For Arimidex (Anastrozole) users, new, past, and ongoing
Comments
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Another thing I find helpful with Fosamax is to drink some water BEFORE I take the pill. I'm always very dry when I wake up and that helps to "grease" the way down for the pill. Naturally I forgot to do this this morning and was mad at myself. It does make a difference for me. I have a Keurig so don't need to "make" the coffee and the timer is set for it to come on at 6:30 which is perfect. My cat doesn't understand that 6AM is not necessary that I'd really like to sleep until (oh horrors) 7! Not happening
HUGS!!
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I can go 2 hours after waking up without eating. No problem. Coffee? Gotta have. Not on this , yet. Probably will be in a year or so.
I had to get up between 3:30-4:30 am for work, so whenever Spookie wakes me up is "late". 😍
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Spookie, my dog would happily let me sleep in. But the cat makes sure to annoy the dog (and that doesn't take much) so I have two four-leggeds pestering me. You sure do get up early. Ugh.
HUGS!
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Thanks Ruth and Pegg. Other photo was 2 years old and I thought it was time for a change. Ironically both photos taken down the cape (cape cod, MA) when I was visiting my parents. Both times we were out to eat. This time celebrating mom's birthday.
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Lago, obviously both shoots were happy times and that's what matters. Good idea to update photos regularly. Bet you had fun celebrating with mom!
HUGS!
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Lago, love the new picture.
I've been taking Fosamax (35mg) for five weeks now. Two weeks in a row I had really bad heartburn the day of and day after I took it. I drank a full glass of water and waited thirty minutes to eat but it was still bad. This week I drank two glasses of water and waited almost an hour to eat. No heartburn. I'm taking it as a preventative so if it continues I'll stop. I'm hoping the extra water and wait time helps.
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Mammato3, I think it takes some time to figure out exactly what works to keep Fosamax from giving you GERD. Take a Pepcid after a half hour. That will help. I'm taking 70 mg of Fosamax. For me, having oatmeal (no milk) for breakfast seems to help and I eat after 30 minutes. Usually no coffee until an hour after I take it, just water. Good luck!
HUGS!
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I was on Fosomax for 5 years, along with my synthroid. Couldn't even take them together, and at that time Dr wanted an HOUR between the pills and an hour between second pill and eating. Also, can not lay back down after Fosomax, must be upright, but it's OK to lie down after the synthroid. So I'd have the synthroid pill ready in a dish beside my bed, would take with a big glass of water and go back to sleep for an hour, then take the Foxomax with a big glass of water and sit and read the newspaper while I waited my hour before I could eat breakfast. It took awhile to adjust as I'm someone that gets nauseated if I don't eat right away in the morning. So glad I'm done with the Fosomax. Never had any problems with GERD though.
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Thanks all. Looks like I'm going to have a new Saturday morning routine! Up usually around 7-7:15, will leave the pill next to my toothbrush as that is the first thing I do in the morning. Take the pill with at least a full glass of water, probably 2 glasses. Return to BR and make the bed. Put up coffee but don't turn on. Prepare oatmeal. We're in about 20 mins now! Hmmm, what to do for another 10 mins? Okay, maybe early shower and some more water. Somehow would like to push it out to an hour wait to give the Fosamax time to absorb into the bones.
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Patoo, add a Pepcid to the pills you take after 30 minutes. Might help prevent GERD. I don't have trouble just waiting 30 minutes. Never have waited an hour. I feed the pets, read the paper (most days it takes 10 minutes if I read slowly), start on the email and get the oatmeal going. Thirty minutes is all the drug insert recommends. Good luck.
HUGS!
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I know they only say it needs 30 mins but my preference is one hour. My post above was tongue-in-cheek as I'm sure I won't have a problem entertaining myself for 60 mins. Don't want to add yet another pill so probably will forego the Pepcid and deal with GERD in the event it rears it's ugly self.
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It is swimming season, my DD is on deck at school by 6:15...this early season for us. I don't have to take bone med yet, but I have taken syntheroid for 15 years. I always take it with my other AM meds, the drink my smoothie when I get to school.
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tjh, can't even take the Fosamax with other meds. Must be all by its lonesome self. Guess food/meds can interfere with its absorption. Sounds like a bully to me.
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Patoo, I take my Fosamax at 6. At 6:30 I take my Arimidex, Prilosec, Benadryl, Folic Acid and Vit D3. And dive into breakfast. Coffee at 7. Works for me.
HUGS!
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Yeah, I can do my meds (only take Metformin, Anastrozole and Calcium in morning) in the 2nd 30 min slot. Take my other meds at night.
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They will run another bone scan on a year. The first test showed good density so oncologist felt the SE outweighed the good at this point.
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TJH, that's always good news!
HUGS!
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My sister just started Fosamax. Her doctor told her (and a friend of mine too) said to try and be sort of still after taking the pill. No laying down. Stay upright. The reason is thst you do not want the contents of the pill melting in your stomach and "splashing" back up into your esophagus, causing acid reflux. Drink as much water as you can. Wait at least 1/2 hour, but an hour is better. Just passing this on.
When I start, Prolia sounds like a plan......a shot twice a year.
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I have been on Anastrozole for about 4 weeks. Have had minimal issues. Last night, night sweats hit with a vengeance and I got little sleep. I had been taking it at night because of fatigue but I thin that might have been left over from the rads. Lasr night I started noticing a pain in my lower right side. It reminds me of a pain I would get around the time I would ovulate. Sometimes I would get cysts with ovulation and they would go away as soon as I ovulated. Does anyone know if ovarian cysts are a side effect of Anastrozole. I see the MO next Tuesday. Might call tomorrow morning just to be safe but I was wondering if this is a side effect and if it is does it come and go or does it continue.0 -
Brutersmom--can't answer the ovary question as I have none....but is your liver on the right? cause it can mess with your liver. so do call them. Night sweats will probably taper off until you are ok with the ones you do have. I take mine at night also. It took longer for me to experience that, but I did have mild nausea at first, then that went away, and it took about 1.5 years for me to feel the joint pain and leg cramps tht everyone worries so about.... We are all different. Keep your doctor in the loop so he /she knows what is going on, and can judge what is normal vs. a serious sypmtom -- Funny that I don't have 'hot flashes during the day, just the sweats at night (and that can be a lymphoma symptom, that's to my RO for sharing that tidbit..I told her I 'd had night sweats since I was 32, so I didn't think it was a cause for alarm.....I'm 58.....
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Well, I thought some muscle-ache/weakness in my right arm might be lymphedema or maybe a Anastrozole SE, but my BS seemed to think it might be that RT could have hit some nerves, so he suggested a Neurologist.
I just had my first mammogram on my lx'd breast (6 mo followup)... and it wasn't too bad! At least, not any worse than any mammogram. Whew.
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So I've been on Anastrazole for a week and a half. It seems I have muscle pain in my arms and quads. Could it be a SE already from the Anastrazole, or is it a coincidence???
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Sue, try taking Claritin. I had some arm and leg pain very early after starting. The Claritin works well.
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I guess I just came on here to complain, lol. I've been on Arimidex since Aug. I've had all kinds of hot flashes but I carry a little fan in my purse. But the last few weeks I've had increasingly worse hand pain. My finger joints are all swollen & can hardly bend my swollen fingers. Even my palms hurt bad. I already take OxyContin & oxycodone for chronic pain & sciatica but it does nothing at all for my hands. So now my Dr has me stopping for the next 2 weeks to see if it's really the Arimidex. I'm almost sure it is. So I suppose I'll be changed to something else. I hope they work as good. Are the hormone inhibitors pretty comparable to each other?
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Hi Louisap, welcome to Breastcancer.org. We're sorry you have to be here and that you're dealing with such side effects, but glad you've found us!
Until other members post with their knowledge, experience and support, here is a page from our main site that you may find helpful: Hormonal Therapy: What to Expect
Hope this helps! Let us know how you're doing during next two weeks!
Best wishes,
The Mods
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Louisap I had to switch from Anastrozole (Arimidex) to Exemestaine (Aromasin) due to pain and some other SE. I've been on it now for 1.5 years doing much better. Talk to your oncologist about switching if the Arimidex is the cause.
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Louisap, it seems that switching to a different AI often reduces or eliminates the SEs. Fascinating, isn't it?
HUGS!
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yup you either like the new poison or scurry back to the old one......If you don't laugh you cry, and there is no CRYING in BC, right??????
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Right, Red, Right. We are too darned pissed to take time to cry! Right?
HUGS!
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Hello,
I have been on Arimidex (Anastrozole) since late July. About a month in I started having a lot of side effects that are on the list but very few have been mentioned on this forum. I was just wondering if anyone else has had the same SE.
I seem to have a low grade headache all the time (never had them before), sore throat and jaws ache, eyes super sensitive to light in the morning when I wake up, and my tongue is swollen and sore.
I also have trouble sleeping. This is not a new problem but the ambien I have used in the past does not seem to help. I am also experiencing fatigue but I am not sure if it is from the lack of sleep.
Called the doctor last week and she told me to stop taking the pills for 2 weeks to see if there is any improvement. It has been 5 days and there is a slight improvement with the tongue and throat.
I do have a life threatening allergy to aspirin. Does anyone know if this drug is related to the aspirin family?
Thank you in advance for any information you can share.
Pat
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