Best time to take Arimidex--morning or evening??

I take mine in the morning and have been since I started 18 months ago. I take it along with my bood pressure pill. So far, so good.

I wish you the best,also,

Candie

tym, I don't think it matters what time of day you take your Arimidex pill.

According to the package insert, you can take it with or without food; and there is nothing I saw to indicate that it should be taken in the morning vs. evening.  I have been on Arimidex for about 2-1/2 weeks, and I take mine at lunch plus or minus an hour or so.  It's just easier for me that way, because I have another unrelated med I need to take first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, and some others I take in the evening right before bedtime.

Arimidex has been on the market, or at least in testing, for quite a few years now, so there actually is a lot of information available about it.  For example, according to the clinical pharmacology info on www.rxlist.com, once you start taking Arimidex on a daily basis (1 mg per day), it takes about 6 days for the concentration of the drug in your blood to level off.  If you continue to take it daily after that, the concentration of the drug in your blood doesn't fluctuate very much during the day or from day-to-day. 

Arimidex stays in your body for quite awhile after you take the pill--the half-life of the drug is 50 hours.  That means once you take the pill and the drug enters your bloodstream, it takes more than 2 days for the concentration of drug in your blood to go down by 50%.  At that rate, it would take 5 half-lives, or 10 days, for most of the drug (97%) to be excreted from the body.  When the half-life of a drug is that long, changing the time you take the drug by a few hours would have very little effect on the blood levels once the steady-state is reached.

What's really important is what Arimidex is doing to our estrogen (estradiol) levels.  The amount of estradiol in post-menopausal women is low anyway, and Arimidex will cause it to drop to an almost undetectable level.  Arimidex affects estrogen synthesis pretty quickly.  Just 24 hours after taking your Arimidex pill, the amount of estrogen (estradiol) being synthesized by your body will have decreased by 70%.  However, once you've been taking Arimidex for more than a few days and its concentration has stabilized, if you stop taking it suddenly, your body won't begin making estrogen again for about a week.

I have heard women on these boards say Arimidex interferes with their sleep or upsets their stomach.  I'm glad to say I haven't had any problems from it, so far.  I realize it is still early, and some of the more serious SE's like joint pain and certainly the bone thinning, take awhile to develop.

otter

HI,  I have been taking Arimidex for about 5 months.  I am also very sensitive to drugs. It's a curse, really.  I had a difficult time in the beginning.  I didn't feel well, I was very tired, I wasn't sleeping well and I had didn't have a good attitude about taking it.  I went to see my doctor and told him I just couldn't hack it.  He told me to give it awhile longer and then go off if I needed to.  Low and behold during the 3rd month I started to feel much better.  I was also very resistant to taking the drug.  I really didn't commit to it in my mind and kept thinking I was going off.  I didn't like the idea of every bit of estorgen in my body being supressed.  I think it was really difficult for me to adjust physically and mentally to Arimidex but I have adjusted and feel fine.  Give it a go...and think of me if you have trouble and how I told myself everyday I was going to go off.  

I do also think I read too much in the discussions from women who had a terrible time with Arimidex for a variety of reasons.  I finally realized the women on the discussion were, of course, the ones having the most trouble. Many, many women take this drug very sucessfully and they are not on the discussion boards. I feel very sympathetic to all those struggling with aromatase inhibitors.  Some have really significant joint pain etc . I was able to overcome my fear and the intial side effects.  Good Luck! Hang in there.

Dear skjs 19

******Your doctor's advice is of goodwill

 If you Google "the optimistic traveller", you will learn that this 65  yrs old lady is taking Arimidex for 10 years with no side effects

 She is stage 3, grade 3, about 18 lymph nodes infected but she is happily travelling on holidays

 I felt tired and suffering from fatigue every now and then

Depression follows behind fatigue as they are twins

It is not just due to Arimidex but due to the invasive chemotherapy and radiotherapy

I stopped taking lexapro after 3 months, as I do not want to be addicted

 I consulted traditional Chinese medical oncologist, and takes the herbal tea daily to calm my nerves and to helps blood circulation as my 18 lymph nodes has been removed

 Over - suppression of estrogen can cause nervousness, fatigue, joint pains, etc

 Never give up, I learn from this forum, then I requested my oncologist to prescribe 1000 mg of vitamin D3 and 600 mg calcium caltrate plus glucosamine

 The bone pain and triggered fingers disappears after I take glucosamine, vitamin D3 with calcium caltrate

 Arimidex cause loss of appetite and weight loss as I am 5 kg below BMI 

 This September 19, is my two years on Arimidex, I just learn to take vitamin B complex after breakfast with Ester-C

 Upon waking up, I will take one tablespoon of barley green with 1 dessert spoon of black strap molasses and 1 lemon juice, then add filtered boiled water to 500 ml, then drink slowly with a straw

Will go for power walk or an hour of "Praise and Joy Dance" in the park about 3 times a week

At times, I forget to take Arimidex but I knew that this drug remains in our bloodstream for 2 days therefore when I feel depressed then will stop the medicine temporary and go to wellness centre for 5 days 

My blood works at the wellness centre show that I am well except that my blood cells need vitamin B complex

Anybody worries about side effects should start to exercise and take health supplements

 I take 2 capsules of cracked spores lingzhi half an hour to an hour before dinner

If you feel depressed and loss of motivation, quickly take vitamin B complex with Ester-C or go to wellness centre for 10 days

Do not give up as Arimidex gives HOPE

Last year, 26 October, I lost my aunt (Lung cancer)

This year, 20 January, I lost my youngest brother (Lung cancer)

Any medicine with side effects is always better than no medicine as side effects can be overcome by herbs and health supplements

 Read Jeremiah 33:6

John 7:37-38

Always be JOYFUL BUTTERFLIES

 Listen to your body, when tired, rest and sleep 

 Life after such invasive barbaric medical treatments, makes a difference like a caterpillar be transformed into a butterfly

 Do learn to enjoy and exercise when your energy level is high and quickly rush to bed when you feel tired, just lie on bed and closed your eyes to talk to God even if you could not sleep

It is time for me to go for power walk, then cook dinner 

Every meal must have carbohydrates, protein and vegetables

 Will take Omega 3 after dinner and 20 types of brewed herbal medicine

 I take Arimidex during bedtime as our estradiol is high while we sleep

Take care of yourself and pray for God's love and wisdom

Thank you for all the information. I start Arimidex this week and have been a little nervous due to all the side effects i keep hearing about.

I don't think timing of arimidex matters. I would just pick a time of day that fits your routine so that you don't forget taking it. If you take other meds in the morning I would take it in the morning. If you take your meds at night and nothing in the morning I would do it at night.

Since I only take arimidex and vit D3 it is much easier for me to swallow it in the morning and be done with it.

I switched to nighttime because of dizziness with Arimidex. It helped. If I don't drink enough water, I feel it.

Thanks for your post!

I started off taking it in the morning. Then he joint pain started, and the swelling and pain seemed worst around 6 hours after I took the med. So, I started taking it at night so I would be off my feet for the first 7 hours of it. It made night sweats worse when I took it at night, so I would also take an ibuprofen to counteract the swelling and keep me asleep through the night sweats. You'll just have to experiment and see which time of day is the most comfortable for you depending on if you have SEs and which ones you have.