Timing of HRT, anastrozole - taking day or night?
I've seen many messages about anastrozole, but does anyone prefer to take this in the morning or evening? I'm wondering if side effects are less via day or night?
Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Breast Cancer Support Group.
Hi. I've just started taking it this week and that's a really good question. I've been taking mine in the morning. I wonder too if it's better to take at night.
@karendb - I decided to take my AI at night. My thinking was if I was going to have side effects I’d be asleep. Solid reasoning? Who knows? It’ll be interesting to see what others have done. All the best to you 😊
That's what I was thinking - I haven't started the pills yet as I'm a bit afraid of all the side effects that everyone has mentioned, but my hubby told me to just try it and see how it goes. Even the oncologist says we can trade for another one if this fails.
I think I'll give it a try at night too. My oncologist never mentioned anything else so I'm praying for none or little to none side effects. My mom was on AI for 5 years but she doesn't remember any side effects. It was quite a few years ago.
Buckimom, how long have you been taking your AI?
When I took it I seemed to have trouble sleeping ... when I start it again I may try mornings🙂
Did anyone have weight gain with it??😌
I started taking Anastrozol in November 2018. The very first day I took it in the morning as that is when I am used to taking my pills. Later that evening as I was cleaning up from dinner I had a doozy of a dizzy spell. I decided to switch to evenings so that if I was going to get dizzy, I would sleep through it. No problems with dizziness since. I have been thinking of switching back to mornings now that my body has adjusted to it. I tend to forget to take it in the evenings because I have never taken pills in the evening before.
By any chance, are you undergoing any bone pain/joint pain with this?
Hi! So I’ve been on Anastrozole since Oct ‘18. I took it for a few months and the pain become too much combined with not sleeping and night sweats/hot flashes. My team put me on a drug holiday for 3 weeks and then I restarted. Pain has been manageable since restarting but I started to struggle with mood swings. During all that time, I was taking meds in the morning. At my last visit we decided to switch to having me take meds at night plus add melatonin. It’s been 1.5 weeks. I had one night of pretty significant hip pain after switching but my sleep seems better and mood has improved so it seems the night time administration will work better for me. The melatonin, as explained to me, does not lessen hot flashes but significantly helps some women sleep through them and I seem to be one of the lucky ones in this regard. I am also experimenting with adding sub-lingual CBD at night to help with some of the nighttime anxiety I have been experiencing since my diagnosis.
@karendb - hi Karen, I’ve been on Arimidex for about 1 1/2 years.