1. < Breast Cancer

Anastrozole experience: Any tips for managing side effects?

Posted by jessicanell @jessicanell, Sep 21, 2023

I’m about to start at 52. I don’t know if I’m in menopause bc I took hrt before being diagnosed w early stage bc. My labs say I am. And since stopping hrt no periods.

I hear about all the menopause symptoms it comes with including joint pain. Do any of you find it ok?

I heard Claritin can help w joint pain. Any other tips?

I’m getting a bone density scan before starting. Tell me your experiences please 🙏

Thank you

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jayne1959 | @jayne1959 | Jan 29, 2024
In reply to @jayne1959 "When I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in April 2019, I had a Lumpectomy to my..." + (show)
@jayne1959

When I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in April 2019, I had a Lumpectomy to my Left Breast and then 5 weeks of Radiation.
Then started on Femara which caused joint pain and my oncologist switched me to Arimidex.
I took it fatefully for 2 years and then I was having UTI’s one right after another and after I took medication for it. I mentioned this to my oncologist who laughed and said the Arimidex had nothing to do with it.
I decided to see if the UTI’s would stop after stopping the Arimidex and believe it or not, it did.
I did not appreciate my oncologist laughing at me for asking a question so I never started the Arimidex back and it’s been almost 3 years come July-August 2024.
I know the risks of it returning and some of the pathology reported Grade 2 & 3 and it read High Grade DCIS. My Ki-67 was 20.
Has anyone else had continuous UTI’s while taking Arimidex?

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My Oncologist does not take my concerns seriously.
After April of this year will be my 5 years since I was diagnosed with breast cancer and had my Lumpectomy and then I had 5 weeks of Radiation that started the middle of June 2019.
I see my Oncologist every 6 months.
I have my annual Mammogram on 2-28-24 and then see my Oncologist on 3-4-24.

REPLY
jayne1959 | @jayne1959 | Jan 29, 2024
In reply to @dyevooshka "I was prescribed 10 mcg Estradiol vaginal insert tablet 2x weekly. This After my doctor saying,..." + (show)
@dyevooshka

I was prescribed 10 mcg Estradiol vaginal insert tablet 2x weekly. This After my doctor saying, dryness is not usually a side effect (!)

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Well the doctor is wrong, just like my doctor not taking my concerns seriously.

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celestebradham | @celestebradham | Jan 29, 2024
In reply to @celestebradham "I use coconut oil- but not because of UTIs - for moisturizer - seems to help." + (show)
@celestebradham

I use coconut oil- but not because of UTIs - for moisturizer - seems to help.

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Doctor recommended

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saraabrooks | @saraabrooks | Jan 31, 2024
In reply to @jayne1959 "When I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in April 2019, I had a Lumpectomy to my..." + (show)
@jayne1959

When I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in April 2019, I had a Lumpectomy to my Left Breast and then 5 weeks of Radiation.
Then started on Femara which caused joint pain and my oncologist switched me to Arimidex.
I took it fatefully for 2 years and then I was having UTI’s one right after another and after I took medication for it. I mentioned this to my oncologist who laughed and said the Arimidex had nothing to do with it.
I decided to see if the UTI’s would stop after stopping the Arimidex and believe it or not, it did.
I did not appreciate my oncologist laughing at me for asking a question so I never started the Arimidex back and it’s been almost 3 years come July-August 2024.
I know the risks of it returning and some of the pathology reported Grade 2 & 3 and it read High Grade DCIS. My Ki-67 was 20.
Has anyone else had continuous UTI’s while taking Arimidex?

Jump to this post

Dosage of Anastrozole changed: One tablet every OTHER day. Why? Side effects from fatigue, depression, achiness, weakness, no energy to even take a walk. Went off pill Dec 13 to Dec 29 for family Christmas, back on Dec 30, then off again Jan 14. I was done with this S!?t!!!!
On Jan 30 went in for my 3rd round (every 3 mo) of mam/USound/consult. Lo and behold my left breast tumor was almost untraceable this time. It shrank big time. The right breast, the bigger tumor, was there but now splotchy and a little smaller. My surgeon, et al, were shocked at the difference. I was thrilled, but now, decision time? In talking I reminded my doctor what I had read (reliable source). There is a half-life of 50 hours for the drug. SOOO, I'm taking pill every other day. My dr. wouldn't go 3 days apart, but we both agreed on every other day. Going to see if I lose all my energy again.

REPLY
2 replies
jayne1959 | @jayne1959 | Jan 31, 2024
In reply to @saraabrooks "Dosage of Anastrozole changed: One tablet every OTHER day. Why? Side effects from fatigue, depression, achiness,..." + (show)
@saraabrooks

Dosage of Anastrozole changed: One tablet every OTHER day. Why? Side effects from fatigue, depression, achiness, weakness, no energy to even take a walk. Went off pill Dec 13 to Dec 29 for family Christmas, back on Dec 30, then off again Jan 14. I was done with this S!?t!!!!
On Jan 30 went in for my 3rd round (every 3 mo) of mam/USound/consult. Lo and behold my left breast tumor was almost untraceable this time. It shrank big time. The right breast, the bigger tumor, was there but now splotchy and a little smaller. My surgeon, et al, were shocked at the difference. I was thrilled, but now, decision time? In talking I reminded my doctor what I had read (reliable source). There is a half-life of 50 hours for the drug. SOOO, I'm taking pill every other day. My dr. wouldn't go 3 days apart, but we both agreed on every other day. Going to see if I lose all my energy again.

Jump to this post

I am so glad that you had great mammogram results after changing your dosage to every other day.
My oncologist just won’t listen.
This July will be my 5th year and so far all my mammograms have been good, which I am thankful.
My left breast was the one that the cancer was found in and I had a Lumpectomy. Now my right breast is so much bigger and finding a bra has been unsuccessful. I mentioned this to my oncologist and he said the option he had was to get a breast reduction and I said I would be thinking about that.

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1 reply
Rubyslippers | @triciaot | Jan 31, 2024
In reply to @saraabrooks "Dosage of Anastrozole changed: One tablet every OTHER day. Why? Side effects from fatigue, depression, achiness,..." + (show)
@saraabrooks

Dosage of Anastrozole changed: One tablet every OTHER day. Why? Side effects from fatigue, depression, achiness, weakness, no energy to even take a walk. Went off pill Dec 13 to Dec 29 for family Christmas, back on Dec 30, then off again Jan 14. I was done with this S!?t!!!!
On Jan 30 went in for my 3rd round (every 3 mo) of mam/USound/consult. Lo and behold my left breast tumor was almost untraceable this time. It shrank big time. The right breast, the bigger tumor, was there but now splotchy and a little smaller. My surgeon, et al, were shocked at the difference. I was thrilled, but now, decision time? In talking I reminded my doctor what I had read (reliable source). There is a half-life of 50 hours for the drug. SOOO, I'm taking pill every other day. My dr. wouldn't go 3 days apart, but we both agreed on every other day. Going to see if I lose all my energy again.

Jump to this post

I read an article that they have some research that show taking an AI 9 months of the year with 3 months off was as effective as everyday. I was jealous because I’m on tamoxifen. I didn’t spend much time reading through the article or following up on the research it references - which you’d want to do if you were considering this option.
https://www.annalsofoncology.org/article/S0923-7534(21)02492-3/fulltext

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2 replies
jayne1959 | @jayne1959 | Jan 31, 2024
In reply to @triciaot "I read an article that they have some research that show taking an AI 9 months..." + (show)
@triciaot

I read an article that they have some research that show taking an AI 9 months of the year with 3 months off was as effective as everyday. I was jealous because I’m on tamoxifen. I didn’t spend much time reading through the article or following up on the research it references - which you’d want to do if you were considering this option.
https://www.annalsofoncology.org/article/S0923-7534(21)02492-3/fulltext

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Thank you so much for sending this to me.

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saraabrooks | @saraabrooks | Feb 1, 2024
In reply to @triciaot "I read an article that they have some research that show taking an AI 9 months..." + (show)
@triciaot

I read an article that they have some research that show taking an AI 9 months of the year with 3 months off was as effective as everyday. I was jealous because I’m on tamoxifen. I didn’t spend much time reading through the article or following up on the research it references - which you’d want to do if you were considering this option.
https://www.annalsofoncology.org/article/S0923-7534(21)02492-3/fulltext

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Thanx for the info. Personally I believe most women are being overdosed, especially since the drug stays in your system for 50 hours. Taking the drug EVERY DAY? I believe it's overdosing. Does cutting back to dosing every OTHER day still prove effective? That's what I'm doing - testing out that theory. Now your statement about AI intrigues me. OMG, how wonderful is that!!??

REPLY
2 replies
Rubyslippers | @triciaot | Feb 1, 2024
In reply to @saraabrooks "Thanx for the info. Personally I believe most women are being overdosed, especially since the drug..." + (show)
@saraabrooks

Thanx for the info. Personally I believe most women are being overdosed, especially since the drug stays in your system for 50 hours. Taking the drug EVERY DAY? I believe it's overdosing. Does cutting back to dosing every OTHER day still prove effective? That's what I'm doing - testing out that theory. Now your statement about AI intrigues me. OMG, how wonderful is that!!??

Jump to this post

I’m also considering the effects of how long tamoxifen stays in my system, because it’s half life is 5-7 DAYS. By day 7, I have a full dose plus partial doses from the previous 6 days.
However, when the research is done they are looking at people who have accumulated that amount of drug in their bodies. Maybe it takes a whole lot of the drug to make a difference.
For example, if I’m on 5 mg tamoxifen then by day 7 I may have almost 9 mg of drug in my body. But that is what research is based on, so maybe it takes 9 mg to be effective. Does that make sense? Never sure if my explanations are clear.
For you if you’re taking 1 mg of an AI that has a half life of 50 hours, then 4 days after the initial dose you might have close to 2 mg in your body. But maybe 2 mg is what it takes to make a difference - and they prescribe 1 mg knowing that the effective level will end of being 2 mg.
That’s when I start questioning myself on whether I have enough information to self prescribe. I guess I like scary situations, because I do it anyway. Hopefully I won’t be proven so dumb that I made the wrong choice. In retrospect this might be one of those situations where I knew better but chose risky behavior (will I never grow up?!)

REPLY
1 reply
jayne1959 | @jayne1959 | Feb 1, 2024
In reply to @jayne1959 "When I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in April 2019, I had a Lumpectomy to my..." + (show)
@jayne1959

When I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in April 2019, I had a Lumpectomy to my Left Breast and then 5 weeks of Radiation.
Then started on Femara which caused joint pain and my oncologist switched me to Arimidex.
I took it fatefully for 2 years and then I was having UTI’s one right after another and after I took medication for it. I mentioned this to my oncologist who laughed and said the Arimidex had nothing to do with it.
I decided to see if the UTI’s would stop after stopping the Arimidex and believe it or not, it did.
I did not appreciate my oncologist laughing at me for asking a question so I never started the Arimidex back and it’s been almost 3 years come July-August 2024.
I know the risks of it returning and some of the pathology reported Grade 2 & 3 and it read High Grade DCIS. My Ki-67 was 20.
Has anyone else had continuous UTI’s while taking Arimidex?

Jump to this post

I just could not take the continuous UTI’s. As soon as I completed the medication for my UTI’s, within 2 days another one would start and my oncologist would not listen to me but instead laughed.
If my breast cancer returns then it returns. I don’t appreciate being laughed at when I have a honest question but not taken seriously.

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