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Are you on Verzenio (abemaciclib)? How are you tolerating it?
Breast Cancer | Last Active: May 9 6:20am | Replies (20)Comment receiving replies
I'm on Anastrozole plus Verzenio as I could not tolerate Letrozole nor Exemestane.
I did get diarrhea for the first two weeks or so, on and off from Verzenio, as my onco told me to take Immodium. Then my body got used to Verzenio and the diarrhea subsided. I did add a probiotic in the morning which seems to have healed and stabilized my gut. So, I think the probiotic is supporting me because the diarrhea is gone and my acid reflux is gone (nice side benefit!). If the diarrhea is bad, take Immodium for awhile until it stabilizes. If it doesn't, add a probiotic. Here's the one I take.
https://ddprobiotics.com/
I've been on both since December 2025 and all is well. It's tough at first, but my attitude is that I'm doing all I can do to prevent a recurrence. My white and red blood counts come up low on my blood tests, but it hasn't been a problem at all. I'm very careful in washing my hands and keeping safe when out in the world.
Best wishes to you. We're all in this together!
Replies to "I'm on Anastrozole plus Verzenio as I could not tolerate Letrozole nor Exemestane. I did get..."
@brightlight66
Great to hear you got through those early difficult weeks with Verzenio.
I more than understand your attitude of doing all one can to prevent a recurrence.
That's where my onco is coming from in recommending it to me.
Thank you kindly for all your information. I will certainly take note of it.
Yes, we are all in this together...all the best to you!
@brightlight66 I take anastrozole for two years now, and am also on PARP-inhibitor Lynparza. THey started me on 150mg Verzenio twice per day on top of that, and I could not tolerate it with these other medications. I had diarrhea, but was actually getting confounding constipation, that was even worse. We tried 150 once per day and it made it worse. because it is an instant release, you actually need to take it twice per day for your gut to adjust to it.
So we scaled back to 50mg twice per day and I am tolerating that okay with my other meds.
I do still get diarrhea spells, but they're not very frequent, maybe once or twice er week. But again, I am taking other medications that cause this too, and I have no gallbladder, lol there's a lot wrong with me, haha. I've been taking this regimen for 9 months now, and am only now starting to see a dip in my RBC, but that is likely being caused by the lynparza.
The genetics counselor described it like this, this can* give you an added 10-15% chance less of reoccurrence. So for me, it's damn worth it. I plan to scale the dose back up once i stop lynparza.
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What about the joint & muscle pain??@brightlight66