For Arimidex (Anastrozole) users, new, past, and ongoing
Comments
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Molly,
Manufacturer is Accord....I see my MO next Wed and anxious to hear what his thoughts are! Will keep you posted:)
Take care,
Kathy
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Just wondering if this has happened to anyone else. Just heard from my Dr to tell me my cholesterol is up to 8.5, at its worst it hads been at least 2 points lower than this. It has give me a bit of a fright and now on a cholesterol lowering drug. Just another pill to add to what I am taking now.
Karen
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I started Arimidex a week ago and so far so good, only mild bone pain and a bit of tiredness.
Today i had Zometa adminstered to protect my bone density, which i'll have every 6 months, curious to know if anyone has had this before? Apparently it also reduces recurrence.
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Lottemarine, I take Fosamax for my bones and to prevent recurrence. Not everyone can tolerate it but I've had no problems with it.
HUGS!
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I wonder if age is a factor in whether you get tested for estrogen levels/menopause before starting AIs? Like Peggy, I didn't get tested. But I have a feeling that Peggy and I are older than some of you...(well, ok, Peggy is older than I am, but I am 62...) I did get the dexascan for my bones.
As I have mentioned, I am on a break from Arimidex to see how my knees reacted and I've decided I do want another AI. The knees are definitely better even though they are not ideal. I sit a lot of the day (desk job) and when I was on Arimidex when I stood up after even an hour of sitting it was so hard to walk that co-workers would rush over to offer help. Even worse at night or when waking up in the am. It is better now, post break, though I still have pain, at least I don't feel like I am going to fall over.
So, I see MO tomorrow. Mollie, I will report back as we are in a similar boat. However, I do know that if the choice is Tamoxifen or Arimidex I will go back on Arimidex. Tamoxifen is known to cause eye problems including cataracts. That is a particular problem for me: I am mostly blind in one eye due to a retinal injury, and I have a small cataract in the good eye (I have one in the bad eye too, but it really doesn't matter much given that the retina doesn't work right on that side). My ophthalmologist has told me that they'd like to avoid cataract surgery as long as possible on the good eye (because there is a small but real risk of damage from cataract surgery, and if the surgery screws up the good eye...well...). MO knows about the vision issues, and had told me Arimidex wouldn't be an issue vision wise when I expressed concern (and ophthalmologist checked me out after a month on Arimidex and agreed) so, I have the feeling Tamoxifen is not even on the table for me, but I won't take it.
By the way, my sister who had bc was on Tamoxifen for several years and ended up having cataract surgery. I should say that having cataracts is not normally the worst problem to have, they are easily treated through surgery and the vast majority (95% or more) of people do just fine with cataract surgery. I just happen to be 'special' in that regard, I guess. :-(
Getting anxious about the MO visit and what he will recommend. Not long to wait now, though.
Hugs to all;
Octogirl
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Octogirl, Yes, I am older than you at 70 (Yikes!). So there really wasn't much need to test estrogen levels as far as I can tell.
Don't forget there are other AIs you might want to consider: Femara and Aromasin. Sometimes one of them will work for you without SEs when Arimidex is a problem. So don't think that your only other choice is Tamoxifen. I can see why you would not want to do that one. I am glad that your knees are improving. Does Claritin help? Does anything?
Do take care!
HUGS!
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Thanks Peggy...I knew your age, but was being polite :-) Can't wait till we meet in person to confirm my suspicion that you are a VERY young 70 year old...
Yes, I am hoping that MO recommends one of the other AIs you mention and I will try either of those, though I want to hear his thoughts on SEs also. I will confess that I didn't take Claritin as regularly as I might have (I took it during chemo for neuprogen pain, and it worked great for that...) so I will give it more of a chance if I go back on Arimidex. But nothing I tried really seemed to help except walking. A LOT. That is often the case with osteoarthritis (which I have, the Arimidex is increasing issues I had before bc), but of course, one of the paradoxes of knee pain is that it keeps you from doing that you should do more of, and that makes it worse. In fact, if I walked as much as I needed to get rid of that 'I am going to fall' feeling upon standing, my knee swelled up and I couldn't walk at all. A vicious circle. Have the bad feeling there may also be a referral to an orthopedic surgeon in my future. but it was so bad I was keeping a cane or walking stick by the bed so that I could walk to the bathroom without keeling over....
Hugs back at you;
Octogirl
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Octogirl, I also can't wait to meet in person! No need to be shy about age. And here especially, I think it is important because treatments can be influenced by age. I do feel "young"
What a vicious circle you have. I hope that another AI works well for you and causes no problems. Keep us abreast of what you decide to do. Good luck with all your decisions!
HUGS!
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octogirl, I am 55 but had a bso in 2011 with my hysterectomy. My surgeon recommended it due to family history. I have the same experience of hobbling when I first move after sitting. The dizziness is already better but after 6 days vacation I still feel pretty lousy. I've had a cough for nearly 6 weeks. It wears me out.
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Molly, do you have a bug or do you think your cough is from the Arimidex? I know the bugs going around this year love to hang on FOREVER!
Now this may not work for you, but I also have morning creakiness. If I do a couple of really big stretches in bed before I get up, I have virtually no problems. Otherwise I hobble around for a few steps before the body agrees to work. This was the case prior to Arimidex and is no worse on it.
HUGS!
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Peggy, I had a cold a few weeks ago. This cough just hangs on. I did see that cough is a possible SE of anastrozole. Not sure if this one is but who knows. I don't seem to like this drug very much. I am a bit worried about Tamoxifen being as effective as AI's.
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Molly, Don't forget there is Femara and Aromasin that are options. Sometimes they will be well tolerated even when Arimidex isn't.
HUGS!
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Molly, Have you had a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia?
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Hi Brutersmom, no I haven't. I should probably try to see my new PCP. I don't really have a relationship with a doctor outside of my onc team and my gyn.
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Hi Octogirl. We were both in the September chemo thread:)
My estrogen levels are being checked because I have been in chemo pause since September. I am 46 and may well be in menopause...
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octogirl...IMO age should not be an issue concerning testing estrogen levels. Yes they test levels to see if a women is menopausal or not but....shouldnt we all be tested to see if the anti hormones are working? I have an issue with a doc prescribing a med that directly affects our hormones but then does not test them.....
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Dtad, my MO said there is no way to tell if your AI is working except you don't have a recurrence.
HUGS!
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dtad: I was referringto testing BEFORE starting the drugs to determine which drug to start someone on.
Octogirl
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I think if you are not far removed from what appears to have been menopause, testing is critical. At start of AIs, I was 8 years out from menopause with no hint of a period, and did chemo on top of this. No reason to test. A few years latter my MO went a bit nuts and ordered tests when I had some cramping and bleeding - I have a polyp. If I'd had to pay out of pocket, I would have refused. I needed a trip to my GYN and a pap, instead. Of course, I was solidly post-meno, and the pap was clear.
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I had the test to see if I was in menopause. I was perimeno before chemo with regular cycles. Last period was 2 weeks before chemo. Both my MO and I felt my cycles would not come back due to my family history (mom & older sister). I had just turned 50 two weeks before chemo ended.
She tested me for 5 months before she was convinced I was staying in chemopause. And I did.
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MO apt. was today, and after a discussion of the SEs I've had with Arimidex and the results of taking a break, MO is switching me to Femara. Hence my signature. Will be interesting to see if it works better for me...
Octogirl
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I'm coming up to nearly 2 weeks on arimidex now, bone pain subsided, vaginal atrophy present and noticed slight increase of facial fuzz, anyone else noticed this? Not fun for a 35 year old.
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Molly A cough can be pneumonia or a complication of Radiation Therapy. As soon as I told my MO that I had been coughing for 6 weeks and it was getting worse he sent me for my chest x-ray.
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Brutersmom, if I am not better by next week I will call MO for a chest x-ray. I did consider it could be rads. I don't believe that I have pneumonia. Well after a week off anastrozole the vertigo resolved itself. Headaches are better too. I also feel a bit more sharp. I felt like I was constantly in a fog. I still don't feel well most of the time, tired and my joints hurt so bad. I will see how I feel next week.
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Molly - I have had a cough and a sore throat for 10 days, and it's finally starting to resolve itself. I had to take Motrin with Sudafed for 3 days to stop my throat from catching fire from the post nasal drip. Could it be this mega cough that's hanging around? And remember, I got dizzy on the Accord brand, but I'm fine on the Teva!
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Sloan, it's been about 6 weeks with this cough. I keep waiting for it to go away. I may ask MO for a rx for the name brand before switching me to something else. I feel like if it resolves that quickly it may be a filler not agreeing with me.
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Oh Lottemarine I started Anastrozole in January and have noticed the "peach fuzz" but I didn't connect the two.
My joint and muscle pain is getting worse. Now in my arms and hands as well as my legs and feet. Feel like I'm 90. I'm starting a new brand next week. Hoping that might help.
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Lottemarine I have had peach fuzz all over my body but I swear it's from chemo. I have noticed a lot of us gals that have been through chemo have it. A fried of mine had it and she was 39 and hormone negative.
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Molly that is what I thought. What I had was a hacky cough not a productive cough like pneumonia. I thought my Asthma had started to flare from all the stress. What I had was a more chronic type of pneumonia. My Dr told me was more difficult to get rid of is often seen in people who have been run down for various reasons over a long period of time. My husband had acute pneumonia that had the productive cough. Glad you will be getting is check.
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I have been on Anastrozole for just over 3 months as part of neoadjuvant therapy and fortunately have had very minimal side effects so far. I have noticed that my skin is considerably drier. I had a few issues with nausea at the start but believe that was a result of taking calicium/vitamin D on an empty stomach. Thankfully no joint or bone pain. I am a runner so this would be devastating for me. It might have been helpful that I have been post menopausal for several years so I would suspect my estrogen levels are already fairly low. I have some concerns about continuing to take hormone suppressing meds for 5 more years but so far it seems worth the risk to have a lesser chance of reoccurrence. I feel badly for those who are having to work through multi issues due to the HT.
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