For Arimidex (Anastrozole) users, new, past, and ongoing
Comments
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Thought this was a very informative and positive study with good results. Bisphosphonates and Arimidex I'm doing both (Fosamax and Arimidex).
Patoo, I'm like you. I'll stay on Arimidex as long as possible, forever even.
HUGS!!
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pato, think you are wise in your choice, you can always end if things get nasty, best of luck
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Nice information PPeggy.
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I agree that it's hard to know if something is caused by the medication or if we would have had it anyway. I have a friend who got trigger thumbs a few months ago while on Tamoxifen. She and her MO wondered about the cause, so the dr. advised that she go off the drug for three weeks to see if her thumbs improved. After 10 days her trigger thumbs were much worse, so they decided it was not due to the Tam. My friend had cortisone shots in both thumbs and improved almost immediately with no problems since, and of course she went back on Tam. Apparently it would have happened anyway (without the Tam.)!
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Duh.....what is a trigger thumb?
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mysunshine, finger joint (most often the thumb but can be any of the fingers) bends at 90 degree angle and may need to be manually undone with the other hand. Or it may be possible to unbend itself but then it may make a pop sound. Would be comical if it wasn't painful. Many are helped with one (me) or two cortisone shots but some need surgery. Not everyone gets it.
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Patoo, Oh, Thank you. At least I don't have that yet! I am glad you like your MO. That is one thing I worry about when I think about moving.
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Really like both my new PCP and MO so if you come this direction you have somewhere to start!
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hi all, my friend who is 16 years cancer free still sees her MO, so figure this is a lifetime friend with our MO. No major issues on arimadex . Keep up with your vitamins.
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My surgeon said I only need to see him for a 1 year check after the initial rechecks. I see my oncologist every 3 months for 5 years, the PS every 6 months for 2 years after the initial rechecks, the next appointment Nov. 9. When I start on the Arimidex, after researching it is the one that I felt was best and chatted with oncologist. She was very open and we did the pros and cons of several. The main reason I was against tamoxifen was the risk of cancer of the uterus. It also had a longer list of SE. I am a year past menopause, oncologist did several estrogen tests to verify I was definitely in menopause. My aches and pains seem a lot better. I am stiff in the morning when I get up, I can't sit on the hard plastic student chairs at school without getting stiff, but the stiffness only lasts a few steps. I take a couple of Aleeve a week is I do too much but that may be because I am just getting back into shape. As for weight gain...I have lost 20 pounds since last chemo, mostly because meat turns my stomach so eating mostly vegetarian. So it is not all bad.
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Almost 2 1/2 months on anastrazole and so far so good. Though I can't believe at age 43, the dexa scan shows mild osteoporosis already! Will be starting on Zometa soon. Thanks Peggy for posting about that positive study. Makes me feel a bit better about going on Zometa.
PB
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PBoi, glad to know that it was reassuring. I thought it was. I'm a believer in using every weapon in the KILL CANCER arsenal to make sure it doesn't come back.
HUGS!!
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Well despite my RO not wanting me to start my BS said that I need to. Just took my first pill.
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I have been on Arimidex for two months. Praise the Lord, no side effects yet.
Do not be afraid to take that first pill. It is so important.
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Oh, forgot to say......not anticipating any SE either!
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Thank you, mysunshine48
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My MO started me on anastrozole after RT was finished. I just saw him today and he said stiff hands/joints can have lots of causes... so I'm guessing he's not going to encourage me to think it might be SEs! He might be right. It's funny... I was getting some stiffness BEFORE I had bc, and didn't have any all through treatment. I felt pretty amazing during RT. Felt sucky during chemo, but didn't have joint aches! So maybe I just had a little reprieve for some reason (???) and it's started up again now. Or maybe it is psychological... now that I don't have to worry about what the treatment was doing to me, the stiffness is more noticeable???
I told him about my little clear bumps on my skin and my MO set me up to see a dematologist. So we'll see about that. I'm inferring that he doesn't think I"m having some sort of weird allergic reaction to the anastrozole, which is reassuring.
I was taking some tumeric supplements, and am now going to stop for a while just in case it might be causing some of the problems. I might start again if nothing changes over the next weeks. I did not take it while doing RT and my skin was okay... it got all dark and red at the end, but that went away quickly and my skin might have been tighter, but I can't really tell. It's still slightly darker, but not in any obvious way. I just used Aloe and Calendula. Only Aquaphor once or twice when things were really red and warm. I just didn't like the feel of Aquaphor.
My MO is also going to schedule me for a Bone Density test. And an Echo-Cardiogram. I haven't been told to do anything as far as possible osteoporosis. They maybe are waiting until I get the Bone Density test. I had one last December, but for some reason they can't access the results! It's just never sent to them or they keep loosing it in my messy files or something???!
I won't mind getting both those things checked out. I have been worried about osteoporosis for ages, since they say we all start losing bone density naturally as we age. And heart tests are important since I'm still on Herceptin, and I do have a fairly rapid heart-beat all the time, and sometimes irregular heartbeats. I think it shouldn't show anything bad... I've been feeling OK.
Fatigue, MO seemed to be totally unworried about, too! Heh. Well, it's really not bad, so as long as he's not concerned, I'll try not to worry about it.
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Molly, my MO had me start Arimidex the day after I finished my rads. I've no clue why the wait. But whatever, I've had no problems with SEs. Hope you won't either.
April, far too true that things we ignored before starting Arimidex, now can take on a new meaning. Doesn't always mean SEs.
MySunshine, glad it's going well for you!
HUGS!!
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Peggy. Just want to say that many women have recurrences while on anti hormones. Not saying they don't save some lives but unfortunately there is no guarentee
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Peggy, I have my MO wanting me to start a month ago, my second opinion MO telling me to start right away and now my BS telling me to start vs my RO who wants me to wait. Since I am so strongly ER positive I decided waiting 3 months post surgery is no a good idea so I started last night. Hopefully any SE's are mild and won't confuse which is anastrozole and whichever is radiation.
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Nothing you do has a 100% guarantee, but anti-hormonals save, not some, but many lives. Taking an one cut my own personal recurrence risk by 50%.
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ruthbru I know it saves many lives but can we please be honest and say that many women have recurrences while on it. To suggest anything else discredits metastatic disease.
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As I noted, nothing you do gives you a 100% guarantee, but anti-hormonals are the biggest gun estrogen positive women have in their arsenal to lower (not eliminate) that risk. Again back to me, chemo reduced my recurrence risk by 20%, anti-hormonals by 50%....so that is a pretty big deal.
edited to add that my feeling was/is that I needed/need to do everything in my power to prevent recurrence; including recommended medical treatments, lots and lots of exercise, keeping my weight down, taking a daily low dose aspirin, drinking alcohol very rarely (and sparingly)......at that point, it is out of my hands, and in the hands of God/fate/the universe (what ever belief system one prescribes to).
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Dtad, I don't recall saying that AIs eliminate the risk of recurrence. But I will use everything I can to reduce the risk. Would you rather not have AIs to help reduce the risk? For me, I say no. But each of us is unique and what works for me mentally and physically may not work for you.
HUGS!
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Molly, IMHO (which doesn't really matter), I think you did the right thing by following your 2nd opinion MO. I'm sure there are reasons for waiting until after rads for starting AI's but your MO seems to think it more important to start now and I'd go with him.
HUGS!!!
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Peggy maybe I took your post wrong. The way I read it is that you were taking them so you cancer does not come back rather than reducing your chance of recurrence. I took it like it was 100 percent. I apologize if I took it the wrong way but I am concerned about discrediting metastatic disease, especially during Pinktober! Stay well....
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When I was first in treatment, BCO had an 'Ask An Expert' forum, and (being at the point of radiation/then Arimidex or starting both at once), that is the question I asked. The expert said that it really didn't matter either way (of course, that was 8 years ago, so their recommendations may have changed). And, Molly, since you are highly estrogen positive, it does make sense for you to start right way. Like Peggy, I started the day after I finished rads, so I could have started during rads and it wouldn't really have made any different because I believe the radiation stays in your system for a couple weeks after you are finished anyway.
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Dtad, I believe that in many cases, AI's do prevent cancer from recurring. It doesn't prevent new ones, of course. I'm a half-full girl, not half empty so I prefer to believe that AI's are my best shot at preventing recurrence. I'm into being very positive but not denial.
Ruth, Interesting. Nice that you had a forum to Ask an Expert. I'd have liked to attend that. Especially now. I didn't know enough when I first started this journey to ask the "good" questions
Just a thought: Perhaps they like to do one thing at a time so they can monitor SEs (if any) and know what caused them? I have no clue.HUGS!
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They gave me the choice to start right away or wait until I was done with rads. I waited, but wouldn't have had to because radiation was (luckily) easy for me (my theory is that after chemo, anything would seem better!) and I didn't have any negative SEs from it (other than getting sick of going there every day.....which was a pain in the #%* since it was 100 miles away!!!).
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Ruth, Interesting that you said you take a baby aspirin every day. I was just wondering about thst yesterday. What do you know about that? Some say yes, others, no.
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