For Arimidex (Anastrozole) users, new, past, and ongoing
Comments
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I take mine at night...no problem sleeping. Does anyone take Zometa for bones? That is the treatment I am scheduled for next week after bone scan
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Just looked at my prescription and it says "Accord." I go to CVS... can you just ask for the Teva? (I should know more about how to navigate my way around prescriptions by now, but I'm really clueless!)
I just started in September, so not sure what's SEs and what's not. I have been feeling stiffness in hands and body overall at times but I don't think it's joint/bone pain... but maybe?
I had a bit of rapid heartbeat. My MO sent me for an echo-cardiogram at a hospital yesterday. It was much more extensive than any similar test I've had before. The tech said they had a more thorough protocol than those done in dr. offices (my last one was done when I was in hospital during chemo--where I also had rapid heartbeat, but it was due to dehydration, but it was done in my room and was shorter).
I haven't got the results yet.
I'm really hoping it doesn't show anything. I'd like to be able to stay on this thing. My fatigue hasn't been so bad lately. Just the stiffness to bother me a bit... but it's not bad really... I think I can deal with it. Maybe try and ask for the Teva to see if that's better. But having heart problems would not be a good thing! My heart tends to beat a bit on the fast side as it is! (I really, really need to do a lot more cardio exercise, I guess!)
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April, I just asked for Teva and then insisted that that was the only brand I would accept and it was put on my record/chart or whatever it is called. You don't need the prescription to state it since it is all generic. You should be able to get it from CVS. If not, Walgreen's can get it. (And we all know where there's a CVS there's a Walgreen's and a RiteAid
).Hard to tell sometimes what are SEs and what are just normal living aches and pains and stiffness. If it's just annoying take a Tylenol or something and go on with your life!
HUGS!
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Walgreens is buying RiteAid for an obscene amount of money.
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I saw that, Spookie. Now intersections will have only 2 drugstores instead of 3. RiteAid is rather a non-player in my life.
HUGS!
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Me too!!! There will be gas stations on the other 2 corners now.
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I am going to ask for TEVA from now on. Thanks.
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Wondering if anyone has had burning tongue & lips and my lips are a bit swollen & chapped? Could it be an allergy to a filler as opposed to a SE? They just changed brands on me, I was having zero problems for 18 months and then I picked up my prescription & it was a different brand. I had this same problem with Tamox and had to change brands.
Thanks for your input. Cheers, Dee
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It sure sounds like it to me, Dee. I'd tell the pharmacist and request the other brand- especially since you hadn't had problems before.
HUGS!
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GG27,
Is there any chance that you changed toothpaste around the same time? A few years ago I went to my dentist because I was having mouth and tongue issues similar to what you describe. He asked about toothpaste and sure enough, I had not changed brands but I had bought one with lots of "extras." Apparently I was sensitive to one of the things they had added: whitener, plaque preventive, tartar preventive, etc. As soon as I went back to plain old toothpaste that just prevents cavities, my symptoms disappeared. Just a thought...
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April, I had heart palpetations a while ago, it had nothing to do with the cancer or meds
dang but when your favorite niece joins the peace corps, goes to Haiti and the country blows up in a revolution.......she got home fine and my pals went away! Stress can cause them for me
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My MO does not feel the manufacturer makes much of a difference with side effects. Given that, when he considered that I'd had little to no joint pain until exactly three weeks after the pharmacy switched me to the Accord brand, he wrote a prescription specifying the Teva brand. He printed a hard copy of the prescription (usually is sent electronically) and said to take it in to my pharmacy and if they said they couldn't get the Teva, to explain that I would go someone where else. I didn't have to take that step as Walgreen's had the Teva in stock as well as the Accord. Three weeks, to the day, of going back on Teva, my feet didn't hurt in the morning.
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Many many women on this forum do better on different brands. I would insist!
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I take brand name only....the generics made me miserable and I have to be able to walk 5+ miles a day just to get around school. After switching I only need 1 Aleve 1-2 a week instead of 2. 2 times a day.
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I take the brand name too, direct from Astro Zeneka. No problems. Get 90 at a time.
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Thanks everyone. I had changed toothpaste for a couple of days & wondered the same things, but I changed back 2 weeks ago & still having the same problem.
Because I have to get it through the hospital, I'm not sure if I can just insist on a different brand, I think my onc would have to do that, but I will get on it today.
Cheers, Dee
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Golden, that's great that your MO actually believed you even though he doesn't believe that different brands can cause SEs. And wonderful that the SEs went away!!
HUGS!
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Hi, I just started on Arimidex a week ago, and I am having a few issues, so I thought I would ask here, since you are the real experts.
I was on Tamoxifen for 8 months before a bone scan showed progression of my mets, so I was switched to Arimidex. I will also be getting bisphosphonates as soon as they get the port in. I have hip pain from the mets, and knee pain from what I think is arthritis. I am on paracetamol and ibuprofen, 2 of each 3 times a day.
I also have lymphodema, and until a few days ago was wearing a compression sleeve and vest. I am now having major pain issues in my upper arm, and am on Codeine until I can see another doctor to find out what is going on.
For the last 2 days, my Tamoxifen hot flashes have turned into 6 hour saunas! My temperature is normal, but I'm sweating like a pig every evening and through the night. Both nights I have had an extreme headache that even the codeine will not shift.
I don't know if this is a side effect of the Arimidex, a result of the sudden switch, or some inter-reaction with all the drugs and painkillers. I have been drinking lots of water, hoping that it might be dehydration, but that's not helping much.
Does anyone else have wicked headaches from Arimidex? Doe it eventually go away as my body adjusts? Or is something else going on?
Any help or comments would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Sue.
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Hi Sue, sorry you are having all these problems. Are you on brand name Arimidex or generic Anastrozole? As you can see from other posters here the manufacturer may make the difference. Some can only take brand name Arimidex from AstraZenea while others can take the generic Anastrozole but only the Teva brand. Just looked at your stats and seems you are on the generic. Who is the manufacturer?
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Hi, just started taking Arimidex last week. So far so good, no SE as of yet, but I am keeping a close watch on everything. I'm confused by all the different names for the same drug. Spent all my time on this site when I was in chemo, but I needed a break. Radiation went off with out a hitch, and finished in mid-July. My onc told me to wait until I felt as good as "back to my old self" as possible before starting the meds. guess I'll be doing a bit of reading, there's a lot of posts here
Good to see a familiar name, Pontiac Peggy 0 -
BikerBabe17, Hi! Okay, here's the poop on the names. Brand name is: Arimidex. Generic name is: Anastrozole. Probably the confusion comes from all the different manufacturers. Brand name comes from Astra-Zeneca. Some of the generics come from Teva and Accord and others. Before I started Anastrozole I had read a lot of the posts here and some of the women said that they had fewer or no problems with the Teva manufactured ones - different fillers (which seemed to be the issue). So that's what I've been on. And I have had no trouble. Keep on with whatever you are taking. If you have issues, the try a different manufacturer first.
Also, keep in mind that many of us on Anastrozole do not have problems with it. The ladies who post here often DO have SEs and need help, suggestions so they can cope with those SEs and continue taking it. Those of us with no problem tend not to post here. Do not expect problems. If they crop up, we'll help.
You've had a very long year. Glad you sailed through rads with no problems (me, too). Now you can sit back and just enjoy life!
HUGS!
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Great response PPeg.
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Thanks, Patoo. You have been on Anastrozole for years and know that there aren't that many of us posting here who have no problems (or minor ones). I feel that those just starting out on it should know that it is possible to take anastrozole and not have SEs. BUT if you are unlucky enough to have SEs, this is the best place to get the answers or direction you need to help you. This forum is big enough for all of us!
HUGS!
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And it is absolutely crucial that those of us without issues continue to post and give cyber-support. Should newbies come here and see only the horrific SE's that some do go through without our voices to temper same they would never go on it. They need to know to give it a try, if SE's crop up to see if they subside and if not there are others to try. We are blessed that we hormone positive folks have options.
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My MO mentioned that the longer one has been postmenopausal, the less dramatic the drop in estrogen and the less likely there are to be SEs from AIs (and they’d be milder too). My former office mgr., who has the same MO and PCP as I do, began taking letrozole at 78 and reports no SEs whatsoever.
Going for my baseline dexa scan Monday morning, with rads to start that afternoon. I will start letrozole Jan. 1, and see my MO again in Feb., when she’ll do a blood lipid panel to see if it’s elevated my LDL. If it has, she may start me on a statin rather than a bisphosphonate, since a beneficial SE of statins can be slowing or halting the progress of osteoporosis. (Of course, statins can cause muscle aches, so I guess you can’t win).
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That's interesting, ChiSandy, because I was 24 years post-menopausal when I started anastrozole. I had virtually no hot flashes back in the day and haven't had any now. However, I did have SEs with statins and still have lingering SEs from them. DH had awful SEs from statins (he couldn't walk!). Poor hubby had such contradictory problems: Congestive heart failure but low-normal blood pressure (which drove the cardiologists crazy). Orthostatic hypotension from his Parkison's so he couldn't take water pills (lasix) and even needed a normal, salty diet so he wouldn't wind up on the floor (which he did regularly - a challenge when he weighed 220 and I weighed 130). Finally got the right cardiologist who said you're doing it right (to me) and let me adjust his meds. He lived 5 years beyond his widow-maker heart attack when the cardiologist figured he wouldn't make a year.
So, it is really hard to balance meds. Good luck!
HUGS!
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ChiSandy, that does make sense I guess. I was also many years post-meno when I started with little SE's.
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Patoo and ChiSandy, I think that may "generally" hold true but there have been women posting here who are much older than me with SEs, so not a universal truth. I've wondered also if how you went through menopause (lots vs few hot flashes e.g.) influences if you have hot flashes as SEs but that doesn't seem to matter either from what I can gather here. Quite baffling. Why isn't someone studying this? We'd all be glad to give any information about ourselves to help figure why someone women have SEs and others don't.
HUGS!
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Saw my pcp, had ekg, everything normal. Saw oncologist. We joked that people usually have to run a lot to get rate up that high. He said he had not heard of anastrozole causing that. I said the joint pain was not considered an SE a few years ago but now they list it. He is a good guy, young enough to be my son, easy to talk to. Told me to take my blood pressure and pulse 3 times a day for a week and then go back on the anastrozole and continue doing readings to see if it jumps to 140 again. Said to report to him and my pcpand that if it can't be pinned to the blocker I need to see a cardiologist. No other symptoms.
Double mastectomy Sept. 2012, stage II b, no reconstruction, chemo, radiation.
Complete hysterectomy 2005 (fire sale, everything went! Mom survived breast cancer, died of ovarian)
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for the record as far as SEs go, total hysterectomy 2005, breast cancer 2012 through 2013.
Was done with hot flashes long ago, came back on anastrozole but eased off after a few months. Joint pain, leg pain was baaad! Couldn't sleep. Oncologist told me he could prescribe something but that most women get relief, as far as leg pain is concerned,with a kelp supplement. I buy the NOW brand powder and sprinkle it in my morning smoothie. It really does work in case anyone wonders.
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