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I just completed my 5 years of AI. YEAH!! It's a long journey - but you can do it. I was on anastrozole for the first 11 months - then was switched to exemestane. My hand join pain on the first drug was intolerable. Mostly my side effects were insomnia & hot flashes, my hair thinned a bit - but not really noticeable. I take CALM for sleep in gummies - it's basically magnesium. Also any AI just sucks the moisture out of your body - so dry hair/skin, etc. My worst side effect from that was chronic constipation. Well - 9 days after stopping the AI, no more constipation - it's wonderful. They asked me to take it for another 5 years - so 10 years total, and I refused. It was only going to reduce my chances of reoccurrence by < 3%. 5 more years is just not worth it to me. I'm 68 now. I had stage 1 with lumpectomy, no lymph node involvement, 21 radiation treatments, no chemo. I'm hoping the insomnia will resolve itself eventually.
Replies to "I just completed my 5 years of AI. YEAH!! It's a long journey - but you..."
I am on third AI exemestane which I am tolerating. The hand joint pain in the night wakes me up . It does go away after 30 minutes in the morning. The anastrozole and Letrozole were painful head to toe ! The past year I had lumpectomy (2nd one) chemo and radiation . ER + So I will need the pill for 5 years . I feel like I got over every hurdle fine till I went on pill …5 years is a long time . I just had yearly mammogram and NO suspicious masses !!! I will continue herceptin till March then have port removed . This is a great place to read what others are going through to know you’re not alone. The lingo is so foreign when you’re scared and trying to find your through it all . Thanks to all who put the info on their journey here .
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Congrats on completing the 5 years. Constipation was a problem for me on the first drug anastrozole and I'm only a few days into exemestane. How did you treat the constipation?