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Anastrozole and vestibular disease
Breast Cancer | Last Active: 3 days ago | Replies (22)Comment receiving replies
The best person to answer your question is the oncologist. I have not heard this as a side effect nor do I know any breast cancer patients who have this. But anything is possible. I do have a number of friends that have the same thing you have and it is usually crystals in the ear drum that cause the dizziness and subsequent vomiting. There are exercises to do to reposition the head and neck and it does go away but it is unnerving when it happens.
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@megunique Unfortunately, it’s not. My oncologist told me “anastrozole doesn’t cause dizziness”, and I replied, “It’s written as a warning on the container”. She then had to back track. Oncologists, understandably, focus on treatment protocol and not on side effects. In the world of breast cancer, while devastating to me, my cancer was not catastrophic, I didn’t require chemo or even radiation. My oncologist has many patients whose treatment is much more complex and with a worse prognosis. One hopes that oncologists stay on top of all of the side effects of treatment, but they are usually overworked and stressed, so they focus on treatment which is quite a lot by itself. The aromatase inhibitors probably don’t cause BPPV without the patient having underlying factors that predispose them to it. Age (over 65) sex (F) and osteopenia/osteoporosis are known risk factors for it. Women who take HRT have much lower rates of BPPV, there is definitely a link. If I were younger, had a different diagnosis, etc, I would certainly carry on with the anastrozole. Even though the Epley maneuver ended my attack, my equilibrium was awful for a couple of weeks and is still not back entirely. I am 71 and very active. I walk every day, do Body Pump 4 times a week and still work part time as a microbiologist at a large, teaching hospital. Not being able to live my life really depressed me and the thought of another attack terrifies me, particularly when I discovered that most victims have at least one more.
There is a shortage of physicians today, quite evident throughout my diagnosis and treatment for both breast cancer and BPPV. Since I work for a large hospital, the employees are given some preference for scheduling appointments, etc. Even with that benefit, I had my BPPV attack on Feb 20 and am finally seeing an ENT doctor on April 10! I couldn’t get PT until almost a month after my attack, when I scarcely needed it anymore. I do feel for the medical staff, they are gong as fast as they can. I plan to see what the ENT doctor can tell me before making a final decision.
Thank you for your comments and best wishes.