Timing of HRT, anastrozole - taking day or night?

@trixie1313
I have tried all four of the different estrogen blockers Al-Let-Exe and just tried Tamoxifen and I had the worst bone/joint/muscle pain ever, I have had hair loss, headache, severe fatigue, and hot flashes, bone density extremely low, not sleeping at night!
Sunday I was at church and I was soaking wet when church was over (my hair & clothes). I wouldn’t take a family photo because my makeup and hair looked horrible.
I stopped taking the Tamoxifen Tuesday when I got home and called oncologist, the nurse called back and told me to give it a few days break and try the Anastrozole again! My body has been through so much and I was ready to stop! I crushed my ankle and broke tibia and crushed tibia on the right side of left leg into the bone and broke my big toe on left side and also broke a bone on the right side of my right foot the year after double mastectomy and chemo, I had 2 surgeries and stayed in rehab for 7 months! The nurse said I need to try and tolerate one of those four pills to keep my cancer from coming back!!!
I had stage 3 HER+ breast cancer in 2023.
I pray we all can make it through the 5 years. Praying for all my pink sisters ♥️

@farmgirl1556
Yes my weight gain in bad too!

@cancersucks
Unfortunately, it has been for me!

@pktaylor59 Extreme bone/joint pain.

I have been on anastrozole for a little over 3 years now. Fortunately I have had minimal side effects. I do take it in the evening, usually around 7 pm. It seemed to make me tired so my doctor recommended taking it at that time. Weight can be managed by eating a healthy diet and working out regularly. Good luck…it’s better than the cancer returning. I knew someone who refused to take it and her cancer came back. Good luck with your journey and remember there are a lot of us out there.

@pktaylor59
Find another oncologist.
It’s absolutely inappropriate for the nurse to tell you that your cancer will come back if you don’t take one of the meds. It’s like asking a magic eight ball. The studies have shown that the 10 year survival rate is about 30% higher. That number is misleading. It’s based on the cohort of the total study population. It’s more complicated than the pharmaceutical industry makes it appear.
For example, if you have a personal overall 10% risk of dying from your breast cancer without taking any medications your overall risk with AIs is 7%. It’s a percentage of a percentage. I recommend Googling what the percentage rate truly means. True survival rates are so individual and personal (based on your stage, success of chemo, surgery, radiation etc.) that no one should believe that death or survival is inevitable with or without the meds.
My oncologist pushed Verzenio on me. The toxicity was life threatening. I stopped taking it after 10 days. I changed oncologists. My new oncologist was capable of comprehending the statistics. There was a 2% overall survival rate with the drug. But that number is based on only those patients who were not forced to stop the medication due to toxicity. So it makes the actual study statistics nearly invalid.
The quality of life issue is also very personal. Medical professionals often lean towards treatment regardless of toxicity. And we patients have every right to choose whether we are willing to allow a doctor to make that choice for us. I personally prefer to refuse to allow medical practitioners to choose how I live and die. I have been taking Anastrozole for 2.5 years. I’ve tried Exemestane — no difference.
I have taken four breaks of up to a month to manage my side effects. I feel terrible all the time and don’t get out or exercise enough. I now have osteoporosis (of course). I haven’t yet decided to stop the medication. But I am leaning towards stopping. The most ridiculous part of dealing with the side effects is all the specialists I see who tell me that AIs, chemo and radiation have no impact on my worsening health. They don’t know. And that makes everything the say quite literally useless to me.

@pktaylor59
I had to take Anastrozole in the morning as I had insomnia when I took it at night.

I first took Tamoxifen for a couple of years until my dr. switched me to Anastrozole. I got another breast cancer (in the other breast) anyway 4 years after the first. Now I don’t feel confident about the outcome while on this drug.

@beyourownadvocate
Thank you so much! I will try morning then! I had insomnia bad when I took it last time. Maybe that was my problem?