Concerned about the side effects of anastrozole

I was on anastrazole for five years. Some stomachs issues weight gain. Mild hair loss otherwise worth the journey. They say it lasts u. Your body fir several years fighting cancer.

sealskin | @sealskin

Sounds like your cancer team was not very supportive. Do you have an option to switch to another cancer center? I would look for one that has a Breast Cancer Survivorship clinic that can help with medication management and symptoms from meds.

I agree with @windyshores, that statement about body full of cancer does not make sense if you were diagnosed with stage 1.

Laurie

@sealskin it is standard practice to take out a sentinel lymph node to see if cancer has spread to lymph nodes. The sentinel is the first one that cells would go to so if that is clear, all the other ones are.

Why did your doc want a mastectomy and why did you not want one?

Did the doc actually tell you your body is full of cancer? That doesn't sound right. If you were high grade but high ER score, these meds will definitely help. I took them for 5 years and found that walking at least 45 minutes helped a lot.

Yes, I had stage 1 small slow
growing tumor as surgeon didn’t think I should be in a hurry to have surgery but recommended mastectomy! She seemed disappointed I opted for lumpectomy. She also took out
my main lymph node without consulting me. I wanted the lump out of asap!
She torched me for that request.
I had 20 radiations 6 weeks after lumpectomy. The radiologist said after the radiations I wouldn’t have to do medication. The hematologist said I must as the tumor was HR2 positive. So I’ve taken anastrozole for 2 years now. It has trashed the quality of my life.
Aching joints, hot flashes, and it’s
now been 2 years taking anastrozole and half my hair is
gone. I want to stop the medication. Dr C L said
“Your body is full cancer. You must take it. And I’m not your doctor anymore. I’ve had no support and have been tortured, lied to and
dismissed by her Issaquah WA cancer team. Take care and best wishes.

Eagle Pharmacy ( online in Florida) had incredible affordable price.

I did brand name letrozole (Femara) despite the added cost 🙂

When I realized that my sudden major increase in side effects after one year on Anastrozole may have been related to a change in manufactured… I found a pharmacy where I could revert back to Anastrozole manufactured by Accord ( the original generic). My increased side effects faded back to the original manageable and mitigated ones… mostly joint stuff and interrupted sleep ( awake 2-3 hours in middle of night).

While figuring this out I found a route to try the BRAND ANASTROZOLE … ARIMIDIX !

Even less side effects and especially sleeping through the night!

Generics are not regulated by FDA… they have their own regulation body but the main ingredient ( Anastrozole in this case ) can vary up to 20% in either direction and fillers can be very different.

The BRAND is tightly regulated by FDA and cannot vary in ANY way from pill to pill.

The brand has worked for me.

Same here.. fingers crossed for both of us with the Exemestane!!

Like @rozv they finally switched me from anastrozole to exemestane, which I started 3 days ago. So far so good. We'll see in a couple of weeks...

Everyone's experience is different, and you may have no or minimal side effects. I was on Anastrozole for 6 mo's and developed severe joint pain, insomnia and some memory issues and hair thinning. I had a one month break and just started on Exemestane 2 days ago. The joint pain and insomnia resolved once I stopped the Anestrozole. I had taken Tamoxifen 16 yrs ago for my first DCIS and the joint pain with the Anestrozole was more severe., But the hair loss was worse on Tamoxifen. There were no other srmotsse inhibitors 16 yrs ago, so I am very glad there are other options to try if you have difficulty with what was initially recommended . Wishing you the best with your experience you have no or very mild issues.