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Aromatase Inhibitors and Escalating Blood Pressure
Hi all, I've been taking AI Letrozole for 4.5 months. I switched from Anastrozole after 1 month since my BP was going up too fast. It was a slower uptick with Letrozole, but steadily upwards. Because of possibly strong family history of heart disease, I was normally at about 135/78 (on two BP drugs) before the diagnosis of a recurrence after 30 years cancer free.
About a month ago, I began to get BP "spikes" about once a week at night around 180/90. Then a week ago it became several spikes EVERY night in that range, that would wake me up. It was scary that I could not control that, so went to ER. They couldn't do much, so saw my Primary Doc, who said "you're BP is not well -controlled enough." So now I'm on a third BP drug, and I am so suspicious of the AI Letrozolel causing this that I just quit taking it 7 days ago, to see if BP improves. There are definitely studies that AI' s can cause cardiovascular problems in some people, hypertension being one type. At 75 I don't want to ruin my heart in an effort to prevent the spread of breast cancer. So far it's not metasticized. I'll let you know how this goes. Has anyone else had heart-related reactions like this taking AI's? It seems from reading here that most folks can be on AI's for years and not have adverse reactions.
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Thanks for all of this information! I’ll look into it. Lots of good suggestions.
I have been suffering severe blood pressure spikes for almost 2 years while on Anastrozole. None of the doctors could figure out what was causing it. It is very scary to go through. Finally a cardiologist suggested that the Anastrozole could be causing it. I am taking a 4 week break to see if things settle down before trying something else. I have tried the other 2 options available to me and might have to cycle through them again. I am currently at 4 years since chemotherapy and radiation. My cancer was hormone positive.
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1 ReactionI was on Letrozole for 3 weeks, taking it at a quarter dose and every other day and it still made my BP rise significantly. I didn't have this problem before Letrozole. I no longer take any AIs and my BP is now generally 124/70.
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1 ReactionJust started letrozole 2 days ago so can’t tell about it. Did have mild increases on Anastrazole but it was exemestane that did it to me. Usually I’m in lower 120s/70s. With exemestane, often on the 140-150/80+ range. Didn’t isolate the exemestane as a cause and nothing was said at appointments (I figure they expected it so classified it as normal). But when he took me off for a month - Bp went back into the normal range so I figured it was due to the meds. Waiting to see what this one does to me.
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1 Reaction@mistymar Glad to hear it went back to normal.
@fiona235 Yes, blood pressure spikes are scary. Mine can go up to 180 or 200/100. I am very surprised that our B. Cancer docs don't know that if you already have a CVD problem, it's too risky to continue on with AI's. I feel mine should have pulled me off of it watching the huge rise. I had to quit all AI's, but I was left with this labile hypertension. It seems they have a one-size-fits-all of meds for patients, but our bodies have different responses to hormone-blockers. My Cancer Clinic even produced this response to a study on BC treatments on CVD risks:
https://www.fredhutch.org/en/news/releases/2022/04/major-study-links-breast-cancer-treatment-with-increased-risk-of.html It's a tough decision to give up on drugs that may give you even more problems. I'm 76 so it's different than for younger women.