Anastrozole...has anyone had an increase in glucose or cholesterol

@rococo325
Thank you so much for responding! I think I'll cut the pill in half as well and simply take half at night to see how I do with side effects. I even think a whole pill every other day is stronger than half per day, so I hope it works for me.
Thanks again and hugs to you,
Brightlight66

Hi everyone,
I had a lumpectomy in March of 2025 and radiation following. It was Sage1. I took anastrozole for about 8 months. The side effects were awful. I felt like I was ninety. I'm only 66. I was off of it for 2 months and felt like my old self. My oncologist reccommended exemestane I took that and the side effects were almost as bad. Stopped it 3 weeks ago. I had blood work and my A1C was 8.1. I've never had high sugar before. My primary doctor wants me to take Metformin. Has anyone experienced this?
Thanks!

Also ‘feel like 90!! Raised lipids disrupted emotionally - I’m just waiting for some piece of research to pop up that tells all of us this is the ‘nocebo’ effect and not real!!

@reflector75
Yep. Doctors always say no one could possibly have any side effects listed for any drug. Their false assumptions harm so many patients.

@dmr4ever soooo with you on that one!

Sorry to hear this. I’m going to have to make this decision soon and scared to death. When a “cure” causes you to be this unwell and on five other medications, something is horribly wrong.

@netty214 Sorry to hear this. I’m going to have to make this decision soon and scared to death. When a “cure” causes you to be this unwell and on five other medications, something is horribly wrong.

@sdbonniea123
You may just do fine. My sister in law takes anastrozole and has no side effects. I will keep you in my thoughts.

I also feel 90, been feeling this way since diagnoses as age 38. It's not really a way to "live" in my opinion, I just don't feel like it's worth it anymore. I have been telling my doctor how bad the side effects are and he just ignores it. I have been skipping doses so much because of how badly it makes me feel. When I realize how much better I feel skipping doses, it makes it even harder to ever want to take another dose again.

I am due to see my PCP in a week and he will likely be trying to get me to take meds for my ever increasing cholesterol from this exemestane. I refuse to take another med for a problem that is caused by something that makes me feel this sick. I would rather just stop the drug that's causing the issue in the first place.

@netty214
My glucose has gone up continually since I started taking anestrozole 22 months ago. It is very frustrating. I also have osteoporosis from the anastrozole and have to go for infusions of zolendronic acid (zometa) every 6 months for the osteoporosis. My oncologist says that you can live fine with osteoporosis and there are remedies for that and for the high glucose. She said the anastrozole is the heavy hitter in the breast cancer fight, even more so than the chemo or radiation was. Without it, the cancer could return and I might not be so lucky the next time. I will stick with it, but I am not happy about it.