For Arimidex (Anastrozole) users, new, past, and ongoing
Comments
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I don't think there is anything special you need to avoid with arimidex (except maybe grapefruit, which seems to interfer with many medications
....I love grapefruit). You may want to avoid somethings (like flax and soy) because they produce a pseudo-estrogen effect, which we would want to avoid as estrogen positive ladies whether we are on Arimidex or not. 0 -
There is some debate if it's the form of soy is that makes the difference, which is why some Asian countries have very low levels of BC. In Japan they eat it in a pure form, not processed like much of it is here, but until they know for sure, I'm with Jo-5 and avoiding it. Like wheat, they sneak it into things that you'd never expect it to be. I've become an avid label reader. Once something is deemed good for you they feel the need to stick it in everything whether it needs it or not. It is a major allergen though, so many products will note it on the label as they do with wheat, peanuts, etc.
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My ONC Nutritionist says its the soy protein and/or soy protein isolate that you need to stay away from..
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I found one of the best foods mayos doesn't have soy - Best Foods Canola..
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I hated mayo until my daughter-in-law made some homemade mayo. She says it's really easy to make and you know exactly what's in it. I have to be careful with labels being gluten-free, but you're right, you can make yourself crazy watching everything. The easiest way is to eat as much of your diet fresh. Packaged food has too many nitrates, sugars, fats, etc.
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My naturopathic onc advised me to avoid soy, she said that Oriental women metabolize soy differently. She does have me using ground flax seeds though as they help to eliminate estrogen from the body instead of it being reabsorbed before they are eliminated. I try to use about 2 Tbsp a day in my yogurt, oatmeal or smoothie, depending.
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I thought flax was also on the no-no list???
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Not on her list and I trust her. She's a board certified naturopathic oncologist and there are not too many in the entire country, so I know she does her homework. But I think everybody should weigh it, trust their own gut and make their own decisions on their nutrition choices.
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I have to tell you gals, this all gets to be so confusing.
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I, myself, would not add flax.....
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phxsunshine and sherryh16,
Non-steroidal inhibitors, such as anastrozole (Arimidex), inhibits the synthesis of estrogen via reversible competition for the aromatase enzyme. Basically it blocks aromatase from converting androgens into estrogens. It has nothing to do with body fat, diet, or weight.
My oncologist also banned antioxidents as separate supplements but she said that the amount in my multivitamin was not enough to be harmful.
As for risk percentages, they are totally useless. They are simply mathmatically calculated from large numbers of people with similar circumstances. Any given individual's risk of anything is always either 100% and 0%. Something either occurs or it does not occur.
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nancyjac - I beg to differ somewhat. I'm on anastrozole and my MO was adament that I not gain weight and I'm at a healthy BMI. The following indicates that being overweight and obese makes you more at risk for recurrence. http://www.breastcancer.org/risk/new_research/20120830.jsp
To me it's logical. A 1mg dose for someone weighing 120 lb has to be more effective than the same dose for someone weighing 180 lb. If my SEs were not so mellow, I'd challenge my MO on this "one dose fits all."
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Nancy and Doxie - Fat stores and makes estrogen. That is why weight has a play in all this.. The ONC took me off of arimidex because of the adverse reactions I had being low/no estrogen.. I want to take it but he didn't like what it did to me, therefore the first thing on my list is getting rid of the "fat" in my body.. the second is staying on a cancer foods diet and staying away from estrogen producing foods.
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This discussion made me dig around and I found this article, so I think, nancyjac, you are 1/2 right. Paragraph 10.
http://www.menopause-weight-gain.com/articles/Estrogen_101.shtml
I do agree with your 100% or 0% for individual risk, but risk percentages are not totally useless. Without them I would have been given a course of chemotherapy which would have shortened my life and done nothing to kill my cancer.
I'm stopping the arimidex. I got all the SEs I had from femara and aromasin combined plus yesterday started my hands shaking and an amost migraine quality headache. I did find help getting a specific type of generic tamoxifen (Mylan brand) which I am going to go back to, through an online pharmacy my insurance works with, Express Scripts. So thank you to the gal who suggested that awhile back.
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Just saw this thread but haven't read through the posts. Just wanted to say I've been on ESD (estrogen sucking drug) Anastrozole since March 2011. I was slightly osteopenic before chemo. I did have some loss after chemo, chemopause and 5 months of ESD (about .10%) but minimal. Just had my scan again and I've lost even less so that the percentage numbers have stayed the same. They are now recommending density tests every 2 years.
I do take calcium, D and exercise daily including strength training and cardio (fast walking).
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lago, I love the ESD reference, you are hilarious!
Just got this article in my inbox from WebMD - pertinent to our discussion of estrogen and body fat:
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Great - just what I wanted to hear
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Dang, I knew I shouldn't have eaten that peanut butter cup!
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While many Kaiser docs refer their patients to the Weight Management Program I'm in (Optifast), my MO refers the majority of her cancer patients who are significantly overweight.
My friend in the program is an ovarian/uterine/colorectal cancer survivor. We share the same MO.
My friend said the MO told her that she had come too far and fought too hard to survive, only to be at high risk for additional cancer worries due to her weight. So she and I started the program at the same time, and both of us are just a few pounds above our normal weight.
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This weight thing is nothing new. This article is from Jan. 2011
…Short of resorting to such drastic measures, all women can reduce the risk of getting breast cancer by drinking less alcohol and losing weight. "Patients want to know what they can do," says Cobleigh. "It used to be you could say, ‘There really isn't anything.' Now you can say, ‘If you control your weight after a diagnosis of breast cancer, you'll be less likely to die.'"
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This is all so interesting and confusing.. I lost alot of weight when this all started and I have maintained it (gained about 5lbs back) but Im at a good place. I heard that Arimedex makes you gain? How do you control that? And I also heard Flax was good for you, lots of gals on here were eating it with oatmeal?? Now its not? Hmmm....
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Interesting. Before my chemo I took arrimidex for a month and felt absolutely nothing. I even asked my onco how we knew I was metabolizing it?
Then I had chemo, last infusion March 15. Started arrimidex again April 15. by July the aches were becoming unbearable and I could not stop crying. I asked one dr how that could be? Does the Arrimidex build up in your body? She said, no, the level stays the same and there should be no change.
Well, I called Memorial Sloan Kettering and they told me that in some people the symptoms do build. They told me to go off of it and then start Femara. I've been on Femara for about a week now. Some aches, but not like before.
On the arrimidex it reached a point where I could do nothing but lie in bed on a heating pad. When I realized I could not go to a favorite class because it meant sitting in a chair for over an hour, I stopped taking them and all of the pain and depression vanished.
It is hard to tell exactly what causes what. We've been through so much!
I sure hope I can continue with the Femara. I have good days and bad. Yesterday was good today was horrible. But it could be from xanax withdrawal too. I just looked that up. I am exhausted. Terribly tired. And I can't seem to lose weight. Maybe Optifast is the way to go because I really need to get rid of this weight. I only makes everything worse.
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I'm still not clear on relating the research to those of us carrying genetic mutations..., does obesity REMAIN a factor in calculating recurrence??? Or is it the mutation that we carry that caused it??? So much more to learn!!!
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C-squared I thought it was due to the fact that "fat" helps build estrogen in post menopausal women. More "fat" more estrogen therefore more fuel for estrogen postive cancer.
Timbuktu I had no SE the 1st 3 months an ESD (anastrozole). Then I started with the stiff fingers and toes, etc. I'm still functional though but this spring after being on it for a year I noticed one of my fingers has trigger finger in the morning. Also my fingers are somewhat stiff all day unless I am constantly moving them and I don't mean typing I mean making and releasing fists.
1.5 years down. 3.5 to go.
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lago.....6 Anastrozole pills down, only 1,819 to go.......
... (not that I'm counting, or anything)... 0 -
Unless your onc decides you should continue another 5 years 0
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I took my first Arimidex yesterday. Haven't noticed anything yet. Took Tamoxifen for two years and got by with mostly just stiff/sore knees and bad foot cramps at night. Hoping I only have a few annoying side effects on this new medication.
Did any of you ladies take Tamoxifen prior to Arimidex? What did you notice when you switched medications? I know everyone is different. I'm just curious what others experienced at this point in treatment.
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Hello to all,
I haven't been on this board for quite some time but just thought I would check it out. I am trying to figure out the thread about mayonnaise and soy so I went to my fridge and checked my mayo jar. It does say made with soybean oil. Oh brother, I just had a chicken salad sandwich with mayo for lunch. I love mayo but may need to switch to the olive oil kind from what I read here. I have been on arimidex for 5 months now and haven't really changed my diet all that much so maybe I will need to start reading labels. Basically I am doing very well with few side effects and have resumed my usual diet. I maintain a healthy weight well within the normal BMI that I am suppose to be in. I guess I just want to think because I feel "normal" I can go back to my normal lifestyle but such is not the case. Still......I think we can get neurotic over all of this and I am trying not to do that. I go by the way I feel and if I feel like a chicken salad sandwich with mayo for lunch, that is what I have. When I finished treatments at the end of April of this year and met with my MO she did not say NOT to eat certain things, just to make sure to get a well balanced diet and to not have a lot of soy in my diet. She asked if I was a vegetarian and when I said no she said "good" because most vegetarians do have a lot of soy in their diets. I do take a multi-vitamin every day and Calcium with Vitamin D-3. My bone density scan showed osteopenia which I knew I had but the score had not changed in 5 years. I guess after a year on arimidex, they will run that test again. Basically obesity is at the root of most diseases so it is always good to keep the fat off. I will ask all these questions on my next 6-month checkup on October 25th.
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I started ESD yesterday morning (thanks lago). Twice yesterday I had a funny feeling in my mouth, kind of a funny taste or feeling. Hard to describe. It came about 6 hours apart and only lasted 30 minutes or so. I took 1/2 Xanax at bedtime and slept much better than usual. I didnt move until the alarm woke me at 6am. I think the fuzzy mouth feeling was from time released Claritin.
Anyway, I pray it stays like this. I've had no problems at all today.
Blessings
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Well, today marks one week on Anastrozole!
I take it at night, only because I thought I'd remember it better that way.
But last night was awful: terrible insomnia, and hot flashes all night. I got maybe 2 - 3 hours of sleep. And - GRRRRRR - my brand new ta tas (exchange surgery 8/22/12) felt like TEs again!!!!
Sooo painful!!!!! So as I tossed and turned and grumbled and moaned, I got to thinking - is it the AI? Could I have SEs already?
I know my "freeze flashes" are gone. The hot flashes are bearable. The insomnia? Well, I'll start taking my pill in the morning and see if that helps.
I've had some joint stiffness and pain, but I've also gone from exercising nearly every day, to a MONTH of being a total couch potato. My PS hasn't released me to do any exercise that raises my heart rate yet. So maybe I'm just stiff from lack of exercise.
And I had a TON of pocket work done at the time of my exchange....and I was trying to sleep on my side in a tight sports bra last night. After I made it back to the recliner, I snatched a few ZZZZZZZZs.
I also haven't built the fish oil, aspirin, calcium, and Vitamin D into my daily regime yet.
I'm not ready to give up!!!!! (But DANG, I hate insomnia....)
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