For Arimidex (Anastrozole) users, new, past, and ongoing
Comments
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hi everyone, just popping in. I've been on arimidex 7 months. Bone pain in the evenings started at the 5 month mark. Up till then I was totally fine. I have been taking the claritin since chemo. I never take motrin but probably need to try that. May throw in the glucosamine. Activity not an issue. I was taking the accord brand but tracked down TEVA at walgreens a week ago and will give it a full month before I pass judgement either way. Someone else mentioned thumb pain. I have that too in the evenings. Side effects are like clockwork for me. Funny how we all are different. I feel great waking up and ALL day till about 7pm. I go to bed early anyway so 2-3 rough hours is about it. Best of luck to everyone trying to figure out what works best!
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Oy Deb--I am not happy to hear about new SEs after five months!! Mine have been really tolerable so far, but I know I've read about women who develop them on down the line. Did anything change in that time? Anything you could attribute the new SEs to?
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I've been on Anastrozole for two months. Stiff when I get up after sitting for a long time, but it goes away once I'm moving. Very occasional pain. Stiffness and the occasional joint pain are everywhere in my body, every joint, not just thumbs and not just hands. But I would call this a mild, small discomfort. NSAIDS work great, and I don't need them all the time. Sometimes I take (Rx, long-acting) Meloxicam, but usually I take Ibuprofen if the stiffness is bad. When I exercise enough, my muscles support my joints better and I am more comfortable. Nothing terrible at all. Everyone seems to be so different on how we react to AI's.
Of course, it's either the reduction of estrogen causing our discomforts, or an adverse reaction to the fillers in the medications. So far, I would say I'm doing fine on AI's---my slight discomforts are not a big deal.
Don't forget to check out this link, where people share that they're doing okay.
https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/78/topics...
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Cali58...not sure if I already posted on this thread but docs denying side effects from anti hormones is my pet peeve. I think it's unethical. Also if they would acknowledged them, maybe an open discussion might help to deal with the side effects and maybe the compliance rate would be higher too! We need better treatment options. Good luck to all navigating this complicated disease.
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CBK- sad to report, the way it sounded, I got the last bottle of TEVA at a local CVS. I search monthly, and move around CVS stores. Now in FL, I called about 8 CVS and none had it. I've got 30 days left and suppose I will start searching again.
Britspeech/Sharon- hello to you! We're snowbirds now, the Albany cold just gets in my bones, especially Jan/Feb/March. We're in SWFL until early May.
Hikinglady- I think all things considered, I am doing "ok" on Anestrozole. I post on that forum as well. When I get new SEs I post on both, with the hope someone else has the issue I do - not really hoping someone else's is in pain- but maybe has a solution.
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hey ingerp! Fancy meeting you here lol. No, nothing changed. I will tweak things and see what happens. I'll give it a month on the TEVA brand and see if there is a difference. Taking motrin here and there may help. I haven't tried that yet. I'm at a minimum of 7 miles a day between working out and my job. It's like a light switch. 7pm-10pm. The oddest thing is I dont even take arimidex till 8pm. I should be thankful the other 21 hours out of the day are good! Glad you are doing well!!
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my mom has been on armidex for about 7 years now. She recently has been experiencing lower back pain and is scheduled for a PET scan next week. I was doing some research and saw that low back pain is sometimes a Symptom of Armidex....has anyone ever developed a new symptom years into taking it?? She has always had a TON of awful joint pain but this back pain is new. Praying it all nothing serious and just looking for some Insight.
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hi mexico
I noticed we had similar diagnosis
I also take my arimidex every other day Im on the real deal. But cannot tolerate every day. I am very close to osteoporosis and should be taking a med for it but Im afraid..
Im 65 not sure if switching to tamoxifen. Although the arimidex is better but..the tamoxifen is better for my bone health
Any advice out there
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After 4+ years I got severe bone pain in my foot switched to tamoxifen. Same thing. Refused the bone meds. Arimadex put me into full blown osteoporosis. Been off all over a year, going for dexa today. Will be interesting.
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oh spookie
Please let me know how your scan went!
Are you still on tamoxifen
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Hi all, new to posting on this site but have been reading posts for some time. My OC indicated he would prescribe AI, or some medication, for treatment since I was hormone positive. I had two tumors but I don’t think my % positive were all that high - ER 39% and 10% respectively and both tumors only 1% PR.
My concern with AI is I have osteoporosis and osteoarthritis. I am currently taking fosomax for osteoporosis and have daily pain already in knees and back due to arthritis. I know many of you have been dealing with these drugs for some time and was hoping for some thoughts on which drug I should discuss with my OC. I have read the some switched to tomoxifen but just didn’t know if there are any other choices.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
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I hope that you can arm yourself with questions for a good discussion with your MO about all these issues: bone health, tolerating side-effects, which medication to take, etc.
My oncologist guides all of these issues really thoughtfully. He's based my bone-health medication decisions on many factors, and it's part of my treatment plan, and monitored by regular DEXA Scans. He's also willing to switch medication treatments (change to a different AI, or to another bone medication, etc.) if I can't tolerate whatever I'm on at the time. This has been a really huge, long, ongoing, and deep discussion, also with the PA at his office who specializes in training patients about long-term medications. In fact, I was given a 1-hour counseling session by that PA after chemo was finished, to discuss all risks of recurrence, all research that's credible, and all health choices and medications which will lower my recurrence risk.
AI's affect us because they reduce estrogen (direct effect) or because we don't react well with the other substances and fillers in the pills (indirect: side effects to the "fillers" that are in different AI's, compounded by different manufacturers). Sorting all that out, deciding what you can live with, seems to be an ongoing issue for us, when we're advised to be on AI's for 5-10 years.
My MO said that ANY ER+% expression means that AI's are a weapon we can use against recurrence. My ER+% is something like 14%. Even though that's a low number, being on an AI lowers my future bc recurrence/metastasis risk by something close to 50% over NOT taking it.
My MO explained that we're putting me on an AI (I'm 61) because of that 50% lowering of risk; it's the most effective tool. Tamoxifen is still an option if I can't tolerate any of the AI's, and Tamoxifen will lower my recurrence risk by 40%, so that's still a pretty darn good weapon if AI's can't be tolerated.
I'm on Anastrozole (daily), which certainly adds to my joint stiffness, but I can tolerate it so far. No huge pain at all, for me, knock on wood. The stiffness and mild pain are not a ton worse than I already had, with some arthritis before all this started. Taking an NSAID occasionally helps a lot. Meloxicam (Rx, long-acting) or Ibuprofen or Naproxen (OTC).
The stiffness/mild aching is much less after I'm moving, and my joints are better when I'm getting daily exercise and have good muscle tone to support them. Alas, that's not the case at the moment---I'm recovering from my implant exchange surgery AND from a foot surgery three weeks before that, but in a few weeks, I'll get back to daily exercise.
I do have osteopenia, seen on a DEXA scan before starting the AI. For bone health, I will have Zometa infusions every 6 months. My first Zometa infusion caused one day of flu-like aches and sleepiness the next day, but for only that one day. I've heard that subsequent infusions have less of that; we'll see!
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Mama, I’m off everything. I still have my port, see MO every 6 months. I’m not willing to restart Arimidex or tamoxifen. Won’t do the bone builders either. They do build bone, but it’s not as good as natural bone. So no.
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Hiking Lady, my protocol is just about the same as yours (though I have switched from anastrazole to letrozole). It's great that you have an MO and a PA who take the time to explain everything to you in such deep detail. That kind of thing is extremely important to me. I am very mindful of side effects and very often am tempted to stop taking my AI, but I know I need to do it.
I am due for my second Zometa infusion next month, good news if the flu-like symptoms are less than the first time (which wasn't all that bad -- certainly better than having the actual flu).
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Thanks hiking lady, that’s helpful. My OC did say he will work with me to find the best medication to help me through this. It did seem like AI’s were better than tomoxifen so sounds like I should be open to them but monitor bone health carefully. I have a lot of issues with my neck, back, hips and knees so I do understand the importance of exercise and try to walk 4 miles a day and also do some stretch and strength exercises. But, similar to you, I haven’t been able to do as much lately, just finished chemo, and suspect I will have some down time again as on Jan 28th I go in for UMX and TE then implants a couple of months later. It does seem to be difficult at times to get in the exercise you want.
Truly appreciate your thoughts.
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thanks hiking lady and spookiesmom
My mo wantd me on boniva which I have thus far refused however my last dexa has me at 2.4 which is not good
I can tolerate the achy joints but the weakened bones. Not so much..
anyone getting prolia shots
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FYI ladies. Medicare won’t cover the DEXA unless it’s 2 years since last. I was 2 DAYS early, no go. So I’m going back Tuesday. 😡😡
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That crap pisses me off, Spookie. I ran into it with mammograms. 1 day or 1 week early and you shell out. It's not just Medicare - I think it is most insurance. You'd think someone would use common sense. 1 week, 2 days early is NOT major. ARGH!
HUGS!
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Well, I don’t have anything to mammogram so that’s one less aggravation 😂😂. But yeah. 2 lousy days??They should make it the MONTH due.
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Damn right. But nothing about health care and insurance is logical - why should these be?
HUGS!
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thanks for the heads up spookiesmom I just started medicare.
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Please forgive me if this question has already been answered but sometimes it's difficult to wade through the many responses on this forum.
I completed 13 rounds of radiation on Oct 5th. Was very fatigued after each session but then felt back to normal. I Started Anastrozole Oct 12 and was surprised I had no side effects to speak of. However, the last week or so, I'm very tired and feel some soreness in my bones. I know one of the side effects is unusual tiredness or weakness but my question is:
Can these side effect start three months after taking the medicine when I had no side effects during the first three months?
Thanks for any insights you can provide.
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For me, the bone pain started 4 Years after starting. I guess anything is possible.
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I was on Anastrozole for 5 months before side effects started, bone pain, joint pain
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Viewfinder, I have been on Anastrazole since July 11th. There are times that I have bone pain and times when I feel so fatigued I don’t want to leave the house.
I have found that when I take my vitamin supplements everyday it makes a big difference in how my day is going to go. I take Vitamin D3, Calcium, Magnesium, B12, Tri-Omega’s, Vitamin C, Glucosomine, plus I take Preservision Allreds2 for my eyes. Drink a lot of water. Make sure you are sleeping well at night. If you are not then take some Melatonin or talk to your doctor about a sleep sedative. I find all of these things orchestrated together keep me functioning.
I do have days of fatigue with no real known origin. I just have to listen to my body and rest. It’s frustrating to have to be so intentional about every little detail of caring for myself.
Also, remember to give yourself a break. You have been through a lot in the last 10 months. Recovery is sometimes three steps forward and two steps back.
If you can’t resolve the fatigue issue, be sure to talk to your MO about it.
Sending ((hugs))...
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viewfinder...yes side effects can happen anytime during treatment. Hopefully you can work with your doctor to reduce side effects or possibly change medication. Good luck and keep us posted.
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My MO explained this exact thing to me--side effects can emerge any time. Remember, too, side effects can also recede and lessen over time. This happened for me with fatigue, for instance.
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Thank you everyone for your reply and helpful information. I will call my oncologist this week.
Has anyone tried changing the time of day that they take Anastrozol? I take mine in the evening and the side effects hit me about 3 or 4 the next day. I'm wondering if taking it in the morning would help then I'd sleep (hopefully) during the side effects.
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i take mine in morning. I really feel the stiffness and aches when I first get up but once moving about Im fine
I take the real armidex by astra zeneka
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I also take mine in the morning. I've been stiff, creaky, in the morning for quite a number of years. I added REGULAR Claritin (which I take at dinner) to my mix and that does help the stiffness. It doesn't help my allergies so I continue to take Benadryl.
HUGS!
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