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Concerned about the side effects of anastrozole

Breast Cancer | Last Active: Nov 21 7:48am | Replies (1935)
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@susanao1

I have taken Femara and then Arimidex for 4.5 years. Side effects include bone aches and pains, bone deterioration and hair thinning. You need to have regular bone density scans and consider taking Calcium/Vitamin D supplement to counter bone deterioration. Oncologists seem more concerned about preventing cancer returning and less so about the side effects. My bone pain became so debilitating I have come off the drugs 6 months earlier than anticipated. In just three weeks bone pain has eased, I'm waiting to see if my hair thickens up again.

One has to be vigilant that the drugs one is taking are not posing another threat to one's health and well being in the longer term.

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Replies to "I have taken Femara and then Arimidex for 4.5 years. Side effects include bone aches and..."
wandering | @wandering | Oct 12, 2016

I took arimadex and anastrozol for almost 3 years right after I was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. I do take calcium (Tums) and vitamin D. I was dosed with xgeva to prevent further bone thinnng (a problem with mbc) and am still taking that shot every three months. My cancer has returned (tumor markers jumped up) so my doctor took me off arimadex and anastrozol and now has me on Faslodex monthly. Don't know yet if the new meds are working but should know in a couple months. Also, my hair was thinning a bit so I started using a shampoo with biotene. My hair is thicker and my finger nails are much stronger (yea).

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berit | @berit | Oct 13, 2016

Hadn't heard about shampoo with biotene - thanks for the heads up. I've been hiding my widening part w/ eye shadow which works fine but I already had fine hair so anything that can make it thicker is all to the good. If it helps nails, even better. I had given up that fight and switched to acrylics. They look VERY nice, but I wouldn't miss not spending the money.

I'm hoping very hard that the new meds work for you. Keep us updated, please.

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