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Aromatase Inhibitors: Did you decide to go on them or not?
Breast Cancer | Last Active: May 12, 2023 | Replies (1190)Comment receiving replies
Hello. New member of the club, here. Stage 1 invasive lobular on the left, LCIS right. Lumpectomy surgery couple weeks ago on both. The surgeon says radiation for a month and Arimidex for 5 years. I'm 68 and wondering if I should just do the radiation and screw the hormone stuff. Former smoker with mild COPD/emphysema well controlled, currently on BP and cholesterol meds that are doing fine. The internet research of Arimidex is the reason I'm here. … and frankly, you've all terrified me. Quality of life on any AI sounds like an absolute nightmare.
Replies to "Hello. New member of the club, here. Stage 1 invasive lobular on the left, LCIS right...."
@samy
Samy - don't be afraid to try the AI...not everyone has bad side effects. I had headaches for about a month and then they stopped. Yes, you can get bone aches, but taking vitamin D3 will help with that as well as turmuric. I've started taking biotin to help with possible hair loss - I wound up getting the type that melts in your mouth and tastes like raspberry. I am 67 and have bronchiectasis so that all got inflamed with my chemo, but can be controlled. As far as radiation is concerned, follow your radiation oncologist's advice. Mine suggested using calendula cream 3-4 times a day AFTER radiation that day. I stuck to that but did get burns and blisters and then he prescribed silvadene which is a burn ointment and it really helped. So, again, everyone reacts individually - just take one day at a time. All the best to you in this wild and crazy journey.
Welcome Samy! Hoping you find the exchange of information from this board to be as valuable as I have found it to be. We’re all in this journey together-our diagnosis are each unique to us individually, but I have found the support of other women who are breast cancer survivors to be invaluable. Yes, the side effects of medications we must take are not pleasant. However, the alternative risk of recurrence of cancer is also dreadful! I have learned from this journey that I have a choice of a living with side effects of the meds, or living with the fear of a higher risk of cancer returning. Neither of those options is a ‘good’ choice. So far, I have chosen to live with the side effects of the meds and the inconvenience of a somewhat lower quality of life, rather than living with increased the risk of recurrence. Cancer changed my life completely and unfortunately there is no going back to the security of having a healthy body that I had previously. It sucks, but that’s reality. And the bottom line is there really isn’t much we can do about it.
And it is preventative. Maybe . I have a 12 percent chance of reoccurrence . I have ilc also . I decided to take my chances and stay on top of my exams and tests
I’m not taking any of these horrible drugs.
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@samy,- Good morning Samy. Maybe a serious face-to-face conversation with your Oncologist would help. I know I'm in this conversation not to make the decision to stop taking an estrogen blocker, but to exchange information with other women who have experienced the same side effects. At first, i thought it was just me, but now I know that my side effects are common. I'm trying to gather information to help me decide whether i should chose an alternative drug, but not to stop taking an AI altogether. I don't want to take the chance of a recurrence. These discussions are reassuring and comforting. I hope medical research on these various estrogen blockers continues and that one day they will be more easily tolerated. There are other forums in this set of breast cancer discussion groups related to breast cancer survivors and medications that you might find helpful, too. Best of luck to you, Samy.