For Arimidex (Anastrozole) users, new, past, and ongoing
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I have been taking Arimidex for one month. I take it at nite before bed, as of now no Side effects that warrant saying anything. Last week my right breast (had LMX) felt tender and sore, like PMS pain. No hot flashes, but then when I went thru Menopause, had hardly then. So for me so far I have no complaints.
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Will also be following since I too have just received the prescription and will be starting as soon as I recover more from my recent oophorectomy.
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Seq, I've been on it for 2-1/2 years with no side effects. So there's hope! I will mention that many people who post here are the ones who suffer rotten SEs from anastrozole and are looking for answers. Most who do not have SEs don't come here since they aren't looking for help and don't need it.
HUGS!
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So here is my first question. Are there less side effects of Arimidex if someone has been in menopause for a few months vs. someone who is newly in menopause? I didn't even know I was in menopause (thanks to 20 weeks of chemo) until I had the Estradoil test a couple weeks ago. Apparently menopause happened as soon as I started chemo in Sept. I have had no hot flashes or anything else that is a symptom of menopause so I'm wondering if the Arimidex will have many side effects since the hormones they are blocking are decreased already.
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Thanks Peggy! I hope I am one of the lucky ones who do not have side effects. I had no terrible side effects from chemo and after 4 weeks of radiation so far (9 treatments to go) I have had absolutely no effect from that either. No burning, redness or fatigue at all. Someone once told me that if you get through chemo and radiation easily, the hormone blockers are sure to cause problems. I hope that's not true.
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Nayda, I hear you about the unknowns! FYI..sometimes SE's develop over time, which is why I suggest recording any changes you experience. Best wishes!
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seq24....Hi there. I'm very happy for anyone that does well on anti hormone therapy and respect the decision to take it. However, IMO its irresponsible for docs to deny there are any SEs. Its just not true for many of us. We can't make an informed decision without knowing all the facts. I hope you are one of the lucky ones and do well on it!
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Hey Seq!...we have been through a lot lady...now we going through new phase on this cancer train.
I hoping I am one of the lucky ones to have no s/e's b/c I had s/e's with chemo..I am in early menopause now b/c of chemo with real bad hot flashes I am just miserable...lol..I use to laugh at my co worker when she had hot flashes at work before I was diagnosed with cancer and she said "you gonna have hot flashes when you get older and you gonna see what I am going thru"...I just didn't know it would be this soon..lol.
Thanks Wildtulip! That is a great idea...*fingers crossed I have no s/e's to notate*:)
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dtad, I agree with you. MO deniers are doing a huge disservice to their patients. We all know there can be awful SEs with AIs and they should not be pooh-poohed. Patients who are aware of the possibilities can be alert for them and perhaps keep them from getting worse, changing AIs or other options. My original MO did not deny the chance of SEs but said don't expect them but if they happen we'll deal with them. Which, for me, was good.
HUGS!
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I don't have side affects that I attribute to this drug. I've been in menopause for 8 years and take name brand. Maybe the two together helped me. Oh... I think my hair is a little thinner but no bald spots and my skin is drier - so I guess I have some. I've been on this medication for 11 months.
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I shot through menopause and never knew when, years before bc. Started the pill, had some hot flashes. Not really awful. Witchy the first few months, trigger thumb.
Now it's warm flashes.
We are all so different, give it a try! If you do have bad se, there are other meds to try.
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JoniB, I have thinning hair - partially stress at the time it began and partially genetics (my grandmother had a receding hairline). So can't blame it on the pill. I was creaky before the pill and still am.
Spookie, Like you I sailed through menopause. (Nice wasn't it?).
HUGS!
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I had already spoken with my gynecologist about a hysterectomy before I was diagnosed with breast cancer. When my oncologist said I might have periods again because of the Arimidex I said no way. I am too old to be buying tampons! So I had the hysterectomy 22 February. It was robotic, took 32 minutes, and I loss less than 20 cc's blood. Best results is that growths on both my tubes and uterus were all cancer free!.
Coach Vicky
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Peg, well, yes and no. I was driving an UNair conditioned school bus in our Fl heat and humidity. I asked the doc about meno, blood test confirmed I was through. So what I blamed on work could have been hormones making things worse, LO
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Spookie, an un-air conditioned bus in Florida? Even *I* would be sweating up a storm and I like it hot (even humid). Geez. I can see why it would be hard to separate what was causing you to be warm
HUGS!
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I told my oncologist today I actually felt better on generic arimidex then the generic aromasin. I no longer had the Achilles tendinitis and the bursitis in my hip was much less. Other then the hot flushes it is very tolerable. I just carry a pop up fan in my purse.
He told me today still NED and got my Prolia shot today. Repeat DEXA in 5 months, a2 year follow up one.
To those women just starting,many tolerate the AIs well
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I found this on line. It plugs into my iPhone. Easy to carry
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Hi ladies. I'm new to this topic. Nayda, I've been on both since Sept. because I had a terrible time on Tamoxifen. Things have been going great, I feel sooooooo much better. Just one thing, I have a cataract in my right eye now. I'm 54-too young for cataracts.. My optometrist said it's from radiation treatment. My Onc, who I saw today says it could be from anti-estrogen meds. Well, now what? Do I have my ovaries removed? Will that make a difference? I'm so confused. After all of the BS I went through on Tamoxifen I can't believe I have to worry about my eyesight. If anyone else has heard of cataracts as a side effect please let me know. Until this point things were super on Zoladex and anastrzole!!!
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SwgeeWi....so sorry you are going through this. Cataracts can definitely be caused by anti hormone treatment. Unfortunately we need estrogen for most organs in our bodies. Just not hormone receptive BC! Good luck to all navigating this disease.
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trigger thumb has returned...my right thumb became a trigger last summer, had a cortisone shot and enjoyed 7 months of normal...past couple of weeks a stiffness was settling in and when I got up today, pop goes the thumb. Would like to avoid another shot (or as the Ortho said... surgery), and I'm not ready yet for an exclusion diet regime (sorry, but true)...has anyone had success with the occasional advil/aleve, I have never used these kinds of anti-inflammatories before.
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Aleve helped a little with my AI aches, but in the end I had the surgery after the cortisone shot wore off after 10 months. For some women, the triggering just goes away. If it hadn't been in my dominant hand, I might have waited it out.
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It is my dominant hand...that IS the bigger problem...
How bad was the surgery? How long a recovery?
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I had trigger finger surgery before my cancer diagnosis. The surgery was quick and worked. The worse part of the surgery was trying to understand whole took off my hospital underwear and why!
I have 2 fingers now that are triggered. I will have surgery again once I finish chemo in August.
I take the shots now and bring some relief
Coach Vicky
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I had very few SE's on Arimidex, but I did have an estrogen test and it was not lowering my estrogen very well. I was still at the high end of menopausal status for estrogen. So my MO switched me to letrozole. After 2 months another estrogen test showed it was doing a much better job at lowering the estrogen, but it has given me several new SE's including much stiffness in my hands. Two weeks ago, my neck started acting up and I could not sleep well due to neck pain when I lay down. I have had an arthritic neck (according to xrays) since I was in my 30's but I never had much of a problem with it. The MO put me on a pill break to see if symptoms went away. That was 1.5 weeks ago. My neck is almost back to normal, the pain has gone away 95% of the time, and my hands are not as stiff although still not normal. I'm also not sweating at night so much. The MO said it could take up to a month for pill-related symptoms to go away. In another 2.5 weeks we will make a decision about what to try next. I think I want to go on Tamoxifen for 5 years, then switch back to letrozole after that. My estrogen should have naturally declined by the time I'm 67, surely.
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Wow, Alice. I find it amazing that your estrogen levels are so high. Don't you wonder why that is so? Oh well. Good luck with whatever you decide. Still shaking my head
HUGS!
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I had the hand surgery under anesthesia, but it didn't take that long. It did take a good month to recover and I was surprised how painful it was for a while. I skipped the narcotics the hand surgeon prescribed, but I understand why he did so. I also reacted to the stitches and had a localized infection. Might just be me because the same happened with breast reconstruction.
Because I lived alone and my daughter was out of the country and no family close by, I did a lot of prep so I'd manage the first week without help. But I had to run around my building finding people to open jars for a while.
I also have mild LE, mostly breast and upper arm, so it was risky on that level. Thankfully I had no problems with that.
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Nayda985 I had cataract surgery in my early 50's. Mine started many years ago as snowflake cataracts. The surgery was easy. I missed a total of three days of work for two surgeries. I had no restrictions or limitations after the surgeries. It was a minor inconvenience. My recommendation is find an good eye surgeon and have the surgery when it is recommended. No regrets here.
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Moondust...Thanks for the information but....did anyone notice that she had her estrogen levels checked? They showed her levels were too high and was switched to another one that worked better? What?! Why do so few docs check our levels? Why do most say the only way to know if the medication is working is to wait to see if you have a recurrence! I just don't get it. Ive said it many times on these boards, not testing our hormone levels while on anti hormone therapy is a huge gap in our care!
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dtad I agree with the outrage about why our hormones aren't testing when we are taking a very strong (toxic) hormone therapy...what is crazy is that I've asked to test from all my doctors and they say that the don't normally do that and it's not 'standard of care' to do so. No one asks them to do so either. Why not??
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