Switching from anastrozole to exemestane: Anyone made this switch?
My oncologist switched me from Anastrozole to Exemestane.. anybody familiar with this medicine? Side effects? I’m always scared to switch meds.
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On Anastrozole since June 2025. First several weeks felt completely fine. Now after almost 4 months, my blood pressure is not dangerously high but consistently running higher than my normal. My blood pressure medications doses increased x3. Still not back to my normal range. And the headaches! I have migraines from a concussion in 2019 and still paying the price over the TBI. But the AI headaches are different from the migraines. It is beyond annoying. Ice caps and Tylenol are almost daily. Which, in someone like me with migraines, is a big no-no due to "rebound" headaches b/c I suffer with migraines. Again, between a rock and a hard place,
Changing breast oncologist also, seeing my new one end of October. Thinking of Exemestane. But wonder how THAT medication will affect me. And ironically the worse pain is around 5 PM every evening. Don't understand that. Does anyone have any thoughts about this? Thank you support group, everything is deeply appreciated, always!
@srussell
I had a lumpectomy last October followed by chemo and radiation. I was told to take anastrozole which I did for 5 months. Then the side effects became unbearable, my fingers hurt so badly and shoulders as well. I took myself off of it and will be seeing my DR this Monday. I'm scared what he'll put me on next and am not sure I'll take anything else. I was lucky my breast cancer was stage 1, all margins clean and negative on all lymph nodes. I was told the chemo and radiation was preventive only and had a 10 to 15 % chance of getting cancer again. I'm 71 and want to enjoy everyday without pain.
@lynnpete That's interesting. My palpable lump was not detected via mammogram either. Ultrasound was able to image it and then the MRI confirmed the size.
@biddle1267 I was on it for 8-9 months. Did have problems starting about 4 months in, but I declined to change because it wasn’t “unbearable”. Then at about the 9 month mark, his comment was that I “shouldn’t have to live in pain” and took me off Anastrazole. We waited about 6 weeks - took about 3 to get rid of side effects - and then started exemestane. While there are side effects, for me at least, it’s not the pain I had with Anastrazole. So I’ll keep trucking with this one for a while. Not comfortable coming off because Oncotype + with erratic tumor markers. I’m currently 73.
@biddle1267 Pre-cancer I would've struggled to understand why women choose against an oncology recommended medication that reduces recurrence. LOL Truly it makes me laugh out loud. The narrative of Standard of Care is grossly lopsided. It all seems SO primitive on this side... I pray that we'll both have peace no matter we decide.
@mistymar
Thank you for sharing your experience. I meet with my Dr Monday to discuss my side effects and what options I have. This will be my first visit with him. My previous Dr left the practice to take care of her elderly father.
Hi. I am 58 right now, but was diagnosed at age 57. I have tried anastrozole, letrozole, and finally tamoxifen and none of them were tolerable for me. I forgot about DIM so I’ll start taking that. I’m doing intermittent fasting and occasionally prolonged fasting. I watch someone on YouTube. I think her name is Sarah, but her channel is called Cancer Remission and she’s a radiation oncologist therapist. I don’t think she’s a doctor but I’ve been reading a lot about fasting and the benefits. I had gained 25 pounds in one year after being diagnosed with breast cancer and in the past three months I have lost those 25 pounds. I probably have 70 more to go because I’ve been struggling with my weight for some time, which of course puts me at a higher risk for breast cancer. I had no idea that fat cells create estrogen and that obese people have a much higher chance to get hormone positive breast cancer. I don’t think it would have made a difference if I had known because I am constantly working hard to lose the extra weight. Anyway, good luck to everyone making the very difficult decision about whether to continue to take drugs that make you feel terrible but reduce the risk of recurrence versus living life without pain for the next 5-10 years. It’s not an easy decision.
@srussell I took Anastrozole for 3 mths and stopped because of so much joint pain : knees, wrists , ankles and fingers. I decided quality of life was more important and that I went the extra mile with chemo and radiation after lumpectomy in 2022 for Stage 1/grade 2 BC. My oncologist highly recommended chemo because of an Oncotype score of 43.