For Arimidex (Anastrozole) users, new, past, and ongoing
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for me, 8 weeks I was fine, them aches and pains kicked in.
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Anyone having stomach cramps and diarrhea on brand Arimidex
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One month on generic and I was a wreck. Exhaustion, depression, crying for no reason, no appetite and more sleep issues than ususal. I took a break and started on the Brand name. It was ok for a bit then I started having issues again, so I went to a half dose (with MO's permission) for a couple months, then back to the full dose. Depression and mood swings were back, as well as severe hip pain, that neither pain meds nor PT helped (X-ray did not show anything either). Finally I took another break and will start Aromsin tomorrow. Not everyone has problems, and some women tolerate it quite well, I just wasn't one of them.
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Bren - if switching meds doesn't help with the emotional issues it might be time to consider an anti-anxiety or anti-depression med, or switching to something different if you're already on one. HOpe you get the SEs under control soon.......
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Here is something for those of you dealing with hot flashes to consider. I was on Arimidex from June 2007 to June of 2012. Horrible hourly hot flashes day and night. Tried all the typical fixes - Lyrica, Effexor, Clonidine, . . . Nothing had an impact on them at all. Two years later there had been no change. Saw a post on a Johns Hopkins breast cancer thread I follow suggesting the use of Oxybutynin Chloride ER 15mg. Asked my PCP who replied, let's give it a try. It has been amazing!!!!!!!!!! Oh, to have found this 7 years ago. . . I now am down to maybe 5 or 6 hot flashes a day, but they are not even hot flashes. Merely "warm" flashes compared to what I have had for all these years!! What a blessing to finally feel almost normal. And I can go outside without instantly being drenched in sweat for as long as i stay out!!!!! I can cut the grass and do my gardening without having to shower and change afterward!!!
I am adding the links to a couple articles/studies. It has been a month and a half now, and I continue to be amazed at the relief I finally have!!!!!!
I REALLY hope this can bring relief to others. And no side effects to speak of except a little dryness in the mouth/throat (makes me drink more water - a good thing).
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dbrader, interestin, i take oxybutinin for incontinence but i dont have any hotflashes anymore either who would have known.
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Hmmmmm - I could never mow the lawn or do much gardening without needing a shower even before menopause! I think I have an undiagnosed case of hyper hydrosis........(DD has been diagnosed with it, so it would make sense that she got it from me
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I was on Arimidex - anastrozole) and the pain was so bad. My onc switched me to Femera (letrozole) Its no better.
THinking of asking for aromisin. I am too scared not to take anything. My second BC was diagnosed while on tamoxifin. Has anyone ever tried rotating the 3 AIs to see if the joint pain is better?0 -
I have tried anti depressants in the past and I really don't do well on them. I tried Effexor for hot flashes when I started menopause and it made me feel like I was going crazy. I tried another one years ago and had the weird sensation of feeling not connected to my body. So I am hesitant to try them again.
Also I just got the results of my recent blood work and my WBC's were down to 3.5 even though I am 16 months PFC. I did a quick search and found that an uncommon SE of Arimidex is decreased WBC's, so I guess that is another reason to make the switch.
I am hoping that Aromasin will be kinder to me.
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Bren - I sure hope so too. Sounds like you've done your best to resolve the issues already so I hope the switch has good effects.
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Hi ladies, I'm new here because my MO told me today that he will probably start me on Arimidex. I'm kinda bummed out because I was expecting to receive the results of my oncotype test today, but they hadn't received it. As soon as we get that, and figure out if chemo will be beneficial or not, then I'll find out when I'll start the Arimidex. After 7 years of Tamoxifen and Femara, I would think that I could make it through another course of hormone therapy, but that remains to be seen I guess.
What are the differences between the brand and the generic? Are the SEs much different?
Looking forward to learning more about the Arimidex. Hope everyone is hanging in there...
One love,
tp4ever
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Hi...no major issues with Anastrazole, but only on it a year. I had stage 1 HER pos with no lymph nodes. I did the bilat mx to really reduce the risk due to having also some DCIS and LCIS at the surgical margins.noted in my lumpectomy. I am very happy about it, I sleep better at night and my new boobs healed well. I take the drug and can also testify to joint aches in my sides and hands ,mostly. I started taking Vit D and my levels are going up. Odd vivid dreams, also. I am hearing mixed things about taking the Boniva as you can wind up with brittle bones if on it too long. I'l lbe monitoring that. I'm up for a CAT soon so we have a baseline in case of any future recurrence. I am just taking the next < 4 years as they come, knowing they may be my hardest and just enjoying being alive and otherwise healthy right now. But gosh, I'm WAY overweight and that is a struggle! I've altered my diet to a large extent and it seems to be slowly helping. I've added back more tea and salads. My onc says latest recommendations may move it from 5 to 7 years. I don't care, unless it really starts messing with my organs. I'd rather not worry about recurrence to be honest. I'll live with some discomfort.
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foreverpink, as you know everybody is different, some get really bad se's with and some don't I am in the lucky camp. I've taken both anastrozole (generic) and arimidex (brand) and the only difference seems to be I get a little "trigger finger" in my pinky finger. Hot flashes and mood swings were bad at first but then I started taking Cymbalta (antidepressant) and Rispiridone (mood stabilizer) and I don't get any more hotflashes. If you do end up joining us I wish for you to be in the no se's camp.
Take care
Aurora
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Hi there, I am new here. I have been on the Deip 2014 thread, trying to wrap my head around that now but I wanted to see if everyone else had the same SE's..and I see they do. I try to tell my friends and family about my SE but they just kinda look at me like I am a little crazy. I guess if you don't physically see the SE, it is hard to explain them. I tell people my body is like driving a car with no oil. Nothing works right. There are some days I am so tempted to just throw all these pills in the garbage. You take one, then you need to take another for a side effect and so on and so on..its crazy. I get the hot flashes, but take the effexor, I have the bone and joint pain, especially in my hands and feet and knees and usually really bad in the morning, but have seen exercise helps that. My knees make funny noises and this crap better not be messing those up. I have ringing in my ears now and have no idea what that comes from. I also have no sex drive. My BF tries to be understanding but that is not always the case. He sometimes thinks I have lost all my feeling for him. Then I have to defend myself and then I get ticked. When there is no sex drive you don't feel like doing anything , so I force myself and then I feel guilty because I have to force myself and I try to snap myself out of it, and I can't so then I get angry at these whole damn thing. and it starts all over...
ha, you gotta love it , right...when life gives you lemons, have a long island ice tea (top shelf) !!!!!!!!!!!
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annie - the lack of sex drive sucks doesn't it? Significant others (and I'm thinking of the male variety here
) have a much easier time understanding all the other SEs but when it comes to sex it can definitely be a different story. My DH is very understanding. I know he feels badly for himself that this part of our marriage is in a holding pattern for now, but he really feels even worse that I'm having to go through all this in the first place. I ask him to imagine his life without testosterone. No testosterone = no sexual tingle or tickle any more at the sight or thought of tits n ass or bedroom eyes or luscious lips or long sexy legs, etc, etc. No sexual tingle or tickle = no erection. No erection = no desire or ability for sex so what's the use. Then try to explain to your wife why you can't get it up and that it really has nothing to do with her, you still love her with all your heart, it's the medication stealing your sex drive.0 -
Such an excellent explanation! Brief, concise and to the point... LOL!
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Yea and as far as I am concerned I have other things to deal with..(is that bad attitude!!)
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Mena. I don't mean to get off post here, but I see you have had a deip flap..would you do it again?
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Annieb--thank you for saying you have an ear issue. I have a funny cold full feeling in my ear and I went to the ear doc. Told them I thought it was a side effect of my Anastrazole. He says, no, I think its probably a inflamed nerve from a cervical disc in your neck---go see your TMJ doctor--he's super with facial nerves.
I thought---nope, I don't think so, I am going to wait and see if it gets worse. But it all started since I started my AI
I too have sleep issues. I take my pill at 9pm because my mornings are so hectic and unpredicatalbe, by the time I swallow my synthroid and wait an hour to eat, I am usually either not near food or by the time 2 hours have passed for the additional meds, I will have FORGOT IT....
I have been breaking my .5 Xanax in half and taking it on top of a 150 Trazadone to sleep. I think we are screwed up with pain, etc if we don't get rest. I took Ambien until I sleep walked myself into the wrong bedroom in the middle of the night after leaving the bathroom and kept running into a wall where the bed should have been in the other room. Finally I found a light switch and woke up enough to realize where I was....
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Your hair issue could be from the chemo. It took me almost a year for things to settle with hair, brows, lashes.
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auroaya, thanks for the info and the good wishes. I also hope to be in that camp....
My hair got very thin while on the Tamoxifen and Femara, and it basically doesn't even grow anymore. I can only imagine what will happen on the Arimidex.
I've been on Effexor for about 10 years now. It has helped to "take the edge off" over the last 11 years after my hysterectomy in 2003, which was 2 years after breast cancer DX #1. I am definitely more mellow than I used to be, and worry a whole lot less. I got so used to hot flashes that it really wouldn't phase me when they hit. I carried hand fans with me everywhere and would just get to fanning until they passed. I don't have them much anymore though. Not sure what going back on these drugs will do though...
One love,
tp4ever
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BosumBlues,
Besides joint pains the thinning of my hair is noticeable in front. I did not have chemo. The thinning started after a couple of months on Anastrozole. I'm growing my hair longer to try and brush over the thinner areas around my forehead. My hair stylist said she could try some extensions but I hate the thought of putting any stress on the hair I do have.
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I've been doing pretty well on Arimidex until recently. The stomach cramps and diahrrea has gotten so bad this week that I couldn't finish a meal without running to the bathroom and we eat out a lot! One day last weekend, I had just left eating and it hit me so hard that I had to stop at the closest restaurant just to use the restroom and then it was such a close call that I had to throw away my underwear. With all that the fatigue got worse but that could be from little food. My MO has mentioned me changing and going on another AI but I'm afraid of changing one set of SE for another set of SE. Kind of like changing husbands!0 -
BosomBlues, Jo and others, I feel like that is exactly what happened to me. I finished chemo in March of 2013 and even though it came in slowly, my hair came in thicker than it had been and with some body. By December it was looking pretty good. But by the spring of this year all the body was gone, it is MUCH thinner and lifeless. I tried Nioxin shampoo but it made my hair feel like straw, so now I am using Minoxodil to see if that will help. I just had a bunch of bloodwork done by my GYN to see if my iron, thyroid or other hormones were low and causing the significant hair loss. So far everything has come back normal except my WBC's and a very low estradiol. We are still waiting on a couple more tests to come back, so maybe something will show up. The body hair is also thinner, except on my legs where I wish it would just go away!
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This is what I found on estradiol. It is one of the measures of estrogen in our body. We want low estrogen levels because we are ER+, but the SE's of low estrogen can be hair loss, bone loss, dry skin, etc. I am sure your PCP can give you a much better explanation than this though
Pbrain could explain it much better too!- Estradiol is the most commonly measured type of estrogen for nonpregnant women. The amount of estradiol in a woman's blood varies throughout her menstral cycle After menopause, estradiol production drops to a very low but constant level.
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notbuyingit,,,,, don't want to bust your bubble ,and I hope you don't get any SE , I started the anastrozal in January, it was about 3 months in and I started getting knee pain, and lower calf pain at night, also my arm and hand, since then I have been diagnosed with Carpel Tunnel,,,, who knows, before I let them operate on that I am going to talk to my Onc,about the joint pains, they have gotten worse ,,,, I am 5'6 and weight 170' but I feel like I weight about 500 according to my knee joint pain, can't sleep either,,, go to see Onc on 25th of this month, we have a lot to discuss,,,,,,, hot flashes have almost gone away, a few here and there, I didn't think I would make it through that!!!!, everyone is different, hope you have good outcome,,,,, hugz to all. J,,,,,,,,, when does this end??????!
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the Estradiol is one of the MAJOR factors in my getting BC,,,,,My gyn put me on estradiol pills in 2012' I had an ablation after 5 months on it, my triglycerides went out the roof, had to go on meds, 2leg ultrasounds, and then ,,,,,, BC ,,,,,, my mammo was fine in 2012 but not in 2013..... Even though we caught it early, very early, thank god, I still lost a breast,,,,, that is some wicked stuff,,,,,, I don't understand how the DRS can put women on that knowing the high risk it has,,,,, SMH,,,,, I advise every woman I know to NOT take the pill form,,,,,,,,,,hugz,,,,, J
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I had to do something about the hot flashes. I am also insulin dependent Type 2 diabetic. My primary symptom for a sugar crash is profuse sweating. Can't tell the difference. Talk about a PITA!
I didn't start AI until about 6 months after chemo. My lashes and brows etc would come in, then fall out. That is a natural cycle, but each time it was less. Yes, my head hair is still thin, my stylist says she can see new growth in it. At least I have SOME, and hopefully not cancer
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You couldn't give me Estradiol for anything. I took Estrogen while I was going through menopause in 2006 and was switched to Estradiol after my hysterectomy. I truly believe these hormones played a role in my BC. It depends on which Gyn or PCP you see whether you take them or not. I saw two Gyns and I thought they were going to blow each other up as their opinions were so different. Anyway, I went with my friendly gyn and took the hormones. Wish I hadn't.
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Annie B, YES , YES, YES!
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