Anastrozole and vestibular disease
I have been on anastrozole for 3 months with minimal side effects,
Last Friday, as I was finishing up and preparing to leave work, I got a severe case of vertigo, and unrelenting vomiting. I ended up in the ER and spent the weekend in the hospital. I was diagnosed with probable BPPV (Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo) and am slowly getting better. I am 70 and already had hearing loss and tinnitus, so this is not an out of the ordinary diagnosis, but I wanted to make sure that it was not related to the anastrozole. Has any one else experienced anything similar? I had no dizziness until this incident. Thank you for your help!
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@megunique I am so glad that you were able to complete your treatment. I had some difficulty sleeping, too, and my oncologist said “That’s not a side effect”, of course it is! Fortunately, it didn’t last, but maybe would have come back if I’d continued the drug. I so wish that the damn BPPV never happened, I wanted to take the anastrozole and thought that I could. I didn’t get an oncotype score, but the Ki-67 was 2. I take it that you didn’t have any problem with the anastrozole causing osteopenia or osteoporosis?
I hope that you can long continue your exercise routine and stay healthy! Thanks for your input!
@megunique hello, I am interested in your observations. I am struggling on Anastrozole but trying to persevere ( my diagnosis very similar to your own) . One of my main concerns is that some of the side effects may not go away when I eventually complete treatment, as this is sometimes referenced in the literature. Your post has been helpful to me in that it has made me feel there may be ‘ light at the end of the tunnel’. Best wished to you.
I have an update, when I finally got to see the ENT doctor, the first thing that he told me was “You did not have BPPV, you had vestibular neuritis”. Vestibular neuritis is thought to be caused by a virus, though 50% of victims don’t remember being sick. It comes on abruptly and severely, and takes weeks to months to resolve. Whether the anastrozole had anything to do with it is unknown, but estrogen definitely affects the vestibular system. I see my oncologist today, I haven’t taken the anastrozole since February and I feel so much better. Still on the fence on whether to resume it or not. Obviously, most folks don’t have vestibular issues when they take an aromatase inhibitor, but if you’re older and have underlying issues, I’m worried that it may cause a problem. I feel like I’m stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place, Unlike some of us, I have a hard time making a decision and being comfortable with it, I’m a big worrier!
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