For Arimidex (Anastrozole) users, new, past, and ongoing
Comments
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My mother did wear a wig some (back in the 80s). My daughter-in-law had one and didn't bother - she was too hot (as in flashes). I love that story about your friend, Ruthbru!
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I wonder how Dolly Parton does it?!
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Hello all.
This is probably on here somewhere, but I didn't want to go through 229 pages to find it. I just started on Anastrozole (1mg) on 9/8/14 after I completed radiation. So, do the hot flashes last for the duration of the 5 years I have to take this, or will it subside any? This may be the only time in my life that I'm glad to live in the north in the winter.
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it is dif for all folks, me only had a few over the 5 years and mine was mainly night sweats. Mine came and went throughout
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I guess we will find out if the hot flashes pass with time. I had pretty strong ones when I started taking my AI in June--, usually about an hour before my pill was "due"....they have let up quite a bit. I've always been a cold person in the winter--flannel sheets, socks longjohns, too many covers for a normal person, so this will be interesting once the temp drops and stays low....
Still waiting for the results of my thyroid biopsy---so with that hormone still being adjusted from January, it is a good guess what is causing the temp malfunctions inside me.... They must have sent it off for an Afirma gene expression test---that takes about 10 days. Dr.s office hasn't returned my call from yesterday (yesterday was a week).
I take my AI at night before bed. I've had some sleep issues, but I would never master it in the morning... And I have referred to this as my Second Menopause, cause I think my MO called it that when he was explaining everything--told me it wasn't as bad as the surgical one I had in 2006....like any guy would know....
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Red, I was very happy to have hot flashes with menopause (start Arimidex Friday). I'm always cold. And my hot flashes were never annoying, a couple of mild night sweats. I have a heated mattress pad and use it year round (we keep our bedroom really cold, which I like as long as I can stay warm).
It does sound like your thyroid may be part of the problem. Good luck!
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Thanks, Proud, guess I'll see how it goes.
RedHead-best wishes with your thyroid biopsy. Also, I was taking my AI at night but was having a lot of sleep disruption, so this week I switched to mornings. I'll give it a couple weeks to see if it makes any difference. I just got started back getting regular exercise (walk at least 2 miles a day), but looking for a trainer to figure out how to do strength and flexibility exercises on my fat old body. I'm seriously hoping the flashes can be mitigated without additional drugs......but either way, better than letting the cancer run wild.
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purple, I have been lucky to find some really good trainers to work with and feel that they are almost as vital , to my health as my MO and other team! I find I do have to tell them, how much I can do and not!
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I agree proud. From everything I've read (and I'm sure we all have), excercise and eating right are as critical as treatment. I always planned on it.....just never stuck with it, and it apparently took breast cancer to whack me up side the head to get my attention. Better late than never.
These hot flashes have got to get better. They disrupt my sleep, which makes me tired, which makes me feel like I don't have enough energy to exercise. My rational brain tells me exercise anyway, and it will help with all of it, but my lazy old bones really put up a fight to just sit down for a bit.....which becomes the whole evening. AAARRRGGHHHHHH!!!!
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purple, you are still in the early stages and healing from surgery, I know I was sure tired then, it is easy for me to say exercise now as I am 6 years out and been retired for the last year
in retirement, had time finally to catch up on missed sleep! be nice to yourself and do as much as you can and it WILL improve
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PurpleIris57 my hot flashes were never that bad although at it's peak during chemo since I went into chemopause. You may find you have certain triggers. For me it's most hot peppers which doesn't sound bad except I eat hot stuff all the time. Also wine can be a trigger. Now that I have switched from Anastrozole (generic Arimdex) to Exemestane (generic Aromasin) my hot flashes are a bit more frequent but still very mild. I too get them between 2-5am. They can wake me up. I now sleep with a sleep mask. It helps me get back to sleep quickly. I use 40 blinks by Bucky. They allow room for your eyes to open and shut. You can find them at a lot of places:
My husband teases me and calls them my eye bra
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Lago, I think you hubby pegged it right---EYE BRA!
Just got a call from my Endocrinologist--Thyroid Biopsy is BENIGN!!! so, we still have to monitor it,so I'll repeat labs in Nov and April and do another ultrasound in April. What a relief
Now I need to get my housework caught up so I can go to a Genealogy Conference next weekend.....
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Proud-I'm hoping to retire sometime next year and planning to travel full time in a motorhome to see this vast country of ours. Exercise should be a lot easier when getting out and about is part of our daily routine. Until then, I'm just gonna have to make myself do it, one day at a time and hope that it helps with the sweaty nights.
lago-I do find I have triggers, but wine always made me hot. I've all but given up alcohol, maybe one or two glasses a month, so that's not a problem. When my grandkids pile on top of me, my goodness I break out in a sweat like I have never done before. BTW- I've never seen that type of sleep mask before. I'll keep it in mind as I work my way through this period of adjusting to Arimidex. I agree with your husband, it does look like an eye bra. LOL.
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PurpleIris57 I have noticed on Exemstane that exercise/activity can set off a flash too. I mean sure I work up a sweat but sometimes just normal walking at a decent pace I now get a bit of a warm flash. So this might be what's happening to you. I have also read that hot/warm weather can trigger them. All that warmth from the kids might be doing it.
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Red, Thank heavens! You must feel like you can breathe again. That's huge! HUGS!
Back when I went through natural menopause (was it really 25 years ago or more?), I didn't drink - maybe a beer or 2 a year - so definitely not a trigger for my mild flashes. Ought to be interesting to see if I have any flashes with the Arimidex.
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Red-that is great news. I'm so happy for you.lago-now that it's cooler here in northern Illinois the weather isn't causing much trouble. Of course, I'm going on vacation to Palm Springs, CA in a couple weeks. We'll see what the temperature difference does. It's still running in the upper 90's there and we've got a couple of days we'll be hiking in the desert. Should be interesting. Thank heavens for camel packs.
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Redhead, great news on the thyroid!
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Arimidex and hair thinning. I began Arimidex in July. I usually have a pretty thick head of hair. I have noticed lately that strands of hair seem to be falling out--nothing in clumps--just strands. I wasn't sure if this is normal with Arimidex. I thought it might be the fact that my hair is changing anyway--I'm 68 and the texture of the "white" hair coming in is much thinner anyway. What has been your experience? Is there any product that I can use to reduce the hair loss?0 -
My breast cancer was diagnosed March, 2008. I started Arimidex in January, 2009. Aside from taking arimidex, I had a double mastectomy, no chemo, no radiation. Prior to breast cancer, my medical issue was high cholesterol. I was taking Vytorin 10/40. My side effect, literally only one, was a morning cough. I felt I was losing hair, but it seemed to also be thicker. My sister noticed my hair was wavy in the back. It eventually became wavy all over. It had always been straight. I also lacked an appetite..what my onc described as a social eater. I lost 20 pounds over a 2 year period of time.
During a period of 5 years, my bone density did not decrease, but seemed to improve. I was faithful about drinking 2 to 3 glasses of skim milk daily and taking 2000 iu of Vit D. My lipid profile actually came back to normal...first time ever... I have a family history of cardiovascular disease, so I take aspirin daily.
So, now it is time for me to come off arimidex. My onc says I can stay on it if Id like. My GP thinks I should due to all the negative side effects of the drug (none of which I have experienced) and because of family history of heart and blood vessel issues. (Primarily due to lifestyle and type 1 diabetes) I am honestly in a quandry about what to do.
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Wow, NatureLover! I'd hesitate to go off it, too. You've done so well and had so many positive effects from it. Since your heart seems happy, I'd sure be tempted to stay on it. BTW, you might want to update your profile with your Dx, Tx etc. That could help others who have walked your path. Congratulations for doing so well!
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Naturelover, if you could give us your stage etc., we could maybe give you some better advice/opinions.
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Nature - Do you think it was the cholesterol pill that reduced your appetite and changed your hair texture or the Arimidex. It would be great to have some positive side effects. I haven't started taking Arimidex yet (still doing rads) but my hot flashes have been really bad since the onco made me drop my HRT back in March when I was diagnosed.0 -
Nature...so good to hear someone had a positive experience with Arimidex...I'm suppose to start AI after my rads are complete. I've been dreading the side effects and I haven't even started yet! I guess it's better to expect the worst and then be pleasantly surprised instead of the other way around. I was told I would be taking AI for 5 years and possibly 10....I guess the jury is still out on the benefit of long term use.
Too bad your Onc isn't leaning a little more one way or the other. My seems to guide me without me even knowing it.
Glad to hear you are doing so well.
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Nash54 I was more afraid of hormone therapy than I was of Chemo. Remember
- You can always switch to another med
- You can take a break
- You can quit
But you won't know if you don't try. Most women do just fine on the drug or some like me might have to switch and do fine.
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Now I am going to do a semi-annoying thing and bring up a topic I know has been discussed. But I havent paid much attention. So, its on me! Anyway, now I am noticing my hair is thinning alot. Its also growing much slower than it used to, tho that is ok. So- Biotin? Rogaine for women? I know its been discussed, sorry- but what do you guys find is working for you with the least amount of addition se?
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Aviva, I had significant hair thinning on both Arimidex and Aromasin. I take Biotin, use women's Rogaine (generic brand) and have tried several shampoos. I have been using the Rogaine for about 5 months and am seeing some new growth. The Biotin is also helping it to grow faster. Of course it is also making my leg hair grow faster, which is not really what I was after, but it's getting colder, so I can shave less often
Just know that if you start Rogaine and get new growth, then stop using it, you will most likely lose the hair you gained from using it. I learned this the hard way!
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I too have had hair loss on Ananstrozole and Exemestane but it's just receding mostly on the left side. This started before diagnosis but these drugs are making it worse. I do take biotin and use generic women's Minoxidil. Always have. I do have growth in most of the receding area except not as much right on top. I have so much hair and wear bangs so no one notices. If I had long hair I might still get away with wearing a tight ponytail… but I never wore my hair that way so no loss. It can take 3-6 months to see the effects of Minoxidil.
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When my hair came in after chemo, it was the same color, but very fine. My hair was coarse. I asked my derma about Rogaine etc, she said I'd have to do it forever. Haven't made up my mind about that. My hair is sparse. Can see scalp through it. At least I HAVE hair! I thought I'd freeze the winter I didnt.
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Nioxin has also a good hair growth shampoo/conditioner/scalp treatment products you could try. On my hairdresser's recommendation, I used it during chemo even when I didn't have hair (the 'for chemically treated hair' as it was being chemically treated from the inside out), after I was done with chemo she switched me to the regular Nioxin, which I used until my hair had come in nicely. Then I was able to switch back to my normal shampoo, and haven't had any problems since then.
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I'm hitting it from every angle (if a little bit is good, then a whole lot is even better, right???) I'm washing my scalp with Nioxin, smearing on the foam MEN's minoxodyl morning and night, taking hair, skin & nails twice daily and massaging with a vibrating scalp machine every night.It's been 6 full weeks since my last TCH and I've had 1 infusion of Herceptin only 3 weeks ago (which is also when I started this hair treatment regimen) and will have my 2nd Herceptin only tomorrow.
My hair is about 1/4" long, looks really gray/white (only had a tiny bit of gray before) and there is lots of space between each follicle, especially around the ears.
My brows have started really falling out this past week. About half of my eyelashes have been gone for a while but I have just refilled my Lattisse prescription and have been using it for 3 days now so hopefully no more will fall out and maybe I will grow new lashes.
I have used both Lattisse and minoxodyl for years but stopped when I figured it would be a wasted effort/expense during chemo. If anyone knows of something to add to all this, I'm up for suggestions. Either way, I'll be a frumpy old bald lady or I can be a werewolf for Halloween!!!
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