Aromatase Inhibitors: Did you decide to go on them or not?

Has anyone decided to discontinue or not even start Aromatase Inhibitors such as Arimidex and pursue a healthier diet including natural Aromatase Inhibitors such as mushrooms? It's my understanding white button mushrooms can inhibit testosterone converting to estrogen by 60% and wonder if this is a viable option for those of us suffering severe AI side effects, along with other cancer-fighting foods and generally healthy Whole Foods diet. TIA

Thank you! That will be the next option I guess. Quite the journey we are on😄😄😄😄. I met a lady at the oncologists office and she has a recurrence of triple negative with very poor prognosis so “By the Grace of God go I”.

Best of luck, Bluebird. I went through a similar process with the various AI's and finally ended up on Tamoxifen in 2019. I've had way fewer side effects.

I am now going to start letrozole in 2 weeks. Have tried anastrazole and exemestane with major side effects. This will be my 3rd one. So hopefully 3rd time is a charm. If it isn’t then they are ready to try Tamoxifen. So here is 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 That this one is the good one.

I’ve been taking Exemestane for a little over a year now, and it seems better for me than Anastrozole. I also take a magnesium supplement called “Magtein” for brain focus and leg/foot cramps. It seems to really help me. I get the Magtein online from Amazon, as that has been the easiest method to just have it delivered via UPS during this Covid quarantine.

My oncologist suggested benadryl for the insomnia - but it makes me really groggy the next day. My regular doctor suggested CALM, after she initially discounted the Exemestane as causing the insomnia. It was relentless for me too. The Calm for sleep really does the trick for me & I take it every night. Wishing you all the best.

@spaklegram I take them daily. For me, that's the max. of magnesium which I can tolerate without a laxative effect. (You may want to ease into that amount and see how your body reacts?) My PCP suggested adding the calcium as it, too, helps with cramping.

@kathyomaha55 The insomnia from Exemestane was relentless for me (plus swollen feet) so I gave up on it about a month or so ago, but its effect on my sleep is still evident. Only Valerian Root plus melatonin gives me a good night's sleep now. In a few weeks, I'll start Evista (its a SERM like tamoxifen) which also is known to give one insomnia. It'll be interesting to see what happens.... (ugh)

Eliz, do you take these daily or just when you are having problems with leg cramps?

@sparklegram
Like others, I get occasional leg/foot cramps at night as well and I take 100mg of magnesium and 250mg of calcium citrate-malate, both twice a day for it. It seems to help.