For Arimidex (Anastrozole) users, new, past, and ongoing
Comments
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I copied an excerpt out of the info that I received about memory loss. This is from my 5 year follow up plan.
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I am 58, college educated, held a very responsible position for 30years, did no chemo and received less radiation than most. The only cause is the drug. And other than taking 4 days of Femara (which was instant hell for me) it is THIS DRUG....
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Went in to pay a bill in person. Had the bill, car keys, cigarette case. Got ALL the way in, had clerk ready, no wallet. Was out in car. Have never had that happen. Then couldn't remember the rest of my errands. Scarey! And I was driving. Yesterday.
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Redjeaded1 I did 20 days of radiation. My issues started around the 2nd week and have continued. It is a little better since I am back to work and having to think about other things but it is still an issue. I think that there are a lot of factors that lead to memory. I am also well educated and have been in a professional job all my life. I have a lot of family that lived to there 90's and one over 100 that are still sharp. Just the stress of having cancer which I think will always be part of our lives will effect memory. And yes the ESD is a factor.
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Yeah I think mine is more from the drug and not from chemo.
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It's so hard to pin down the cause of memory issues. I know I had a ton of stress for the 4 years leading up to my Dx. That didn't help anything. Then a year from hell with BC and DH being in nursing home and dying in September. Did my ESD contribute? Possibly. Did all the stress - I'm almost positive it did. Does being 70 matter? Could be. So many factors. I suppose I could stop the drug but I have no other SEs and I really want to stay on it. Another conundrum.
HUGS!
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Lago, my DIL had colon cancer and chemo. Obviously no need for an AI and she says she has chemo brain still after 2 years post chemo. I think we can't underestimate the toll all these wonderful and potent drugs can do on other parts of our body. We definitely want to kill the cancer but it would be nice to skip the lingering effects.
HUGS!
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My brain is still inserting wrong words. A friend of mine had me over to her house yesterday to see a Scarlet Tanager that had showed up at her heated bird bath (very unusual for this time of year, with our 4" of snow). When I went home to send the emails to the birding community, I told everyone the bird was coming to her heated bird feeder in the front yard. At least I caught this one and sent out a corrected email to everyone that it was a heated bird BATH, not a feeder. What makes me uneasy is wondering how many times throughout the day I'm saying stuff that doesn't make sense that I don't catch.
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Hi all...I just wanted to pop into the thread to say hello as I just got an Arimidex rx...will be starting in early January. It is comforting to see a few familiar avatars here...
Hugs,
Octogirl
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Question, not sure which discussion board but I see Claritin mentioned from time to time and wondered the benefits. Tried searching but couldn't find it. Thanks and Merry Christmas to all..
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About above Claritin post, I found some posts about using it for joint pain, I am taking Anastrozole and I also take an Allegra allergy tablet daily. I guess I wonder if changing to Claritin might be a good switch. I have occasional joint pain but have arthritis and also osteopenia.
Thanks
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TikkasMom, hello. When I lived in NJ I took Allegra probably 9 months out of the year but never gave a thought to whether it helped with joint pain or not. My previous joint pain was way before BC. I've not seen anywhere a mention about Allegra alleviating joint pain but you could give Claritin a try to see (can always switch back).
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re Claritin
I've posted about it on occasion as it's been an absolute god send for me. It's one of the essential pieces in the puzzle of keeping mobile while on Arimidex. For me, it relieves the bone pain rather than the joint pain. For the joint pain I find that acupuncture every 2 weeks keeps me going. Those two things are in addition to fish oil and a natural pain reliever that contains Boswellia. If I know I'll have a heavy day of walking I find it useful to apply topical Voltaren to my knees. It's OTC here in Canada but I think you may have to get a prescription for it in the US. I'm unable to take NSAiD's orally.
I've been taking daily Claritin for over 4 years now. My MO has no objections and my allergist has told me that it's the only antihistamine that is safe for long term use.
Why it works doesn't really have an explanation. But, it does work - at least for some of us.
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Thanks for the comments so far. Put Claritin on my shopping list. Thank you
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I had to discontinue the Claritin due to extreme dryness. My joints hurt but not so bad that I can't live with it at this
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Kmpod, thanks for the detail of what is working for you. It gives me some new things to try. I did claritan for several weeks and wrote it off for me as i still was in pain. I didn't differentiate the bone from the joint pain. I will try again paying attention to the difference. In spring i will be starting accupuncture as recommended by my mo. Til then I am committed to being part of a control group for a AI study on pain relief with accupuncture. I do find Gentle Yoga helpful in reducing effects.
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Dry mouth, dry eyes, dry skin, dry hair - actually dry, very dry, everything. I attribute that to the decreased estrogen in my system, which, I suppose means the AI is doing what it's supposed to do. The claritin doesn't affect the dryness one way or another for me.
One thing I forgot to mention - it has to be the Claritin without the added decongestant.
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kmpod, definitely the estrogen sucking pill drys everything out but for me the Claritin was the push over the cliff into intolerable dryness.
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Many years ago when I took Claritin for allergies it also dried me out tremendously, hence I stopped it (back then). I suppose if you are dried out from the ESD then Claritin won't make a difference in dryness.
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Merry Christmas and happy holidays to those who celebrate the season, I am so so tired every day, I am good for about 4 hours or so but by 2 pm , I am ready for the NAP, which sometimes last 2-3 hours. I do have issues falling asleep, but once I am out, it's for a solid 6-8 hours. Still having cold and hot issues, but weather is crazy also. I am hoping no more SE creep in, I am starving almost always, and try not to over eat, but this gut around the abdomin has to be a SE. And the clariton, I think is keeping the joint pains away. Have a good week all
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It was a chilly day for our Christmas Bird Count, around zero with a nippy wind. We were out from 7:45 until 4:15. Our team found 30 species for the day, a little above average. The shared total of all teams was 59 species, 1 which has never been seen on the count since it started in 1909, one which has only been seen one time since 1962 and 1 which has only been seen one time since 1969. Sadly, no sighting of the Scarlet Tanager. It wasn't looking very good the last time it was seen on Friday afternoon, and considering how cold it got Friday night we suspect he froze.
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Puffin, way back when I was in 5th grade (1955), we did a section on birds. At that time some brand of matches, had matchbook covers with birds on them. One was the scarlet tanager. I thought it was the prettiest bird I had ever seen. Alas, I have never seen one in real life. I *think* they are native to our area, but not positive. Do they migrate? I hope he managed to get to warmer climes and is alive and well. What a fascinating thing to do.
I am totally worn out fighting with setting up my new laptop. And I have to go to a cookie exchange which I'm not overly thrilled about. But it's possible I'll have a good time. Would just prefer to stay home and relax. Oh well. I'll live
Have a good week, Ladies!
HUGS!
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Cookies, that is something else I haven't done this year....used to be an annual event---I made the pressed cookies with the cookie dough press. Trees. poinsettias, candy canes, wreaths, little flat ones, where we colored the dough, then we dusted them in powdered sugar. My mom and Aunt started the tradition. My mom passed 2 years ago and I did make some last year, but I just don't have the motivation. Have to say my worse side effect with the drug is that and it took 1.5 years to show itself. Muscle aches too. Still waiting on outcome of the bone density test. Its my first one since going on the drug....
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Red, You do really fancy cookies. I'm impressed. I do rolled-out cookies with cookie cutters. I use a powdered sugar colored icing on them and put all sorts of sprinkles on. Absolutely not fancy but everyone seems to love them. Still getting used to not having DH help. He couldn't last year since he was in the nursing home and it was one of the things he loved to do. Now, he is gone
It could be that you are still depressed as well as SEs. Hope your bone density test was A-Okay!HUGS!
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I make pecan fingers-1 batch gluten free, 1 batch gluten and dairy free and 1 batch with BUTTER, and cut out cookies...
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I have a question, I got my results back from endometrial biopsy and it was simple hyperplasa. Doctor said she would do a partial or full hysterectomy. I said why mess with partial ,I don't need those anymore and why risk my health and or have to go thru another surgery. I have opted for full hysterectomy. I have already gone thru or mostly gone thru menopause. My mean stepdaughter says I will grow a beard and be hair like a man with no estrogen. What should I expect , mood swings, hot flashes etc? Need some help and info ladies.
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Tell your stepdaughter to kiss your grits. Yeah, probably hot flashes, your MO can help with that. Maybe joint pain, non drowsy Claratin helps. Anything else ask away, we'll try!!
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Shit-tell your step daughter if they can wax a hooha they can wax anything that pops up on your face.......I had a full hysterectomy and nothing like that happened---The hot flashes were horrible, but yu've just lost your ovaries---the biggest producer of estrogen. I'm glad mine are gone since they are starting to say breast and ovarian cancers are "sisters" I didn't have to worry about whether I was in menopause or not CAUSE I KNEW FOR A FACT I was..... My estrogen fed cancer would probably occurred a lot earlier with them still in me......(I don't know, just am glad they are gone) Best thing I ever did for me .
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Valentina-you didn't say if you had ER positive cancer, I had my hysteron when I was 46 and I am soon to be 59, so I hadn't started to lose any estrogen when they took them away from me......you might not even notice them gone if you are already tapering down into menopause anyway.
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I don't know what to say cause I had my hysterectomy at 45 left the ovaries for heart and bone reasons, and of course my high estrogen fed tumor (98) E. And (85)P fed my body at 64 was/ is a well fed hormone body. Well I had no major hot flashes prior to chemo, I did have chinny chin hairs cause my mom and grandmom had them, I am still growing them, but what's the big deal,so you shave or pluck, or wax; a big pain, but it all depends on genetic.....now my ovaries have/had supposedly dead ovarie with cysts on each, gyn was not concerned, MO is not concerned, only me? So I am having them ultra sounded tomorrow to see if they grew in a year or they shrunk and died after chemo. Gyn says they should have no impact but we will see. I am thinking I want them out too? Will keep you all posted.
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