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I stopped anastrozole, it put me in a tale spin- mentally and headaches, joints aches + more. My doctor suggested a 2 week “vacation” from it. It took me almost a month to feel like me again. Had a brain MRI due to headaches( all clear), breast ultrasound which diagnosed with a cyst- had a breast MRI( all clear). And beginning case of lymphedema. . I was a mental mess- which is not me. I started duloxetine to help even me out prior to starting exemestane. I’ve finished my 4th month of exemestane and seems to be agreeing with me. I do have a few joint aches, some days fatigue and I had to take at a different time of day to help with sleep. I did see a PT and a Lymphedema massage specialist I now have a stretching routine, light strength training and walking. This REALLY has helped. I have heard acupuncture really helps too…which I may try for joint aches- but really don’t want to go to any more doctors for a time. The surgery was the easy part for me. FYI- I’m no young chicken. I’m 60( good shape)4-4-23 surgery, 3 lymph node removed ( clear), lumpectomy on left breast, double reconstruction on both.
I would get back to feeling like you for a baseline. Keep a journal- it worked for me
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Exemestane has worked for me HOWEVER, discuss with your doctor about its half life.
Ive posted this elsewhere on this site, but in case you havent read it, exemestane has a half life. It takes 50 hours for elimination.
That means when you take it on Monday you get the full dose, when you take it on Tuesday youll have half of Mondays and full dose of Tuesdays. This can be problematic after a few years use. Men are cautioned to take exemestane for only 3 months.
For a small percentage, it can act as a pro thrombotic. It was for me. I had either passed a blood clot or had an arterial spasm. I was in the ER.
Fortunately, a year out after being on chemo, i asked my onc to write an order to have my heart checked THOROUGHLY to see if the chemo had done any damage. When I had the heart episode in the hospital, the cardiologist looked at that film and overlayed it on my episode. He said my heart looked exactly alike, which surprised him because me enzymes were soooo elevated. He was glad I had my heart images to compare.
I strongly recommend people who've had chemo to get heart images about a year after treatment to 1) check for damages
2) have a prototype for drs to compare.