the game.
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Have you considered what areas you are going to, as it very much depends on what area of NZ you go to. It would also depend on what youre used to or what you like.
Being a somewhat long country latitude-wise, this affects the climate quite substantially and then there are lots of micro-climates. All that said, we do have a typically moderate climate overall compared to Oz or parts of the US. Generally for my area (Lower NOrth Island, ) youd be looking at 24 to late 20's with a few 30s maybe thrown in. Thats equates to 75.2 > 86 Fahr respectively. The further NOrth you go (generally) the more humid. We have Alexandra an extreme area in the Southern part South Island. In winter many times it has the coldest temps and in summer many times the highest. Its a dry heat and a dry cold.
If youre like me and have LE, obviously that is a consideration too. I avoid the heat like the plague.
Where is Peoria, IL?
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Musicial: Peoria IL is about 3 hour drive from Chicago. We are half way between CHicago and St Louis, Missouri. Middle of the country. We haven't figured out where we are going yet in NZ. I am just trying to get through all this and then deal with it when my treatment is over. I am going to have my husband do the research. Any suggestions would be appreciated. He has been to Sydney and Melbourne, Aus. but never to NZ. The furthest south I have been is to Florida.
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Well thanks kj for saying where you are, and I'll pull my finger out and go and have a look on the map. Is that where all the tornado's are? I hope you arent getting walloped with them!
Its lovely that you are looking to come to NZ, and I hope you and Hubby really enjoy your time here whereever you decide to go. As I intimated, the good thing about NZ is theres heaps to see in a short distance. It largely depends on what you like to do and what sort of person you are. If it were me, for example, I would be more interested in the scenery and farmlife and animals rather than the overplayed cultural stuff or city life and bright lights. I would be interested in museums though. The South Isalnd is waaay different to the North I. The bushlands are truly beautiful down the S.I. west coast, as are the 'pancake rocks' which are pretty amazing. The fiords are something else, but I must confess thats about the only area I havent really been to in NZ. Theres geysers and thermal areas in the mid NI. Some years the majority of the country can be really nice and green and lush right through summer, and other years we can have droughts at that time.
If theres anything you want to know in particular just ask. I'll answer if I can.
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notself, my vitamin D is 52. I eat one serving of prunes a day. (Incidentally my GP says if people ate prunes every day, there would be few cases of colon cancer).
I don't think a daily serving of prunes, or anything else for that matter, is going to hurt you. It's when people get into mega doses (of just about anything) that they can get in trouble.
Eat more of what is known to be good for us, less of what is known to be bad, take a multi-vitamin and other supplements and medications as approved of or recommended by your medical team....then go out and enjoy life!
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I agree completely,ruthbu,
I think your comment about getting approval from your doctor is good advice.
I am fortunate to have the doctor I have. He keeps up with the latest stuff on vitamins and supplements. Every doctor in his clinic is testing patients over 60 for Vitamin D3. The test is now part of the routine physical for seniors.
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Ruthbru you are always the voice of reason. I agree with you as well. I think our bodies work best with a variety of different healthy foods - balance and moderation. Of course it's good to check with your medical team but like others I have found that sometimes the doctors are not as well informed as I would like. And most do not have much training in nutrition at all. Medical knowledge is limited, imperfect and the truth is always changing as understanding expands and builds on each discovery. All physicians should be so lucky as to have patients so well informed and engaged in their health. We are doing the best we can by continuing to ask questions, stay informed and advocate for ourselves. Yeah us!
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Musical: I will keep you informed if we decide we are doing it for sure.
Ruth: You ARE a voice of reason--thank you!
Dobie: I am originally from Roseville, and my sister is a radiation therapist at Henry Ford DT campus.
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Kjberty- Small world. I may have run into your sister if she was there 5 years ago. That's when I went through radiation therapy. I work at HF-DT campus now as a nurse-midwife. Shall I swing by and give her a Hi?
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I started Arimidex last week. After 1 week on it, I noticed increasing fatigue...more like I don't have the motivation or energy to do anything. PLUS, I noticed dizziness a few nights ago. It's mostly changing head positions when I notice it. Lovely. I do believe it's the drug. I do have Meniere's dz, but vertigo is usually much worse and short-lived. My QUESTION is, does this abate or go away after a while??? I mean, does the body acclimate to the SE's like some drugs? I'm also mentally slower than usual. This I can't do while I'm employed. I retire in May, but with these SE's, that seems like a long way away. Thanks!
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mariwyl..for me the first 4 months were fine...it wasn't until the 5th that I started to get joint/bone pain. I take Claritin and that seems to help. I have never had any dizziness. As for the fatique, it could still be from rads if you had any. I feel it takes time to adjust to any new med. Did you discuss your M's disease with your MO before starting Arimidex? Perhaps your Pharmacist could help!
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Mariwyl, When do you take it? I began taking it in the morning and had the same fatigue and total lack of motivation that you're describing. I switched to evening and feel much better during the day. Some people get insomnia, but I'm sleeping like a log.
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Mariwyl, I started mine at beginning of year and take mine at night. I have insomnia anyway and I havent noticed anything either way with Arim. changing that. I dont get dizziness but I *think* it is listed as a possible side effect. I would talk to your Doc about Menieres. Sometimes Sideeffects abate with time and sometimes not. Everyones different. I didnt get anything to speak of until about 3 or 4 months in. I dont exactly feel like Im the sharpest knife in the draw, but that has been since Chemo. Then I did Tamox and now Arim. All 3 of these are said to affect us in this area.
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Wren, Musical, and Schatzi14, I had radiation in 1975 for my Hodgkins Lymphoma, nothing since. I had a BMX in May. I will try to take the Arimidex at night and see what happens. It's annoying more than debilitating so far, and I don't like annoying! Especially if it's constant! Maybe over time it will abate. I am going to see if taking it at night works before I call the MO, unless things get worse. If taking it at night doesn't work, I'll call her also. SE are the whole reason I rejoiced that I didn't need chemo!!!! Arrrggghhhh.....
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Mariwyl big hugs. Arimidex is a ride for some of us for sure. I remind myself, the bottom line is its better than Cancer. Moreover, its not easy to "forget and get on with it" when your bones and joints ache and you feel like 90 getting out of a chair or something. Hang in there.
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The Claritin isn't working for me, but I have taken Benadryl for years as a sleep aid, so maybe my body is immune to the help that the Claritin might provide. Still have a ton of joint pain, but I will take it over the side effects of cancer any day. I have my bone density scan, since my first baseline two years ago, in October. I have been faithfully eating a serving of prunes until a week ago when I caught a bug which included diarrhea. I have to wait until I'm completely over that to resume. Something else has happened to me in the past year that is quite strange. My foot length has changed. Shoes that I was able to wear in the past are suddenly shorter and my heels hang off the end of them. I'm wondering if my arches are falling. I'll be checking with my foot surgeon. Ahhh the challenges.
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Rocket - if you are over 50 or approaching that age your arch will start to flatten out and you will gain about a half size in shoes - hate that you're finding this out - it happened to me 16 years ago and I was very upset - I had to give all my shoes away - I think it happens to those of us with very high arches - my PCP at the time was quite amused at my reaction, so was dh until he found out I was replacing all my shoes.
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Sandy: LOL! Plus, we have to spend more money on shoes that don't kill our feet. I have problems, too, with the ball of my feet.
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Hey Rocket, my feet have gotten "bigger" too since all of this BC stuff started. I noticed it a few months after ending chemo. It seems like I have flat feet now or something because they are wider and longer and I have to wear either really good sneakers (love the Asics with gel) or add cushioned arches to my shoes. Forget about going barefoot!
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Will the SEs every end? I have only been on A since last month about 5 weeks and already the bone and joint pain is awful. I too feel like an 80 year old. I didn't think about dizziness but there have been a few times in the past couple of weeks I have had to catch myself if I turn my head quickly I thought I had water in my ears from swimming. I will try the Claritan but hate taking meds in the first place. I wonder if you take the Claritan for this will your body become ammune? Then if you need to take the Claritan later for its real purpose it won't work. Hope I am making sense, I seem to be having a little trouble with that too. I know what I want to say/ask I just can't get it to come out right.
Thanks for all the suggestions and help.0 -
Hello ladies,
Just wanted to give you an update. I was frantic panic the last time I was in here. All of my test results showed NED. I could not tolerate that arimidex. Just came off my 6 week break and my whole body feels much better. I took my first aromisin tonight. We'll see how it goes.
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"so was dh until he found out I was replacing all my shoes."
LOL Sandy ....Well at last, something I dont have to worry about coz I've got flattish feet anywayz. Tskaiser75, Sorry you are joining us with your joint pain. I think a number of us can identify with the word block stuff. Sometimes it makes you wonder if youre a sandwich short of a picnic.....chemo brain, short term memory loss, a scrambler on your brain. Cant multi task and suchlike.
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In case it hasn't been mentioned in the last 20 pages since I last checked, EFFEXOR works for me. For those that have joined the A-team recently, after about 3 months on arimidex I was having the severe bone pain in the hips, feet, and hands like claws, I couldn't get up after sitting for 15 minutes (felt like I was 84 not 44). I was also having trouble sleeping with all of the hot flashes. My Onc's NP prescribed Effexor for the hot flashes, and after about two weeks I noticed that I felt really good, less joint pain, no creaking, etc. I looked it up on drugs.com and it turns out that Effexor is also given for fibromyalgia, which must have been some of the pain I was having. That or the antidepressant part just made me feel really good! Anyway, it's about a year later now, I still take one Effexor morning and one at night. I have just a little residual trigger thumb, not bad. No joint pain at all, just a few warm flashes, maybe 90% better in that area.
You can always ask to give it a try. It does take about two weeks to get used to it. At first it made me a little nauseated and sleepy, so I took it with food at night. I got a pill splitter and was taking 1.5 pills for awhile before moving to 2 pills a day. I have leveled out there and have excellent control of both hot flashes and joint pain. I am a believer!!!
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srbl62, Ive already spoken to my GP about changing. They are looking at Femara for me. I wonder really how much difference it makes as they are supposed to much of a muchness. Yes let us know how it goes for you.0
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