For Arimidex (Anastrozole) users, new, past, and ongoing
Comments
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Sandy, you are right. There is no out of the woods with ER + cancer. Two to four years is a common window of recurrence, and it drops a bit but goes up around 6 to 8 again. Half of recurrences in ER+ patients happen after 5 years. Low risk patients, though, seem to have a low risk for the whole 10 years. So the key is who is going to recur, and they are working on trying to determine who that would be.
Being a recurrer, I have not even asked, but resigned myself to 10 years and will count myself lucky to get to 10 years!
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I am reading all this and finding the whole thing scary! Everyone says something different!
I have been on Arimidex for 3 months. While I have not had hot flashes, I have had back aches that I did not have before. That has me wondering if that is a SE! Anyone else have backaches?
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MySunshine, of course, it is possible that your backaches are caused by Arimidex. It's also possible they are caused by something else. Please keep in mind that most of the ladies posting here ARE having problems with Arimidex. Most of us who have no SEs don't post or rarely post here. So sometimes you are getting a skewed view of Arimidex. Keep an open mind. Try to pin down exactly when this started. Have you ever had backaches before? Does anything make it better or worse? Talk to your PCP and/or MO. Good luck figuring it out - it can be challenging. Back pain is notoriously difficult to pin down for a cause.
HUGS!
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to be honest, many of my back aches come from stress.....when the cause of the stress is relieved, back gets happy again.
YOu are under a lot of stress now so do try to do some things to relieve that stress and perhaps the back will be better
ever do any yoga? or do you swim? both good things to do now
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My sister is sitting next to me and has been complaining for 3 days of pretty bad back pain. Guess what, she does not have BC so is not on an AI. What is causing it - probably just aging. mysunshine48, not saying Arimidex is not the cause for you but we have to keep in mind that we are getting older and aches, pains, illnesses are going to crop up. It may have only started when you began Arimidex but we don't know if it would not have started anyway. Could it also be a result of your recent surgery? Don't stress over it as lots of posters have reported SE's that either stopped or became manageable over weeks/months. Granted, many others did have to stop because the SE's became overwhelming. Talk with your MO (as I know you will
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I know! I will talk to her about it, but she will probably not know, as no one really can. It is just that I did not have any back pain before Arimidex. It does go away, or at least gets more tolerable if I lay down or back in my recliner for an hour. I will live with it, but not a lot of fun! I don't think it is from surgery because I started Arimidex in August and shortly after is when back aches started. I do not intend to stop.....will take A WHOLE LOT for that! It is too important.
I just wondered if anyone else had this. Patoo, hope your sister gets better!
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MySunshine, I'm relieved. I think Arimidex is vital, too. When was your surgery? Are you all done with your reconstruction? Nice that you can get it under control. Are you sleeping in a different position now than you were prior to surgery? It's so hard to figure out.
HUGS!!!
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My reconstruction surgery was September 25.
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Hmm. No ideas for you. Sorry, Sunshine
HUGS!
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I gave Spookie and Kris baths and blow dry in one day. Feet in tub, hanging over. Next day I could barely move. Pain lasted for weeks. PCP sent me for MRI. My mind was in dark spaces. Never thought giving them baths did it. MRI showed arthritis, DDD, stenosis, L5-S1 is about shot. But no cancer.
Have you done anything as innocent as that
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Spookie, that reminds me of how uncomfortable I was for a couple days on my "bad" side after doing a Richard Simmons Dancing with the Oldies. My BS said that sometimes that much arm movement doesn't go well with SLNB sites. Sure didn't with me. No more Richard.
HUGS!
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They get baths a few days apart now. Never did good ol' Richard.
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my sunshine--I have the same back pain. Also pain in the llumectomy boob. I think it may be the drug. My cancer was on the left side and sometimes I wonder if it is my back or my heart.... I started having leg cramps and the MO said that they were absolutely from the drug. Took a 2 week break and had one mild episode of leg cramps 2 days after I stopped and none since. I went back on the drug Thrusday night....
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still getting numbness in me feet, seems to be spreading, on the anastrozole by teva, no hot flashes, and no joint pain, but do take the Claritin daily to prevent joint pain. So should I mention the neuropathy to MO? Still getting her2 antibody till January.
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Got a new SE. Both thumbs ache in the palm news my MP joint in my thumb. It especially hurts to grasp or squeeze anything. This stuff has given me arthritis in a couple of fingers but this is the pits it feel so woke now no the web space between my finger and thum
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JerseyGirl, definitely mention the numbness to your MO. Always a chance he has a solution!
ChloesMom, Damn. That's rotten.
HUGS!!!
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mysunshine I agree the toxicity refers to the lack of estrogen and the SE because of it. I was just referring to the term that her doc used. However I don't agree that most women don't have SE. Some don't but most do to a certain extent. Otherwise why would 50 percent not complete the 5 years? Thats a stat my MO confirmed. I don't think you should expect SE just be aware of them. Knowledge is power. I think we are intelligent women who know the difference between the power of suggestion and a real SE. That being said I applaud anyone who does complete the 5 years if that is their choice. Good luck to all.......
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Jerseygirl Definitley mention the neuropathy to the doc! Most likely the neuropathy is from the chemo not the aromatase inhibitor
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I've been off the board for awhile but checking back in and saw Peggy mention in effect that women without side effects don't usually post, which causes fear and panic that SE are to be expected. I've been on Arimidex for 15 months now and have not had any SE that I've noticed. The Target pharmacy usually gives me the Accord as they can't get the name brand. I see my Oncologist every six months, I think she believes ten years will become the standard but waiting on more research
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Helenna, good to hear that you have no SE's with Accord. I was doing great on Sandoz for 18 months, absolutely no SE's. Then our health authority changed brands to APO & I am having not just SE's but they confirmed it's an allergy to one of the fillers. They are switching me to Accord on Tuesday. I'm hoping it will be good for me.
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GG27, I think that fillers often cause problems. Glad you were able to track it down.
Helenna, Thank you!
HUGS!
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GG27 Glad you figured it out. I have had that happen to me with blood pressure medicine. The mail order pharmacy argued with me about it. I finally ended up going to a local pharmacy and paying more to solve the propblem.
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Side effects of anastrozole I have what other believe is a new SE for me. I get this weird sensation of crawling from my chest down to my fingers and a swelling of emotions along with light headedness. It's almost like a panic attack or feeling of nervousness. My chest feels like it's full. I can't really do justice with words.
For those of you with back pain, check out the list of SE's at the top of my post.
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mysunshine48, next to 'your' bed was a chair topper that is actually an amazing back massager and it has a heat setting. She sat on that for 20 mins and her back pain disappeared. Amazing. I mean she had complained for 3 days. I should have had you try it as your back was bothering you when you were here. Next time!
Got in some walking looking at houses and land with a lady that we ran into at church this morning. I knew she was an orthopedic doctor here so wanted to introduce her to my sister. Small world. Turns out the doctor's sister and my sister have been good friends for at least 30 years having practiced law together in DC many years ago. So we got to know her as she and her realtor showed us around her community (near The Villages) and the half-million dollars houses they, for some reason, thought we could afford!
Came home and went to the pool for 1.5 hours water movement.
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I am finding that my legs feel much better since I have been walking 6 or so miles a day. Also took another couple of pounds off...
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tjh....6 miles a day, fantastic! Walking is BIG in England, when we visit relatives there that are 25 years older than us it is hard to keep up! They are in a walking group that thinks nothing of doing a twelve mile walk up and down cliffs by the sea. Of course the walk ends at a local pub! Maybe that keeps them moving so fast
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Patoo you must take a picture and post this magic back massager. I want one badly.
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Exercise_guru, Google Homedics. They make a broad line of chair pads that heat and massage. DH had one that he really liked, especially the heat.
HUGS!
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chloesmom... I have the thumb joint thing too.... The dang AI has really increased the arthritis in every joint of my body. I try to keep stretching the thumb joints to increase that space and functionality. I've resorted to injections in the joints too, helps with pain and movement for a while.
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