1. < Breast Cancer
Profile picture for reginacrick

Switching from anastrozole to exemestane: Anyone made this switch?

Posted by reginacrick @reginacrick, Jun 1, 2024

My oncologist switched me from Anastrozole to Exemestane.. anybody familiar with this medicine? Side effects? I’m always scared to switch meds.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Breast Cancer Support Group.

Profile picture for peggydobbs
peggydobbs | @peggydobbs | 6 hours ago

Reply to 3dogngt: Have you tried anastrozole or letrozole or tamoxifen? Also, have you tried taking exemestane every other day? Talk to doc and see if there's another drug or exemestane regimen that might work in your case. I'm not a doc, but taking an AI sporadically might mean that your not taking enough to prevent recurrence.

REPLY
Profile picture for brooklyn22
brooklyn22 | @brooklyn22 | 6 hours ago
In reply to @jig4891 "Hi. I am 58 right now, but was diagnosed at age 57. I have tried anastrozole,..." + (show)
Profile picture for jig4891 @jig4891

Hi. I am 58 right now, but was diagnosed at age 57. I have tried anastrozole, letrozole, and finally tamoxifen and none of them were tolerable for me. I forgot about DIM so I’ll start taking that. I’m doing intermittent fasting and occasionally prolonged fasting. I watch someone on YouTube. I think her name is Sarah, but her channel is called Cancer Remission and she’s a radiation oncologist therapist. I don’t think she’s a doctor but I’ve been reading a lot about fasting and the benefits. I had gained 25 pounds in one year after being diagnosed with breast cancer and in the past three months I have lost those 25 pounds. I probably have 70 more to go because I’ve been struggling with my weight for some time, which of course puts me at a higher risk for breast cancer. I had no idea that fat cells create estrogen and that obese people have a much higher chance to get hormone positive breast cancer. I don’t think it would have made a difference if I had known because I am constantly working hard to lose the extra weight. Anyway, good luck to everyone making the very difficult decision about whether to continue to take drugs that make you feel terrible but reduce the risk of recurrence versus living life without pain for the next 5-10 years. It’s not an easy decision.

Jump to this post

@jig4891 heavy ppl do not affect breast cancer I was told there are plenty of very thin who unfortunately get breast cancer it’s the luck of the draw - it’s healthier to be at a good weight overweight
is not healthy at any level.

REPLY
1 reply
Profile picture for jig4891
jig4891 | @jig4891 | 5 hours ago
In reply to @brooklyn22 "@jig4891 heavy ppl do not affect breast cancer I was told there are plenty of very..." + (show)
Profile picture for brooklyn22 @brooklyn22

@jig4891 heavy ppl do not affect breast cancer I was told there are plenty of very thin who unfortunately get breast cancer it’s the luck of the draw - it’s healthier to be at a good weight overweight
is not healthy at any level.

Jump to this post

@brooklyn22 I wish that were true because I’ve been dealing with weight for a long time. Here is just one of many resources discussing obesity and breast cancer. Our fat cells make estrogen and cancers that are estrogen positive have more ammunition with more fat making estrogen.
https://www.breastcancer.org/risk/risk-factors/being-overweight

REPLY
View MoreView Less
Please sign in or register to post a reply.