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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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trixie1313 | @trixie1313 | Oct 27, 2019
In reply to @auntieoakley "Just completed 10 years, and quit 12 days ago, a little fatigue but my doc said..." + (show)
@auntieoakley

Just completed 10 years, and quit 12 days ago, a little fatigue but my doc said to please call him in one month and report as long as there is no major issues. The bone pain I have endured for 10 years is moderate most days, but not enough to make me quit. I am hoping this will all subside soon.

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@auntieoakley So very happy for you!

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phebe | @phebe | Nov 17, 2019
In reply to @rsc "I just found this site. I stopped taking arimidex after 10 years. Experiencing anxiety - anyone..." + (show)
@rsc

I just found this site. I stopped taking arimidex after 10 years. Experiencing anxiety - anyone else? Did not have any side effects while on arimidex.

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I went off 7 weeks ago and have had anxiety issues the past 4 days that I cannot connect to anything. Waiting for my psychiatrist to get back to me about what to do. This is soooo not me and it is upsetting which adds to the anxiety. I had the worse headache ever about 3 weeks after going off so had CT scans to rule out other bad stuff. That came back ok. I can’t find anything official related to symptoms women have after going off after 5 years.

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2 replies
Mentor
Chris, Volunteer Mentor | @auntieoakley | Nov 17, 2019
In reply to @phebe "I went off 7 weeks ago and have had anxiety issues the past 4 days that..." + (show)
@phebe

I went off 7 weeks ago and have had anxiety issues the past 4 days that I cannot connect to anything. Waiting for my psychiatrist to get back to me about what to do. This is soooo not me and it is upsetting which adds to the anxiety. I had the worse headache ever about 3 weeks after going off so had CT scans to rule out other bad stuff. That came back ok. I can’t find anything official related to symptoms women have after going off after 5 years.

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I have also had a little anxiety, no noticeable relief from joint and bone pain yet. I am on Zoloft so that hopefully will keep me from getting too far out there while I withdraw. Please connect with someone, anyone if it gets out of control. Please also report this withdrawal symptom, as I will, this will benefit other folks who withdraw in the future.

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Lisa Lucier | @lisalucier | Nov 17, 2019
In reply to @phebe "I went off 7 weeks ago and have had anxiety issues the past 4 days that..." + (show)
@phebe

I went off 7 weeks ago and have had anxiety issues the past 4 days that I cannot connect to anything. Waiting for my psychiatrist to get back to me about what to do. This is soooo not me and it is upsetting which adds to the anxiety. I had the worse headache ever about 3 weeks after going off so had CT scans to rule out other bad stuff. That came back ok. I can’t find anything official related to symptoms women have after going off after 5 years.

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Hi, @phebe - anxiety is really hard to deal with - or that is what I've found at certain points in my own life. Harder still if you cannot figure out what is behind it.

Do you anticipate you will hear from your psychiatrist tomorrow? In the meantime, has anything helped to relieve the anxiety?

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Moderator
Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Nov 23, 2019
In reply to @colleenyoung "Welcome to Connect, @christinej I'm tagging a few other members who have mentioned taking anastrozole for..." + (show)
@colleenyoung

Welcome to Connect, @christinej
I'm tagging a few other members who have mentioned taking anastrozole for some time such as @wandering @susanao1 @itskeenerific @judymroz @cindylb @chamisaand @berit. I'm not sure if all have finished AI treatment.

Christine, what symptoms are you experiencing?

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Welcome to the group @maryts. I see that you wished to make a post here. To post a message, click REPLY (not the Report flag).

You wished to share that you
"stopped taking anastrozole in Sept. 2019 after 5 years of taking it and have extreme fatigue, difficulty sleeping, dizziness, lack of energy, brain fog, hot flashed at night and that you're unable to sleep."

You're not alone. Have you spoken to your oncologist about the inability to sleep and the symptoms?

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Mentor
Chris, Volunteer Mentor | @auntieoakley | Nov 23, 2019

Welcome. @maryts you are definitely not alone!! Starting these drugs have challenges, and stopping these drugs have challenges. Kudos to you for making the 5 years. I have hated some days on these drugs, however I am still here to be unhappy about it, and the cancer might have changed that.

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karendb | @karendb | Nov 28, 2019

Hi everyone. Just to let you all know, I had my 1 year mammogram and....it came back clear! Yay me! I’m finding the anastrozal a bit difficult but if it means no cancer ever again, I’ll be taking it till 2024!

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4 replies
Moderator
Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Nov 28, 2019
In reply to @karendb "Hi everyone. Just to let you all know, I had my 1 year mammogram and....it came..." + (show)
@karendb

Hi everyone. Just to let you all know, I had my 1 year mammogram and....it came back clear! Yay me! I’m finding the anastrozal a bit difficult but if it means no cancer ever again, I’ll be taking it till 2024!

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Great news, @karendb. A thanksgiving gift.

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Mentor
Chris, Volunteer Mentor | @auntieoakley | Nov 28, 2019
In reply to @karendb "Hi everyone. Just to let you all know, I had my 1 year mammogram and....it came..." + (show)
@karendb

Hi everyone. Just to let you all know, I had my 1 year mammogram and....it came back clear! Yay me! I’m finding the anastrozal a bit difficult but if it means no cancer ever again, I’ll be taking it till 2024!

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Good for you, I am so happy for you!

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elizm | @elizm | Nov 28, 2019
In reply to @karendb "Hi everyone. Just to let you all know, I had my 1 year mammogram and....it came..." + (show)
@karendb

Hi everyone. Just to let you all know, I had my 1 year mammogram and....it came back clear! Yay me! I’m finding the anastrozal a bit difficult but if it means no cancer ever again, I’ll be taking it till 2024!

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@karendb
Congratulations Karen on the milestone mammogram. Something indeed for which to be grateful today.!

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