For Arimidex (Anastrozole) users, new, past, and ongoing
Comments
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Ok Mena, it's you and me together! I vote that we will be just fine!
Martha
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Thanks Lago! You and I have been on this site for many years.....glad to see we are both doing well. Take care, Nancy
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Just saw my MO for the first time after starting Arimidex. He seemed pleased with everything. I asked if I should start worrying about my bones now and he couldn't write a prescription for Fosamax fast enough. So I start that tomorrow morning. Wondering how I will survive waiting a half hour to eat after I take the pill (once per week)? I normally put the dog out, feed the pets, make and start my breakfast in 15 minutes. That will be a hardship for me (I rarely snack after dinner, so 11-12 hours without food). However! If it keeps my bones happy, I'll gladly do it!
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IllinoisNancy you've been here longer.
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Hi Ladies
Been a while since I've posted. Completed 2 yrs on anastrozole and had my 2 yr dexa scan. As I expected my numbers came back bad and I have osteoporosis. Dr. prescribed 70 mg Fosamax, once weekly. I took my first dose Saturday morning with a full glass of water and did not eat for a good 2 hours. Had no stomach issues and felt this would be something I could do. Then as the day went on my back began to hurt. This past January I had surgery for a slipped lumbar disc and the pain seemed localized at the site of my surgery. As the day/evening progressed so did the pain. I was sore, stiff, just overall very uncomfortable, but just in the lower back area. Had trouble sleeping and pain continues today, but seems to have lessened somewhat. I am now using heat/ice in hopes of diminishing the pain. Is this SE something I should expect every dose? Or will my poor bones become accustomed to the meds? I will continue for now with next Saturday's dose, but if I get the same back pain I may have to stop this. I can't function this way. Stiff, pain, daily activities affected. Can't do this. Any advice is welcome. Thanks, Sherry
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Sherryh16, I start Fosamax tomorrow, once weekly like you. However, unlike you, my MO wanted me on it NOW, just 2-1/2 weeks into taking Arimidex. Hopefully, I'll avoid having osteoporosis. I do have some osteopenia in one spot. I certainly hope your pain goes away. I understand why you don't want to live like that. Many hugs!!!
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mena-if you have joint pain, you might ask your doc about Cymbalta instead of lexapro. A nice benefit is it helps with joint pain. For me it was an enormous difference. I am pretty much pain free now, except for the feet when I get up.
Got my Prolia shot today. I have a little touch of osteopenia in my right. femoral neck. All else ok. I laughed when they told me to take calcium because a Prolia can cause your calcium levels to drop. One part builds your bone, the other takes it away, lol.
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FluffQueen, so you're taking Prolia to PREVENT osteoporosis? Same reason I'm taking Fosamax. Don't you wonder why the different approaches?
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sherryh16 if you can't tolerate Fosamax the next course is Reclast infusion once a year. The next choice (especially for really bad osteoporosis) is Prolia. I got acid reflux soon after doing Fosamax. I didn't want Reclast because it's an infusion in your arm. I have LE on the left and the right arm is at risk. We had to fight the insurance to get Prolia. It's a shot I get in my belly 2X a year.
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Oh, I see now, lago. I already have acid reflux and take Zantac 150 twice a day. We'll see what happens when I start it tomorrow.
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Peggy - though I'm on Femara and not Arimidex same difference in this discussion. I too take Zantac twice a day. Have taken one month of Fosamax 35 mg for worsening osteopenia. My MO was just certain I would fail on it and was already talking going on to Prolia. Told me actually that for all practical purposes I'd already failed on it with the 2x/day Zantac. Well surprise, surprise. No worsening of GERD symptoms. I like you want my coffee when I get up; it's on a timer and ready from DH getting up. I put my timer on for 45 minutes, drink my water, wait 10 min more to be safe and go on. That so far is the only downside. We'll see how things continue. Don't expect any more bone density test until 2016 DEXA scan. Just saying you won't know until you try it.
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LovMyGoats, thanks! Very encouraging. Nice to know someone doing exactly the same things I am. Fingers crossed that I am as lucky as you are. I will be taking 70mg per weekly dose. I'm definitely willing to try it. Fosamax seems like the initial starting point for preventing bone loss. With very little time on Arimidex, I can't say how it effects me. And I do realize that people are more apt to post when they have problems than when they don't so loved your posting! My next DEXA scan is also in 2016. Continued health!
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Thanks to all for the welcome, especially Patoo and Pontaicpegg. I have been on all the osteoporosis meds that are in pill form. One of them for four years. None of them worked for me. Bones in hips and spine got worse anyway. After next bone density test in February, doctor will decide which meds are next. I will have to take something because of Arimidex's bone thinning side effect. I try to do whatever easy exercise I can. Prior to breast cancer I was taking Tai Chi. Once I build up my arm strength, I hope to start again. Still very tired and sore but seems to be getting a little better.
Love and strength to all.0 -
Peggy - I did have beginning osteopenia b4 starting all this mess but was on Evista prior to the BC. That seemed to stabilize bone loss. Seems I'm the only one in my little rural town on lower dose Fosamax. Pharm. had to order it the 1st time. But evidently I'm not the only one on generic Femara. Go figure.
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LuvMyGoats, I don't get that at all! They had to order my generic Arimidex but had the high dose Fosamax. And I live in a city of 50,000. Sad that your little town has so much need of Femara
I haven't been on anything for my bones. I'm 69. Another new experience (the recent ones I could do without).0 -
Welcome Beachlady! You will feel so informed out here and it's always great to speak with women who are actually on these drugs because those warnings and pamphlets can be even more scary than what could happen! So far for me, joint pains - not unbearable but when I get up in the morning - especially my ankles and I feel like I am walking on stilts but it goes away.
I do want to ask you all this question though - went to Lahey on Friday for a follow up and my surgeon asked how I was doing on arimidex so I mentioned the joint pain - she told me to take glucosamine. Now.....I started taking it on Saturday and I have noticed a difference but I just don't see how it can work this quickly. Is anyone else on glucosamine?
This is my first day back at work since taking it and before taking it, I would be very stiff when I got up. Maybe it's all a "mental" game, I just don't see how it would work this quickly.
Any thoughts?
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PontiacPeggy I have had serious gerd in the past. I totally control it with diet. I never drank coffee and gave up soda with chemo. I'll still get it if I'm not careful or eat too close to bedtime (especially trigger foods like chocolate and tomatoes). I knew I would have issues. On chemo I was on 2 meds for it. Prilosuck never works for me. Gaviscon helps at times though. I hope you're lucky.
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Thanks ladies for your input on Fosamax. I guess I'm wondering if my back pain is a common SE? Will it go away or worsen over time? Not a quality of life I'm willing to accept.
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Sherry, if your side effects are so servere then you need to let your doc know and discuss options.
I changed my exercise program when I started the AL, added lots of weights and I am convinced it helped me maintain my bone density
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Lago, interesting on prolia vs. Reclast. My doc was just the opposite. Said reclast was harder to get approved. When I had this discussion with my late onc before starting, and asked if I had to take the polls first, he laughed and said maybe if my PCP was ordering it, but if he ordered it, it would be approved immediately. Okey dokey, lol. He said he doesn't mess with the pills first because it takes too long to wait for improvement and then he just would have to go to prolia or reclast, so he bypassed the others.
I do work out, generally three to four times a week. I don't do heavy weights, but do the weight machines on lighter levels.
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I made the mistake of going through the Rheumatologist. I might have had less of a problem if I went through my MO. Will be doing this through the MO moving forward. She just wanted me to see the rheumatologist first
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PontiaPeggy, I also was in the habit of scarfing down breakfast as soon as I hit the kitchen. A nutritionist convinced me that drinking a glass of water a while before eating or drinking anything else allows the liver to cleanse itself. It wasn't that easy, but after a while I got accustomed to the new routine and barely notice the one day/week when I take the bisphosphonate and can't eat for half an hour. Hopefully, my liver is happier too.0 -
Brookside, Okay. I'm always famished when I get up. I don't snack at night (and generally not during the day). I'll see how I manage tomorrow. Nothing wrong with a happy liver
Lago, I also watch what I eat. I can have: coffee, chocolate, wine and salad BUT only 3 out of 4 or I'm not real happy. Once in awhile I can do them all. Generally, I give up on the salad. or the wine. Well, mostly the salad
And, like you, I rarely have anything but water near bedtime. When I do indulge I know I'll suffer so I make a conscious choice at that time. Thank you, Ladies!!!!
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Even as a kid I didn't like to eat first thing, but mom made me. Not going to school empty!
As a school bus driver, I had crazy hours. One year I got up at 3:30, to be at work by 4:30 AM. Didn't have a chance to eat till after 7. Suited me just fine, as long as I had some coffee.
Now, it's always about 2 hours after I'm up that I finally eat.
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Nancy - happy birthday! I use the same tool Lago uses for the peach fuzz.. I also noticed my eyebrows are almost out of control -first I had hardly any eyebrows and now they are getting thick and wide..
Jan - sometimes my hands hurt so much when I am driving --- its like I am holding the steering wheel too tight.. and my knees and legs feel so stiff whenever I sit for a short while and try to get up.. I feel old - I am 64 but feel so much older.
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Spookiesmom my mom tried everything. Carnation instant breakfast, poptarts etc. I never liked breakfast and still don't. But if she offered me real food I probably would have eaten it. I could eat beef stew in the morning no problem. Probably a better time to eat that stuff too.
I pretty much eat a granola bar and a yogurt for breakfast. Maybe I need to rethink.
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It was always bacon eggs, or oatmeal or pancakes. Yuck. Now it's 15 grain bread, toasted with cheese or peanut butter. Maybe not the best, but I can get it down. LOL
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I have either oatmeal or Cheerios and iced tea (decaf) for breakfast. Then when I'm ready to consider facing the day, I have a cup of regular coffee. Decaf everything the rest of the day. Think I'll have oatmeal on my Fosamax days - that provides a nice "cushion" for everything IMHO. I'll see if it actually works
DH likes peanut butter on his toast in the morning plus milk (I don't do milk). Whatever works!0 -
I just pulled out the previous Dexa Scans done in 2006, 2012 (when I started the anastrazole) and the last one inOct. 2014.
Believe it or not, strange as it may seem, between the 2012 and the 2014 there has not been too much of a change!
The 2006 which already showed Osteoporosis and Osteopenia I can thank to the use of NEXIUM for so many years.
The doctor that requested the DEXA scan in 2006 was a Reumathologist, so you would think that after the results, she would have discussed the use of a pill, an injection to stop the bone loss. NO!!!!
So because my stomach was in such bad shape, Nexium continued to be prescibed to me. I took it till
2011 when I decided I had enough. I have been taking 150 2x day of Zantac which works like a sugar pill as of right now.
What I am trying to say is that the damage to my bones was mostly done by the NEXIUM and Not by anastrazole!
Mena
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Wow, isn't it horrible that you, the patient, have to figure it out for yourself!
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