Life on aromasin
Comments
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Gals, has anyone tried astaxanthin for joint pain? I used to take it for pain in a thumb joint and then tapered off. I just ordered some from Vitacost to try for the new joint pains. I hate to have to swallow another pill but if it helps...
Chinneymae, there are other antidepressants out there. Maybe your dr. can try another? They are good for breaking the pain cycle and are often prescribed for pain conditions such as fibromyalgia.
Headaches can be a side effect of Aromasin, less common than some other side effects. An occasional headache at the top of the head, definitely different than migraine is something that I've noticed.0 -
Thx fir the tip Doxie! I always feel like I'm plenty warm with down but if I need to get an electric blanket to ease the morning stiffness, I will!
Let us know if you feel a difference, Bay.
Yes Gal, I've gainned weight but wasn't sure if it was the Aromosin or my inactivity due to the duel Achilles Tendonitis I'm also dealing with. It showed up a year after chemo. So I put on 30 lbs post chemo, have lost 5, but it's all around my middle, almost look like I'm pregnant! My onc commented about the distention last spring, saying he didn't remember me being like this and ordered a Cat Scan of my stomach and intestines.
So Gal, you have weight gain, concentrated in your middle, since starting AIs?
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yes, I do. although that's typically where I gain it. I've gone up a size in pants, last time that happened was about 10 years ago. then again, seems like all my hormones have gone all out of whack again...above and beyond Estrogen.0 -
I too have gained around my middle despite losing about 5 pounds on AIs, and getting a lot more exercise. I'm at a healthy BMI. When I took a 2 month break between anastrozole and aromasin, the middle fat shrunk significantly even though nothing else changed.0 -
Galsal, definitely have had weight gain and it's almost all around my middle. Very discouraging. Pants I bought a year ago no longer fit, despite my trying to exercise more and watch what I eat.0 -
I used to love my electric blanket until reading about exposure to electro-magnetic fields possibly being bad for health. So after the last blanket broke I switched to a flannel nightgown with flannel pajama bottoms too. Sexy it's not but under a down comforter I can keep toasty warm. I even wear a fleece cap on my head sometimes and a eye sleep mask. It all helps. Of course this climate only goes into the 20's in the winter and not very often. We used to live in the Midwest and one Winter it went down to -25. Our car was parked outside and even though it started with a new battery it still wouldn't move. The tires were frozen to the ground!0 -
Why are my feet and ankles hurting so badly? I can barely walk. It's time for a break. How does 4 weeks sound?
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Sharon, it's entirely your decision.0 -
thanks. some times it's good to know it's not just me for once!
i sure know about things hurting. mostly my hands/wrists though. some thing about all of this brought my Rheumatoid on with a vengence. now I'm on a Dmard, the intent is to keep me going well enough to stay on the AI. it's not doing the best yet though. next month I just may wind up on Methotrexate, at a low dose. poor Rheumatologist, her face fell a bit when told her I had less than two years into the AI.0 -
Hi Galsal,
My Rheumatologist told me that I couldn't get any more shots. Surgery was my next step. I'll pass on that one. Just go with the flow.
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Oh my ! I feel so much better after reading your posts ! I am suffering many of the same side effects on aromasin. I expected the joint pain but didn't know I could also get brain fog with it. Both of my parents have dementia and I was sure I was developing it already. You should see the three of us sitting around the kitchen table trying to remember a name or event. We are a pathetic trio ! My oncologist said many of her patients get significant help from accupuncture. I just started last week. It's expensive but pain pills are not working. We'll see how it goes. Her other suggestion was yoga. I may try that once I feel like I can bend over without yelping with pain. I am eating too much so the weight gain is to be expected. But, like some other ladies the way the fat has settled on my middle and the speed I have gained weight is strange.0 -
Amazingly, the joint pain was much worse on Femara than Aromasin. I couldn't stand more than two months on Arimidex from multiple headaches daily.0 -
I too have been gaining since starting aromasin. It's averaged about 2 lbs a month! I've been on it 17 months......yeah.....it's really bad. The nurse practitioner in with my oncologist said it had nothing to do with the aromasin. Before this I was fine with my weight and I could easily drop 5 lbs but not these days. I told my family doctor I was concerned and asked if aromasin could be a contributor and he said most definitely and then said it is possible to lose weight but very hard without estrogen.
It may sound strange but that was encouraging to me. With what the NP said, I felt like perhaps it was just in my mind.0 -
Wow, to hear it's hard to lose weight without estrogen makes me feel better. I've been off the Aromasin for about 6 weeks and not only has the joint pain gone away but so has the back pain, headaches and better than all of that, the brain fog is lifting! Work was becoming unmanageable and when I was talking to my supervisor, about the fog definitely coming from the Aromasin and not the chemo, since it was getting so much worse over time, she agreed with me and said she had talked to my other friends/co-workers and had told them she was worried about me.
I called my pharmacist, and she said the only antidepressant that won't suppress Tomoxifen is Lexapro. Wellbutrin, which I had been still taking was contraindicated even though my Oncologist said it was ok.
So I am being weaned off Wellbutrin, have started taking Lexapro, and will start taking Tomoxafin in 5 days.
Wish I could stop it all but am afraid to do that. Just amazed how badly I did on Aromasin. Glad everyone isn't like me!
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Hi everyone it's me and I just read all the posts, I'm sorry for all the pain and everything u'r going thru but it makes me feel more normal than normal people.
Whoever said they are whining please don't say that cuz we all get it here and it's not whining at all it facts about all this crap. I don't care most of what the Docs say about meds the pharmacist tells u like it is and altho I was going to stay off of this I went back on--According to my onc there is not much more damage that can happen--I've been to PT that didn't do anything, what I think bothers me the most are my decaying discs and vertebrae which happened in 3 months and other things in that area so my pain has not subsided plus my my side is hrting more my colon has moved around to my side pushing my liver up into my ribs, pushing my ribs up. So I have no idea what caused this and neither does any Dr. and it's way to risky of an operation for me (I don't do well anymore with being put out) so I'm stuck with all this crap but the cancer is still at bay so I'm good as far as that goes. And I did read from Mayo that chemo brain can last any amount of time and start at anytime after so....even up to 20 yrs. That's so encouraging, cuz my dyslexia is all over the place now. LOL Oh even if u never had chemo--it's stilled called that??? Oh and I still have chronic diarrhea, o one knows why==6 yrs now I should be skinny as a rail but I'm as big as something??LOL And now by belly has 3 hernias in them, but again no one wants to operate with my history. so I was much beter after chemo and rads and even my operations than I am now, my body is a mess inside but I smile and everyone thinks boy are u doing good--like everyone thinks it's over and I don't go into all the fun stuff that happens to so many of us after--it just keeps on going and here we are---Now look who's whining, I'd rather be just wining much more fun. So another procedure I think next week and I've already talked to the guy that puts u out he called right away and we talked about 20 mins. It's just a lite twilite but he seemed to know his stuff--why can't I just take a lot of weed and I wouldn't care what they did. Tho I don't now, but maybe it would work.
Take good care of u'rselves everyone-we're the ones feeling all of this.0 -
Does anyone here find that Aromasin causes panic attacks?
I am on Wellbutrin and lexapro due to severe depression on arimidex. I was switched to the aromasin about a month ago and I think it's causing anxiety. I can't tell though because I could just be anxious from all that I've been through. I just completed my exchange 5 days ago and maybe was stressed about that.
I'm scheduled to see my MO Tuesday and I'll ask him about it, but I'd rather see if someone that's on it has similar problems.0 -
I am finishing up my 5 years on aromasin. Can not say that it has made me any more anxious than this whole dang thing has made me. I do make sure I get to the gym, give myself some nice treats at times like massage, facial or manicure. Do not deprive yourself of those things now, they do help, or for me they help, to keep the stress at bay0 -
Thanks Proud. I haven't been able to work out as hard as I used to lately and I'm sure that adds to the stress as well.0 -
erinm216,
When I first went on aromasin, I felt slightly buzzed. Not anxious, but very alert. With arimidex I need to nap almost everyday, but that could be in part because I was still getting over chemo and rads. I took a two month break between the two.
Now I'm normal, I guess, for having reduced estrogen. Much less drive than before. Wish I'd get back the constant caffeine-like buzz.0 -
I'm a type A personality and get stressed and anxious pretty easily. Precancer, I was taking Lorazepam. Ironically, my MO then prescribed a higher dose every 6 hrs as it was also an antinausia med which I needed during Chemo.
The end result was I built up a tolerance to it and am able to take 1 mg tabs 2-3x daily. On days I don't take it bc I forget, I'm ok but I know it's the only thing keeping the panic attacks at bay.
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wait, what Camillegal? chemo brain even if never had that treatment? chemo brain from AIs??? i know part of mine is from four surgeries with general anesthesia since 2/2012. never did I though think it was from the AIs. WOW if I've mis-understood, please don't hesitate to correct me.
blessings to you for this coming surgery. my own belly is lots of various pains since I had a Diep that was aborted during surgery. one side is the one that hurts, below the rib area. have wondered more than once it was truly just muscular.0 -
God love you, Camillegal, your strength inspires me.
I don't know if this will help anyone else so I'm just throwing it out there. For some unknown reason my belly was having a bad day and developed a diastasis. It was "only" three fingers wide but hurt. Doctors will tell you it shouldn't hurt but mine did. I began wearing an abdominal binder and doing exercises while seated: simply pulling the belly button to the back, multiple times, working up to a hundred at three times per day. This reduced the diastasis to two fingers but left me so sore around the ribs that I started wearing a rib belt. What a relief, like a gentle warming hug. At my request my dr. gave me a referral for PT where some great therapists taught me gentle abdominal exercises. They don't hurt. Proper form is soooo important. It has taken three months to reach the point where I only wear the binder during the day. And always over a camisole which makes so the binder doesn't need to be washed as often.0 -
Galsal,
Cami is correct. A new study indicates that AIs are the primary culprit in "chemo brain" and certainly for those who had no chemo. There were cognitive tests for those who had chemo + rads + AI, rads+ AI, and just AI. Overtime it was the "AI brain" that persisted and was the constant. Chemo brain from chemo is for real! I had it, but mine did get better as I went through radiation. I had two months off when I switched from arimidex to aromasin. My mind really cleared over those months. When I got back on the AI, gradually the foggy thinking returned. It's like we are in a perpetual game of word search and always on the losing end.0 -
I have noticed some memory impairment on Aromasin. I never had chemo. I can't say it's a real problem though, because it does not happen daily, maybe once a week or every other week. Occasionally when I'm searching for a word or name, the brain is just blank. Of course this happened before, but it was a "tip of the tongue" kind of thing. Now, just blank. Sigh.0 -
when I read the report that the AL really could be responsible for chemo brain, it actually reinforced what I had been feeling.
never did chemo but memory stinks....I left the house one day, started the car and could not remember where I wanted to go. Oh yeah, mamo center....so do I go left or right out of my driveway? oh yeah, right....weird and not the only time!0 -
Yes it's the AIs that caused my brain to be so fogged, along with the headaches and lump on forehead (which turned out to be a benign lesion) I was convinced I had mets to the brain.
Prior to the the cancer related surgeries, I had gone through 8 surgeries under General anaesthesia and my brain was great. Even following the chemo I was ok but the cumulative effect of the AIs, I was on Aromasin the longest, that brought my brain to a virtual halt. It wasn't just gropping for a word all the time, it was having NO MEMORY of a movie I might have seen or something I spoke with someone about. Very scary. As I mentioned before, my supervisor/friend told me she had voiced her concern about me to our mutual friends. It's such a relief to feel my brain being restored since stopping the Aromasin. My MO last visit was still trying to express this was all Chemo related and nit from the Aromasin! Give me a break, I'm not uneducated.
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Take that back. Looks like I was on Armidex the longest. But I stopped that from severe joint pain and the brain fog wasn't that bad yet.
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Eve, not sure it matters which Al as thinking they all do the same to our dang brains
I just actually managed to retire....yahoo.....I could no longer really remember details on the projects I was working on. Since the company was reorganizing/closing, I could not imagine trying to learn a new job0 -
I have a lot of the same problems due to fibromyalgia. It's called "fibro fog" only now it seems to be worse. I chalk it up to the chronic insomnia of Exemestane (Aromasin). Without quality sleep we can't function. Wish there was a sleep aid that wasn't potentially habit-forming.
Wheeee! I just found the emoticons. Boy am I going to have fun today!0 -
I knew it!!
I didn't have chemo but I really noticed a change in my memory when I started the AI's.
I do feel kinda buzzed and alert too. I thought it was the Wellbutrin - geeze everything is hard to pinpoint due to new meds, general anethesia , hormones fluctuating, no wonder I'm a mess0
