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Completed 5 years of anastrozole. Withdrawal symptoms? Side effects?

Posted by christinej @christinej, Jul 24, 2018

Monday, July 23rd, after consulting with Dr. Loprinzi, we decided to have me stop taking anastrozole. (Arimidex). It has been 5 years since I started the drug after breast cancer surgery and radiation. Has anyone stopped this drug and had any withdrawal symptoms? The nurse from Blue Group sent me an email today saying that there are no withdrawal symptoms after stopping this drug. Soooooooooooooo, is this all in my head? Definitely having some type of withdrawal.

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javajude | @javajude | Feb 24, 2019

My symptoms seem to have gone away as time has gone on. I've been on them going on 4 years. Glad I've stuck with them . You can do this!

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Kanaaz Pereira, Connect Moderator | @kanaazpereira | Feb 24, 2019
In reply to @smspaz59 "I have been on Anastrozole for almost 2 months, take it at night. I am just..." + (show)
@smspaz59

I have been on Anastrozole for almost 2 months, take it at night. I am just now experiencing some dizziness, nausea, loss of appetite. Has anyone experienced any of these symptoms after 2 months of taking?

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Welcome to Connect, @ycnan and @smspaz59. I thought this discussion about anastrozole might interest you as well: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/arimidex/

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buckimom | @buckimom | Feb 24, 2019

@javajude Thanks for the encouraging words 🙂 Good to know there’s a light at the end. I will get to the finish line hoping effects will lessen over time. Thanks again.

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islandelder | @islandelder | Feb 25, 2019
In reply to @smspaz59 "I have been on Anastrozole for almost 2 months, take it at night. I am just..." + (show)
@smspaz59

I have been on Anastrozole for almost 2 months, take it at night. I am just now experiencing some dizziness, nausea, loss of appetite. Has anyone experienced any of these symptoms after 2 months of taking?

Jump to this post

I've been on it for about 5 months now. I had a little dizziness when I first started--and crying jags! But it seems to have settled down now and if there are any side effects they're minimal enough to be confused with something else. Hang in there!

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1 reply
farmgirl1556 | @farmgirl1556 | Mar 20, 2019

I have had the Breast index done and it appears anastrozole will be very beneficial for me since I have a high risk of recurrence 😌 Do y’all think I should take it in the mornings or at night? Am kind of nervous about starting thus😝

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6 replies
trixie1313 | @trixie1313 | Mar 20, 2019
In reply to @farmgirl1556 "I have had the Breast index done and it appears anastrozole will be very beneficial for..." + (show)
@farmgirl1556

I have had the Breast index done and it appears anastrozole will be very beneficial for me since I have a high risk of recurrence 😌 Do y’all think I should take it in the mornings or at night? Am kind of nervous about starting thus😝

Jump to this post

I started taking it at night a few weeks ago after reading many of the comments. I first had a horrific headache and have had one about once a week but not so bad as well as fatigue toward the early afternoon which I am not fighting but taking a nap (first time in my life for naps!). A cousin in the family said she has headaches about once a week but that things settle down. Shall keep on keeping on and see how it goes.

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1 reply
100154 | @100154 | Mar 20, 2019
In reply to @farmgirl1556 "I have had the Breast index done and it appears anastrozole will be very beneficial for..." + (show)
@farmgirl1556

I have had the Breast index done and it appears anastrozole will be very beneficial for me since I have a high risk of recurrence 😌 Do y’all think I should take it in the mornings or at night? Am kind of nervous about starting thus😝

Jump to this post

I have been taking Anastrozole for @ 1 year. I take it at lunch time - very little side effects. A little fatigue at times and a tiny bit of joint pain at times. Good luck

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karendb | @karendb | Mar 20, 2019

Hi. I started anastrozole about 18 days ago. I too have few side effects, a bit of bone pain, sometimes trouble getting to sleep. My problem is it's been almost 3 months since completing chemo and I'm still getting neausea especially in the morning. I never was a breakfast eater so it's hard to even eat a soda cracker. Has or is anyone else suffering from neausea? Could it be from the anastrozole?

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3 replies
100154 | @100154 | Mar 20, 2019
In reply to @karendb "Hi. I started anastrozole about 18 days ago. I too have few side effects, a bit..." + (show)
@karendb

Hi. I started anastrozole about 18 days ago. I too have few side effects, a bit of bone pain, sometimes trouble getting to sleep. My problem is it's been almost 3 months since completing chemo and I'm still getting neausea especially in the morning. I never was a breakfast eater so it's hard to even eat a soda cracker. Has or is anyone else suffering from neausea? Could it be from the anastrozole?

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I did not have chemo - I do take Anastrozole and I haven't experienced nausea.

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buckimom | @buckimom | Mar 20, 2019
In reply to @trixie1313 "I started taking it at night a few weeks ago after reading many of the comments...." + (show)
@trixie1313

I started taking it at night a few weeks ago after reading many of the comments. I first had a horrific headache and have had one about once a week but not so bad as well as fatigue toward the early afternoon which I am not fighting but taking a nap (first time in my life for naps!). A cousin in the family said she has headaches about once a week but that things settle down. Shall keep on keeping on and see how it goes.

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@trixie1313 - Atta girl, Trixie. Keep On Keepin’ On is a good thing ❤️

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