arimidex side effects

Is there anything my oncologist can prescribe for me for the fatigue associated with Arimidex? I feel like I have absolutely no energy and every time I wake up I just want to turn around and go back to bed again. I'm not getting anything done and it's really frustrating.

Any suggestions would be most helpful.

Thanks :)

Anne wrote:

Stephanie, I stopped the Arimidex after two years
of what I thought was unbearable aches and pains and after a few months am now reconsidering this decision. I am now considering whether to try an alternative (Femara) or go back to the Arimidex. It comes down to the fact that I do want to live a long life. As long as I can anway. I hope you reconsider. We have better odds to go with the treatment.

Anne - thank you for sharing your experience. I'm not sure what I'll do, but the Arimidex has also caused osteopenia bordering on full fledged osteoporosis. I feel so much better off Arimidex and hope that by staying off of it, I can stop and maybe reverse the bone loss. I wish you the very best in your life's journey.

I am 64 and had a double mastectomy two years ago. 14 lymph nodes removed on right side. There was what the surgeon called a tiny bit of cancer in one node.
I started anastrozole in Oct. of 2010, but only took it for about two weeks because I developed a heart arrhythmia. I and the doctor thought it was best to postpone taking it until the arrhythmia was corrected. It took a while, but my heart is doing fine now and I have been taking Anastrozole for 5 months. I feel good...actually better than I have in years, but I'm losing a lot of hair. Does it lessen or will it continue as long as I take Anastrozole? Will the hair come back after I stop taking it?(I'm supposed to continue for 5 years.)

Frances wrote:

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PShaps your Doctor has a lot of samoles for you?

Sherri, I also lost my insurance just before my breast cancer diagnosis. AstraZeneca had a drug program which will provide people with Arimadex,if you qualify.I would not be able to buy it as it is quite expensive. 1-800-698-0085. Good luck!

i am taking myself off ariidex ..has anyone tried 1/2 dosage

hi guys i just thought i would give you some advise on aromatase inhibitors.ie Armidex ,letro and aromasin. the way the drug works is by disabling the conversion from other hormones into estrogen. when you take too much it wil lower your estrogen levels to low which is why you have joint pains. lower the dose of the drug so your estrogen can rise . this will prevent the joint pain and weight gain.
please do some more research on the drugs you put into your own body . you have a right to choose. and remember the doctors are there for the money more sick people equals more money. the less time they have to truly monitor you.

Stephanie wrote:

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Julia - I was so miserable on Arimidex that I stopped taking it after only 3 months. I did have chemotherapy in addition to lumpectomy and radiation. It's been just barely more than a year since I finished radiation so who knows whether I've made a good decision or not. Only time will tell. Maybe. If the cancer comes back, it might have anyway.

I have made the decision to stop taking Arimidex after much research and thoughtful consideration of my life and my future. I'm 55 and had invasive ductal carcinoma, with clean lymph nodes. I had a lumpectomy and radiation. After about 3 months I started gaining weight even though I workout and am careful with my diet. I would wake in the night to have my fingers drawn into a claw, hurting. The doc said these were normal side effects. The last 4 months have made the pain in my right thumb so unbearable i can't hold my toothbrush in the morning. I have depression, extreme fatigue and memory loss. I can't do this another 4 1/2 years! The doc said to stop the arimidex and then start an alternative Femara. Ive read up on it and the side effects are just as severe.

The information the doc gave me after my diagnosis said that after surgery the chance of cancer returning was 1:4, with the radiation (33 treatments) it was 1:10. I don't know what the risk was lowered to with the arimidex but I'm willing to live with the 1:10 in order to have my life back. This isn't living, its barely surviving. Its been 9 days since I quit - Ive had bad tooth pain and a sore throat and earache on one side. I went to my dentist who said my teeth were healthy but something has caused the nerves to be senstive. understatement! I'll probably seek a homeopathic doc to help guide me to a healthy life. I do take vitamins, especially D and calcium and glucosamine chondritan (ms?) fish oil and B complex. I think this is a right decision for me. The side effects are too risky too. They were worried about bone loss and raising my cholestral and thought I would have to go on more meds for that! No thanks. I just want to wish you the best of luck. Keep us posted.

Dr Wong it was like a miracle to hear from a doctor on this web site. I have read about Arimidex and what it does but I have not found any place that tells me about any long side effects after the five years. I can't find any where hat it will keep you from getting cancer. Someone told that it could cause cancer. I googled that question and it said yes it could. This is very scary and I don't think we have anyone to protect us. I have been on Arimidex for two years and all my problems from joint pain, feet pain,no balance, forgetting everything, my legs so sore I am in pain when I get a massage, my Dr. Says that none of these are from Arimidex . She says I can quit when ever I want. I am turning 60 this month. I just retired last April 2011. I can't even walk on the treadmill. I don't mean to go on and on but maybe with you being a doctor you my have more insight.

I have been off of Arimidex for 7 mo. None of the side effects have changed. I can barely walk.I am considering going back on it since the damage is apparently already done.

I have been on anastrozole for about 1 year. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in Feb 2011. I elected to have bilateral mastectomies with immediate reconstruction because I have been dealing with breast lumps...never cancer...since my early 30's. About 3 years ago I had a "scare". Still not cancer. I just didn't want to deal with it anymore!!! Well, as it turned out, it was the best decision I ever made. The cancer was on the right side too (in-situ). If I had not had the mastectomies I would be going through everything all over again, and this time I might not be so lucky. I had a clear border, I did not have to have chemo or radiation, and it was not in the lymph nodes. The reconstruction failed but I do not intend to have anything further done, even though my plastic surgeon assures me that he can still give me a "very good result"! I just don't care about it anymore. I've had enough surgery...3 procedures in 3 months. I agree with you, Exdancer, that the side effects from anastrozole get worse with time. Also, when I went in for my routine annual labwork, I found out that I am "mildly" anemic, and that my iron is LOW! So, now I'm on iron and am having a colonoscopy/endoscopy tomorrow to rule out a bleed. Needless to say, I'm an emotional wreck!! All I can think is COLON CANCER!!! STOMACH CANCER!!! CANCER OF THE ESOPHAGUS!!! I, too, had normal blood counts until now. Even though they say that anemia only shows up in a tiny percentage of women taking anastrozole, I have to wonder.

I have quite abit of knee pain (both knees) shoulder and foot pain. My hands hurt sometimes too. Of course, rheumatoid arthritis runs in the family big time, so I may be blaming it on the wrong thing. I will be mentioning all of this to my doctor on my next visit, but I can't see myself quitting the medication before 5 years unless things get really bad. I have a friend who was diagnosed with breast cancer about 3 years ago. She started out on anastrozole but had such bad hip pain that she was ready to quit. Her docor talked her into trying another drug and there was no improvement. With the third drug the hip pain went away but she then developed pain in her hand. At three years her doctor told her that if breast cancer reoccurs it usually happens in the first 3 years, and that she could quit if she wanted to. She DID quit but still has some residual hand problems after being off for several months. Cancer is a nightmare that I never thought I'd have! It doesn't seem to be something that "runs in the family".

Hello, I was lumpectomy Jan. 11, chemo and radiation, and my dr. told me with the type of cancer I had, it would be best to be on Arimidex. I have been on it for about months and am very seriously considering going off it. I am going to talk to my Oncologist, one on one hopefully very son, and just ask her straight up...if it was you, what would do? Do I really want to be a guinnea pig for this stuff?!?
I feel too like I am about 80 years old! I have always enjoyed working out, but my legs ache so bad, I can't hardly make it up the stairs! I am pretty sure I have ruled out all possible causes and I definately blame the Arimidex.
My question is:
is there anybody out there that has been on this medication LONG TERM? I would love to hear from you...I am very concerned about the bone loss as well, and don't want to be doing permanent damage. Can you tell me how you made out with bone scans etc.
I am wondering about being on Tamoxifen insead...since it has been around so much longer and researched more.
Thank you for any comments :)

Hi Betty

I know what you mean about the guinea pig thing. I read an article recently, that said we should all try to only take prescriptions that have been on the market for at least 5 (or was it 10) years. Of course, that is not always possible. I intend to talk to my oncologist too, but probably won't change unless I can't stand it anymore, or until something bad happens.

I too am on arimdex now two months my stomach started hurting me and now i have diarrhea can this be a side effect and does it take that long for side effects to happen. I also just started radiation dont think its from that.

Arimidex like fosamax have the same side effects.Its excruciating joint pains and many others.Fosamax can also cause fosamax and femur fracture that is why many people filed a fosamax lawsuit. http://www.rotlaw.com/fosamax/

Reading all of this makes me think more than ever I do not want to take this arimadex.had stage1 b.c.
had lumpectomy and radiation.Just got perscrip. today for this med.It is sitting here. May just skip this part already have joint problems.told me I will need to have infusion every 6 months because of bone lose with this,I already have osteopina and bone scans not great. I may just have to leave it in God's hands. I don't want to just hurt all the time and feel ickey!

I understand what you mean when you say you're going to leave it in God's hands. It's very tempting when you hear about all the nasty side effects that some folks experience with Arimadex. You may also be thinking..."Hey, it's stage 1, it probably won't come back"! And it probably won't! I was thinking that nothing would happen when I kept taking estrogen even though my doctor repeatedly warned me to get off or risk breast cancer. I cut way back, but I didn't get off. I just thought it wouldn't happen! Wrong, wrong, wrong! My advice is to ask God for his help, both with symptoms (hopefully NONE) and reoccurance (again, hopefully none), and try the Arimadex for 3 or 4 months. You can always quit if it doesn't work for you. Take Calcium and Vitamin D and see if you have a "Strong Bones" class in your vicinity. My friend has osteopenia, as do I. She took an estrogen inhibitor (not Arimidex) and attended Strong Bones classes. Her osteopenia actually improved significantly in her hips. They have now added exercises for the spine and she is hoping to see a similar improvement there. She has never taken any of the meds/or shots to improve her osteopenia. She attributes her improvement 100% to the classes. And she says they're fun! I'm thinking that I might have to try them.

I took arimidex for 7 months before I finally threw in the towel. The worst of the symptoms didn't show up until month 4. I wish I had never taken it!! It's been 6 weeks and my hands are still killing me. Some energy has come back but the bottoms of my feet hurt when I get out of bed in the morning. I'm hoping I don't have permanent nerve damage. I'm taking good care of myself and praying for no recurrence. I really question the level of added protection this med provides.

lori k wrote:

I took arimidex for 7 months before I finally threw in the towel. The worst of the symptoms didn't show up until month 4. I wish I had never taken it!! It's been 6 weeks and my hands are still killing me. Some energy has come back but the bottoms of my feet hurt when I get out of bed in the morning. I'm hoping I don't have permanent nerve damage. I'm taking good care of myself and praying for no recurrence. I really question the level of added protection this med provides.

I have been on Arimidex for two years now. My bottom of my feet are critical. I can't hardly walk and it happened over night. If I listed all the effects that I have I could write a book. The most debilitating is ny feet and my eyes. My eyes began being dry and now my left eye waters down my face and I have junk in my eye where I have to keep blinking to see. I have been to two doctors and I do not have an infection. My oncologist says all my problems do not come from Arimidex . I guess we are group of just special people.

Hi Edie

I know what you mean about the FOOT PAIN!!! I, too, have pain in my feet, especially when I get up after being off them for awhile. After reading many of the previous postings on this site, I believe that a majority of the symptoms people are experiencing ARE caused by the Arimidex...despite what the oncologists say. My foot pain is not "critical"...yet, but my right knee pain is pretty bad. It will have to get alot worse, though, before I throw in the towel! I'm way more afraid of the cancer coming back then I am of the the pain.

Anyway, here is a suggestion that may help your feet. Try buying a pair of Skeetcher "Rockers". They are not "cute", they cost alot, but for me they REALLY REALLY helped.

If you try them, let me know how it goes.

I made the decision not to take Tamoxifen or Arimidex. It's been five years since my cancer and I feel good. I feel I made the right decision. Some people worry themselves sick if they don't take it. I would have worried myself sick if I had taken it. Any drug that has this amount of side effects plus worse ones cannot be good. I worried because I read that if you took these medications and the cancer came back it would be a fast growing cancer the second time. I knew of someone that this happened to when I was making my decision whether to take it or not - that made my decision easy. My mother has been diagnosed with cancer today. She is weighing up her options with regards to Arimidex.