What happens when you stop taking anastrozole?

What is DIM ?

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/dim-supplement

I have had 3 oncologists, to date: one in Illinois (bad); one in Iowa City (vote is out) and one in Texas (good). I quit going to the Illinois one after his complete indifference to my condition became clearer and clearer. The "minions" also made it clear that their only concern was keeping you coming back for that scheduled visit.

When I had my Oct. 3, 2022, first post-operative mammogram I was in a wheelchair, thanks to the side effects of Anastrozole, coupled with my fragile left knee and old age, The symptoms were consistent with a meniscus tear, and I gambled that it would get better if I stayed off it for a period of months (it did). However, I anticipated a bit of "owning up" to the fact that drugs like Anastrozole (any of the A.I. drugs) will inflame arthritic joints and damaged joints. No such luck. The Illinois oncologist simply chalked it up to old age (77 at the time) and left the room with no discussion at all of alternatives to taking a pill or pills (A.I.) that were guaranteed to give me excruciating joint pain. He acted like he could have cared less and didn't want to be bothered.
As I left the last appointment with "the minions" they talked about my fast-declining bone density, as measured on a recent test, and urged me to "make an appointment on your way out." I explained---for the umpteenth time---that I could not make an appointment until I knew when we would be back in town. I told them I would call when we returned to the Illinois Quad Cities. That was in October of 2022.
Imagine my surprise to be sitting on my couch in Austin, Texas in April of 2023 and to receive a phone call telling me that I had an appointment on April 19th. My response was, "No, I don't." It seems that the minions had simply made an appointment for me without any input or "okay" from me. This seriously rankled me, and I quit going to the bad Illinois oncologist from that point on. I had had a second opinion from an oncologist in Iowa City at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, and I now drive an hour and a half to doctor there, if I need to doctor at all. I prefer to be supervised by my Texas oncologist, who seems on top of things and listens to what I tell him. He recently sent me for a CT scan with contrast when my LFT (liver function test) scores spiked. I now have a Texas driver's license and will vote in Texas in November. I do not ever want to have to have anything to do with the Illinois oncologist whose attitude is seriously narcissistic and godlike. Getting up and walking out while proclaiming, "I won't order that for you. You'll have to get someone else" is pretty bad when the "something" was a test suggested by the attending surgeon, primarily because the oncologist hadn't ordered the oncotype he should have ordered at the beginning of the entire saga. (With the oncotype, I would not have needed the ki67, which also gauges the aggressiveness of the tumor.) I am still in search of tests that will help a breast cancer survivor to know if her disease has recurred. I haven't had much luck having any of these physicians order up MRIs for me, and yet the mammograms are said to miss many instances of cancer if the patient (i.e., me) has a history of dense breast tissue.

I had to stop take ng Anastrazole as I had another surgery scheduled. Had the surgery an eventually resumed takin Anastrazole. Don’t recall any reactions to stopping for the short term. In the long term the risk of NOT taking Anastrazole would be increased of metastasis if breast cancer.

I saw this was a couple of years ago but I really appreciated what you said about side effects. I'm 8 years in remission with recurrent metastatic endometrial cancer and on letrozole for two more years. I just finished 5 years of fosomax. My hip is-2.6 my dr wants me to start prolia I have been totally stressing about side effects. I go tomorrow for first shot. I really liked what you said about reevaluating things and not feel pressured. Make the best not perfect decision for the time. Thanks again

Wishing you all the best tomorrow. Eight years of remission is so terrific! I'm glad this was useful. I'm still on letrozole and recently had a bone density test, which was normal. I have no side effects so far, after two and a half years.

Thanks glad you are still doing well on letrozole

I’m a 7 year survivor this month. I started all the meds in line. 1st tamoxifen. That lasted a few months. Then rotated all the AI’s. None were tolerable to the point I didn’t want to live. I had a complete hysterectomy and mastectomy at the time of diagnosis at 52 yrs old when I was in perimenopause. Breast cancer was 3 with estrogen and progesterone positive , Her2 negative. I did chemotherapy but no radiation.
I have been taking daily , 300mg of Diindolylmethane (DIM) with piperine (black pepper) for all these years and I feel for me it works. My Oncologist is aware and supported my better something than nothing attitude.

Which Diindolylmethane (DIM) with piperine do you take? I want to ask my oncologist about this. Thanks!

I asked the pharmacist last week what I should expect if I do decide to quit. What he described was that I would feel "weird" for a couple of days, be tired and maybe have some brain fog. I haven't made the decision yet, but my husband and I are reading all the blogs. I have been taking it anastrozole for 20 months and am just now feeling the joint pain, developed a trigger finger, and I'm wondering what is next.