Concerned about the side effects of anastrozole

This isn’t directly related to anastrozole, but I developed hives during chemo. The doc had me take Zantac! I knew it just for stomach issues but it’s actually a type of antihistamine. Maybe you knew that already.

I’m sorry to hear yours is getting worse. Everyone is different I know, but after two years things are better for me. I realize that’s still a ways off for you. Another thing I’m doing is working on balance and practicing walking a narrow line. The peripheral neuropathy affects balance and gait too. 🙁
Good luck!

I am allergic to antibiotics too (it's not fun is it?) and my daughter is allergic to red dye......some of us are just sensitive to chemicals and other things. I am 60 years old now and started my 'breast cancer journey' at 56 (officially) so I was post menopause. I was unable to take the aromatase drugs as they all had bad side effects for me and so now my doctors check my estrogen levels every six months by blood test. I have estrogen positive breast cancer BUT as of a couple months ago, once again, virtually no estrogen, no progesterone. I encourage women to get a baseline estrogen and progesterone blood test to see how much estrogen, etc. you have. In my case I feel a bit better because I know I have little estrogen to bring the cancer back and because I can't take the pills, at least that gives me a little comfort for now.

thanks for the quick response. I am allergic to blue dyes and some antibiotics, so I will be interested in what the doctor says...

I am allergic to everything (or so it seems). Sounds like an allergic reaction to something in the drug. Remember, there are other chemicals in the drug in addition to the 'active' drug and you might even be allergic to the chemical of the drug itself. It's hard to pinpoint allergies specifically, they're tricky but I wouldn't take a chance on anastrazole again. There are other options. You might be able to look up anastrazole and find all of the ingredients (both brand name and generic) and trace it back to certain ingredients that don't agree with you.
I had many symptoms from the two aromatase drugs I tired and had to quit. I also developed a skin rash that persisted for 18 months and has just now subsided. The rash could have been induced by the drugs (or others used during surgery) or it could be a type of lymphoma. I am watching and waiting on that. So, I wouldn't rule out an allergic reaction or intolerance.

I began taking anastrazole in May... A week ago I developed severe hives! No changes in laundry soap, etc. The oncologist suggested suspending the anastrazole until I see her in another week. As soon as I quit taking the medication the hives cleared up (that was also after a steroid shot, of course) Has anyone else experienced hives?

Chamisa -- Very interesting. My NP swore by L-Glutamine for the taxol-induced neuropathy (I took 20g a day). My oncologist said nothing would help. It's been 7 months since my last infusion, and the neuropathy (especially the burning) is worse than ever and climbing up my legs and arms. I've always taken some ALA, but I doubt it was helpful. I'm very discouraged by the nerve damage. Had I known this would happen, I doubt that I would have gone through with the chemo 🙁

I intended to reply to your question directly but somehow it ended up being a whole new post! 🙂

Elizm— I took 600 mg divided into 300 mg at two meals daily. I’ll never know if it really helped or not, because I started having symptoms early into the taxol portion of my treatment and my doctor advised me to take it... so I don’t know how bad my neuropathy would have been without it. (The chemo nurses also had me keep my hands and toes iced down during infusions...never will know for sure if that actually helped or not either.) The doc told me to take 300-600 mg daily but recommended I take the larger dose. After two years I still have significant numbness/tingling in my fingers and ball/toes of one foot. Interestingly about three months ago I realized that my other foot had improved so much it is almost back to “normal”! Have no idea why just one foot is better. For my hair I was taking 5000 mcg of Biotin daily.

Chamisa: Do you recall how much ALA you took? Do you think it helped with the neuropathy?