For Arimidex (Anastrozole) users, new, past, and ongoing
Comments
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So it is not hard to figure out why I stopped it all...............not worth it...........maybe one day if my cancer comes back I will be singing a different tune, but for now.............I am just waiting for the Arimidex SEs to go away............its a month....and they haven't....
I hope and pray they do.............should have never tried it, should have just said "I'm off all foit for good", but had to try that last one........damn me.........................
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ducky, I am off the ALs for almost a year and still have aches in my feet....arthritis so I think it just aggrevates any pain you have
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I had a ganglion cyst on my right hand that necessitated a cortisone shot. I held the nurse's hand while the doctor administered it. Amazingly, I did NOT break her hand (had to have been a near thing). That took care of it. My dr at the time was nearly 80 and he said that way back when some dr's would take a Bible and smash it onto the wrist. If that's an option, I'll do it next time (I requested it that time but lost). But at least the shot worked!
HUGS!
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Peggy....one of my sons, now 48 when he was younger and still living home got a cyst on the back of his head about mid-way up toward the crown................he read about how you could get rid of a cyst by hitting it with a book..........
So he asked his sister 2 years younger then he was, and at the time he was probably 23, to hit his head with the book.................well she did..............almost knocked his head across the room, missed the spot where the cyst was, and then said "oops hold on I missed, and hit him again"........................cyst went no where..........he got a heachache and almost his brains splattered around the room....................and 2 weeks later went to the hospital to have it removed the way I told him it should be done.
The Dr. after checking his head said "son you have a huge lump next to the cyst......what happened there...........he took the 5th............
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Ladies: I am in awe of your ability to endure these side effects after our frightening journeys through treatment. I don't know if I'll stay on any AI, but I'm glad to know that we are all in this together and that I have a place to go to put my anger about the side effects of this drug that is supposed to help us (but no guarantees).
Claire in AZ
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Peggy, the proper instrument for the doctor to use o the cyst was always a medical dictionary--has the correct heft and also the proper.professional aura.
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Ducky, that's funny. I'm sitting here cracking up. I doubt I'd have done that but then not a young man who is immortal either
Brookside, damn, that's why he wouldn't do it. I didn't request the right book! I must say that he was always open to most any alternative ideas I had. How many doctors allow you to have iced tea in the delivery room (natural delivery) and it was hotter than hell? Kid, who had been in such a rush to be 2 weeks earlier, changed his mind. None of us particularly happy about that, especially when the dr had to turn him since he was transverse. Such fun! I'm sorry he retired but at 82 I'm sure he was ready.
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Ducky, what a great story!
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LOL...........it was bad enough he got such a dumb idea....but then my daughter went along with it.............
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Sometimes you just gotta wonder how you created such idiots, don't you?
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If, as a teenager, my brother had asked me to hit him over the head, I would have jumped at the chance.....heck, sometimes I'd like to hit him over the head right now!
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I don't recall ever being hesitant to hit my brother - over the head or anywhere else - at any time and I did NOT need to be asked! Always up to the task!
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If you have to have a cortisone shot, request lidocaine first. It's what they use before putting in IVs now. It was like a air gun. My cortisone shot was painless and I had almost instant relief. There was a pain killer in the cortisone shot also. No one should have to suffer pain like that, when there is an easy solution for it.
Wavewhisper, thanks. The scary thing about the surgery is that I have truncal LE that creeps into my upper arm and the surgery was on my BC side. So far to good. Still wearing the protective bandaging they put on me after surgery, so my movement is limited.
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Yeah, my PCP put lidocaine in the shot. I could feel it working as the juice went in. Wasn't the worst thing I'd been through that year.
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My thumb was bothering me while I was doing therapy for my wrist. (hand issues are involved with type of wrist break I had). I thought it was trigger finger from the AI, but the therapist manipulated it and said, no, it was not trigger finger. We did a lot of stretches and massage and he thought I should get a shot, but I resisted and it went away over time.
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I had trigger fingers on Anastrozole in the morning. Switched to exemestane and only have a little bit when I first wake up. Wasn't painful, just strange
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Hi Lago...........I had trigger finger.......it was not too bad, and was amusement for my grandkids.........they thought it was funny........when it would happenI would go .......ow, ow, ow, and they would run to see it pop back into place......LO
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Red, been meaning to ask you. Do you have any problems at night with the wrist that was broken? I do, but think it's a nerve issue from the breaks. On my LE arm, so not sure what, if anything could be done.
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Yesdterday, my brand new trigger thumb was really tender. I realized it was hot and a bit swollen, so iced it and picked up a splint-type thing at the drugstore. It's way better. I confess I also "forgot" to take my arimidex. Kind of fearful that today I have to get to the office and start packing files for this weekend's move.
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Doxie and Spookie, I've had very painful cortisone shots in my back, shoulder and foot. My sister had to have one in her shoulder recently and I warned her how painful it would be, She said it was no big deal. They used lidocaine! Why didn't they use it all those times on me??? Now I know to ask,,,
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I used to get cortisone trigger point injections in my scapular area, and later Botox injections there. One day doc had 13 needles for me. They never hurt beyond the initial stick. Had the knee shots too, not bad. Different docs.
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Lorrilynne - regarding trigger finger ... After only 2 weeks on Anastrozole, I got trigger thumb in my dominant hand and it was so painful, I could no longer use that thumb. I couldn't bend it without it feeling like someone had just cut if off. At night, when I finally got to sleep, my thumb would bend involuntarily and the pain would wake me up. Every night ... Dr. said he couldn't give me anything for it because I was on blood thinners. I had this side effect for one year before it just went away by itself. I suggest you talk to your dr. because waiting for it to go away. I still can't believe it took a whole year for it to go away!!!
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I was on Coumadin when I got the thumb shot, still am.
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Spookie, yes I have trouble at night with the arm the wrist break is in. Even though it is a long time since the break (Feb 11) I wake up with pain and deadness in the arm and it hurts like hell to move it. I tried an ace wrap, but wasn't able to keep it on all night. I am a side sleeper by nature and this arm was usually tucked under the pillow, but I haven't been able to do that since the break.
Sometimes my fingers hurt too, and I do my stretches in the middle of the night to get it to relax.
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I even asked them if I could be having lymphedema issues (it is not the at risk arm) and doc said he didn't think so. I did have a abit of swelling in the left had while the arm was in the cast, just from over use....due to the right being immoblilzed....
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Florida, I'm only three months in but I haven't gained any weight so far. I actually lost a couple pounds. It is different for everyone. I am very active but I can't say that is complete answer as I see posts from people like claireinaz who are very fit and active and still gaining. I can only imagine how frustrating that would be. I haven't really sufferred much in the way of side effects. My hands and feet ache a bit from time to time--nothing major. A good soak in a mustard bath and I'm good to go.
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Spookie, have you seen these??
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Ruth, love the new avatar--cool glasses!
Ducky, beautiful pics from then and NOW! Thanks for sharing. Sorry for the multiple posts. I'm days behind. This is the busiest board I read with the best people
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Mel, yes I saw those too.
Red, I'm a side sleeper too. It's not pain that wakes me up, more like its possessed. Flipping around with a mind of its own, or my fingers wiggling like crazy. My break was the end of Oct.
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I just got a call from my oncologists office. Before I start Arimidex I wanted to see what my hormones were at at baseline, plus I wanted to know what my bone density was starting out, just for reference points and because I'd heard that the lower the hormones starting the less problems. Also my mo in SF and my mo in LA had both said that since they considered me low risk, hormone replacement was not that important for me and therefore if I had problems they'd take me off of it. Anyway I had the blood tests, and bone density last week and my mo just called and said that I have ZERO estrogen, ZERO progesterin, and my bone density is good, she said we have to rethink if you even need this medicine, we have some other ideas. I said I'm perfectly willing to start but they want me to come in and talk, evidently they don't think I need to take it. Shocked.
They also said they are going to suggest all patients take this baseline hormone test before starting people on any hormone stuff. That I had a good idea suggesting it most people don't even ask.
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