For Arimidex (Anastrozole) users, new, past, and ongoing
Comments
-
all the special plans I used do not work once I started on retirement and Medicare
the amount you pay is based on your policy with the insurance company so if you are angry about the cost....see your company.....mine was the pits, small firm and minimal insurance so I got good at researching discount plans with the manufacturers but all say, not good if you are on a govt plan (as in Medicare)
0 -
This link just posted on Dr. Susan Love's facebook page:
0 -
thanks, Lago, I read the comments posted on that link, making me think further about the iodine and thyroid link to BC. My PCP refuses to listen at all about my thyroid concern. Just keep taking the drug. I asked about iodine, he says no one in this country is short iodine. I'm not a scientist or a doctor, but almost all of us have thyroid issues and BC.
0 -
Astra/Zenaca? sp is the mfg. for the real thing. That $30 per mo. bypassed your insurance and Medicare. Comes from their pharm. direct to you in the mail.
0 -
Just for clarification, I meant that Walgreens must be getting it cheaper from India than Israel or elsewhere. The cost to me store-to-store was just an aside.
But I will be calling them, as the picture they post on their site, and what they state, is that the drug comes from Israel, when it fact it states clearly on the packaging, distributed by Breckenridge Pharmaceutical Inc., Boca Raton, FL and manufactured by Natco Pharma Limited in India.
0 -
Thanks for the information. Will talk with my MO about the mfg. Things are never simple.........
0 -
A brief rant if I may? My oncologist does not LISTEN. I don't know why he bothers asking me questions. I try to be brief to the point and I still see him "switching gears" in his head, while I'm mid-sentence. And, I don't get a response beyond a non-committal shrug. He's very intelligent and well regarded, but I am disappointed. If it were the beginning of my journey with him, if I hadn't started my chemo yet, I would switch. But at this point........... I only see him once every 3 months. Not sure I want to start with someone else. Wanted to ask him about oral biophsophonate's and if I should be adding these to my regimen......... I don't even think he was tuned in long enough to hear the question, because I surely did not get an answer.
Thanks for listening.
0 -
laurie I would consider leaving. Try writing all your questions down. Make too copies. Give one to him and of course one for you to read off so you can go through it. Don't take a shrug. If he shrugs I would ask "should I be seeing another doctor about this issue?" If he says no then ask again "then what do you recommend." Oral Biophosophonate talk to your PCP. S/he may recommend talking to a endocrinologist or a rhuematologist. I see the later. BTW Laurie I forgot you're not in Chicago, right.
0 -
I have to say my MO is concerned my cancer is not back and not at all about boner density.
I have just today switched my PCD back to one I had been with for years (before an insurance change) and now on medicare I can go back to my old one...she cares about things like Bone density~I did ask my MO about bone density the last visit and am set for the test the end of June along with my mamo
0 -
I absolutely love, "Should I be seeing another doctor on this?" If that does not get his attention, perhaps he's beyond reach.
0 -
Brookside, good line, also I do the write things down before the meet although,. still forget stuff!
0 -
It was Lago who suggested it, but I will henceforth adopt it as my own for future similar MD discussions!
0 -
laurie2025, are you undergoing chemo now? If so, I would be concerned that you only see him every 3 months. When I had chemo, I saw my MO or his PA right before every treatment. My MO prescribed calcium supplements to help prevent osteoporosis (the pharmacist recommended TUMS because it has the same ingredients as the calcium supplement). But, if you already have osteoporosis, you may need an oral bisphosphonate. I hope you get a response from "should I be seeing another doctor". Keep us posted.
0 -
Checkers - no, I am done with my chemo for about a year.
Iago - I am out in the burbs, close to Wisconsin.
"Should I be seeing another doctor on this?" Love it. Perfect, and I"m going to try it. And, will check with my PCP on the oral bisphosphonates as I have osteopenia.
To his credit (can you see I a begrudging him this one), he did order a DXA scan.
0 -
lauire2025, I go to Froedert in Milwaukee. It may be quite a hike for you but my husband, who also has cancer, and I have received exceptional care there.
0 -
Laurie just to let you know my MO doesn't treat osteopenia. I had it before chemo. I asked to be scanned before I started because I just new it might be an issue. I have so many risk factors. After chemo+ chemopause + 5 months Anastrozole I did drop but still osteopenic. Then this past fall 2+ years on Anastrozole I am now just over the border and have osteoperosis. My rheumetolgogist felt I should have started with the bisphosphonate earlier.
0 -
I thought it was interesting when my ONC and my GYNO were talking on the phone. GYNO said he has done a lot of research and the more he researches the more he thinks tamoxifen is a bad drug. He said "you just need to switch over to Arimidex and you will be fine." Kind of matter of fact. Also annoyed me. I said, "Well after you take a drug that suppresses all your testosterone, you let me know how easy it is for you to make that comment." Think he felt kind of bad. ONC thought it was funny.
I have decided if I need to have a d and c, or a hysterectomy, I am not going to have him do it, but am going to see a gyno oncologist closer to where I live if i can. He has absolutely wonderful credentials and patients swear by him. The hospital where my GYN goes is the one that gave me my initial mammogram result byt saying "I am going to ruin your day." then, the surgeon (not a breast specialist) who does 30% breast surgeries, did a biopsy, and whoever did the wire guided thing before the surgery aparently didn't get to where they needed too, because he told me I only had LCIS tissue and to just take tamoxifen. Thank heavens my nurse practitioner friend put me on the right path and insisted I see someone else. Six months with only tamoxifen and triple positive IDC might have been bad news!
0 -
Checkers - small world. I had my mastectomy at Froedert, by Dr. Walker. I am just over the state line into IL; about 12 miles south of the border, so it's not a bad drive for me.
lago - I will check with my PCP tomorrow and see what she'd like me to do. I imagine she will want results from the scan before she decides.
0 -
What a great line, lago. I hope I never have to use it but you never know. I've seen that "you've asked enough questions for this time" look more than once and from more than one doctor. Oh well.
0 -
Keep asking the questions until you get answers that make sense to you. Remember they are working FOR YOU, not the other way around!
0 -
THANK YOU for posting this thread - just added to my favorites and will read through. I finished rads on May 12 and just met with the medical oncologist yesterday. Having a bone density test done next week to confirm it is OK for me to go on Arimidex (Anastrozole) versus Tamoxifen (I had a full hysterectomy done at 38.....12 years ago....mama mia).
Look forward to reading thru the posts!
Donna
0 -
LeeA, I have received that look too. Especially from the PA. I think I finally have come to the conclusion that I have questions that my MO can't answer, and probably no MO can answer because as much as they do know about this disease, there is even more that they don't know.
0 -
laurie2025, It is a small world! Dr Walker did mine as well! Is your MO at Froedert as well? I like that they meet as a team to discuss the best course of action for each individual. Remember, you can always request someone else from the team if you're not happy with who you have. I chose MO because he's my husband's lymphoma MO as well. I am very pro-active in my treatment. I ask a lot of questions and push for answers. My husband thinks I shouldn't question my treatment (he's very laid back) but I'm the one with the SE's and I'm the one who's quality of life is altered so I want answers. I did a lot of research on Arimidex and told my MO flat out, if I can't tolerate the SE's I will stop taking it. He was very understanding and explained the other options if Arimidex doesn't agree with me.
On another note; first mammogram next week since lumpectomy last August. I had to wait until I was completely healed from radiation.
0 -
JUST an out there QUESTION. Do ANY of the doctors use their stethoscopes everytime you go in to see them, the way doctors did in the "OLDEN" days?
kad2kar
0 -
Yes. I do believe they all do except my LE MD, Rheumatologist and my PS. That means my MO, PCP, Gyno (I think) and when I saw my BS him too.
0 -
Can I just say that I hate everything about this disease and this ESD! I just got back from getting my haircut, and it is SO very thin. It has always been fine and thin, but now it is 80 year old thin! I know, I know, I should be grateful that I am still here and that I don't have stage IV, and I am. I just hate that I feel like my face and skin have aged 10 years in the last 18 months, and now I have the old woman hair to go along with it! What I don't understand is that it originally came in thicker even though I was on the AI, but in the last few months it has just been coming out like crazy.
Ok, rant over, I will go put my big girl panties back on....
0 -
Bren my hair sheds more in the spring too. I've noticed it and remember I'm finishing up my 5 week break. I do use women's Minoxidil so I fell that has helped me keep it but I have receded. Granted I receded before chemo but like you that receding was much less initially when my hair did grow back.
But as far as it being thicker… that's probably a lot of your hairs were growing at the same time. It takes a while for things to get out of sync. This is why some women experience shedding and regrowth of eyebrows for a while.
… of course the ESD has me pissed off right now too. Now that I have to make switches to a different ESD, different treatment for Bone issues the cost of this is out of control until I reach my high deductible.
0 -
So I've been lurking and reading everything here for the past six months......
I started the generic AI on Jan 1 of this year. I was worried about the SE's and I did start out with some joint pain and fatigue but that had started before the drug - probably from the chemo and rads. As time has gone by that has pretty much subsided. One thing that probably caused the overall tiredness was that my thyroid was low. Saw my PCP back in April who upped my thyroid med dosage and walla! now the tiredness is going away. So I am actually feeling better than I had expected 6 months ago.
Went out today to see my MO for a 3 month check. All is good except my bones. I was already high risk for osteoporosis due to going through menopause at 42. I have had density tests for the last 8 years. First ones were ok. Two years ago, density had declined but I was still in the normal range. Now the one I had in March puts my spine into the Osteopenia range. Yay. So my MO wants to hit this before it gets any worse and has suggested Zometa injections every 6 months - provided my insurance covers it. I have seen a lot of talk here about other bisphosphonates but don't recall Zometa. My MO is suggesting that because it also can reduce the risk of BC recurrence, but I haven't really seen anything on line that suggests that. Though I haven't had a lot of time to research that today - I'm trying to work. Anyway, curious if anybody else is on that or has any thoughts about it.
Also, she prescribed Gabapentin for the hot flashes. Anybody have experience with this? This drug is primarily used for seizures - how do they realize it works for hot flashes too? I had some issues with Effexor and have tried to go with nothing but with summer finally here, I'm awfully hot. We are headed to Italy in 2 weeks and I don't want to be uncomfortable on vacation.
Of course I am not pleased to have more drugs to take.....
0 -
lago, mine is not receding, just thinning. I started using the Walgreens minoxidil again a couple weeks ago and I am also using the Nioxin shampoo, conditioner, scalp tx. I am doing the minoxidil at night and shampoo every other day. I know it will take a couple months to see any results, I am just not happy with this "new" version of me. The aging process just seems to be accelerated lately and I don't like it.
0 -
I was given Gapa a few years ago when I complained about muscle pain in my leg (which went away when I changed the statin I was taking), the dang thing just made me doppie and impossible to work
0
