Recovery time after Anastrozole/aromatase inhibitors

@dmr4ever sadly I agree with you - seeing as these drugs are so widely prescribed the knowledge base of some practitioners , who should be ‘ in the know’ is at times quite inadequate!
More professional training / updating is required.

This is my one big worry that after five years of considerable pain the symptoms may not go away. Some aspects of the literature suggest this may be the case. I was given no information about this when I commenced treatment and really feel I was not put in the picture enough to give informed consent.

I am on an Anastrozole now and really wonder if it’s worth it. Oncologist also has me on herceptin infusions. Seems a lot since I have completed both radiation & chemo. Would appreciate anyone’s thoughts on this!

@reflector75 I feel the same way about upfront information. Cancer is a nasty disease & oncologists who are not upfront with patients should go back and read the oath they took when they started work with patients.

@triciaot
Yes. With a very large sample size/population a small percentage can be referred to as statistically significant. A statistical significance confirms that a result is not random. Which from a practitioner’s perspective is more meaningful than no treatment at all. On an individual level the small statistical probability is not necessarily practical. Researchers perceive patients as a group of thousands. What matters to me is my individual experience with quality of life. For me it is an issue of extending suffering vs actual living. I am so nauseous and fatigued every day that I miss out on my granddaughters’ events, can’t travel. have difficulty with activities of daily living. I am also 68, feel 80 and am not sure dying is the worst thing that can happen to me. I worked for Elsevier, Inc. (the largest medical publisher in the world) and edited drug studies for their MD Consult product. I have read all the studies and am aware of how statistically groundbreaking the results are for the world population. ScienceDirect.com, NIH and similar legitimate sources are my go-to for information. So I am making a well informed decision if I decide to stop the AI.

@karlsjenine. Karla, I too had insomnia, sometimes pacing the floor for 3 hours every night. The only thing that helped me was a moderate nightly dose of Gabapentin, 300 MG. I was able to wean myself down to 100 MG for most nights. I just stopped Anastrazole, having stayed on it for 5 yrs, with a few short breaks due to severe joint and tendon pain. But some of that pain may be due to the prolia injections. Good luck everybody.

@lindatoth I have a degree of insomnia too but ever since beginning Anastrozole I have had very vivid and at time sinister dreams, the kind that don’t leave you the next morning!
I actually look forward to dreamless sleep! but seldom achieve it. I’m interested as to how often you felt the need to have treatment pauses for pain etc? I had to take an eight week break about five months into treatment as I had so much back and leg pain it was suggestive of spinal cord compression. Now two years in am hoping the next three go quickly - how awful to be ‘wishing your life away ‘ like that! I cannot wait to be rid of this drug.

I finished 5 years of anastrazole on September 1, 2025. I was diagnosed with Stage 1A invasive ductal carcinoma. It was very small and no node involvement. I think it is important to share your diagnosis since it can impact your decisions about hormone blockers. I had lumpectomy (and a great surgical oncologist), radiation and "normal". Now you have to wait while your body learns to turn on again and produce estrogen (from fat cells at my age, not ovaries) and start to regulate hormones. I have a great medical oncologist but even she would minimize this process after you stop taking the medication. I am now at 8 months off the hormone blocker and I am just in the past month starting to sleep again. When I pressed my oncologist she did say it can take 9-12 months before you feel more like you were before the hormone blocker. I think they don't always tell you everything because they want you to take the medication. And to be honest not everyone has a hard time; you read about it on this site because you are hearing some of the worst stories. I would still decide to take the hormone blockers because it was important for long-term recovery. I just wanted something more realistic in terms of how your body bounces back so I did not think I was terribly abnormal. Regarding sleep, I actively pursued a cognitive behavioral plan and it takes commitment to change habitats but it does work. My sleep is between 6-7 hours now with 30-48 % deep sleep. It is possible but you have to believe it is possible and get a plan if the insomnia persists. I don't know if this plan would have worked while I was on Anastrazole. As another positive mention, I have a friend who had Stage 3B IDC at 50 years old and she had a double mastectomy, chemo, radiation and hormone blockers. She is 28 years post diagnosis (knock wood); went through hell but would still follow the same plan since she has enjoyed 28 more years and counting. She has seen both her children grow up, marry, have children and she feels everything was worth that. Best of luck to you. Remember your story will be different than mine or others who respond. Wishing you the best of health.

At age 80 .,. I begin to wonder the value of all these treatments!

@megunique Thank you for your post. It’s heartening to hear that there is hope for improvement in symptoms after the end of therapy. Some of the things I have read seem to imply that changes are permanent, but if I think there is the possibility of improvement I will hang on in there even though I’m currently really struggling. My diagnosis and treatment plan almost identical to your own so it was very interesting and supportive to know of your experience.