Anastrozole side effects

Hi Carrie52

I started Anastrozole at the end of May this year, post my April diagnosis and surgery.  I thought I had got away with the dreadful side effects for about 6 weeks. I was so wrong,  post that period i can honestly say it impacted so negatively on my day to day life, I couldnt get out of bed or off the sofa most days. ( not like me at all !) and just hibernated in the house.

I thought about stopping it completely 

anyway, i kept reverting back to what my oncologist had said …….. “ if you can persevere for 3 months then side effects in the majority of people start to wane “.  After 16 weeks my side effects did improve hugely.

I am now week 19 about to start week 20 and I am starting to feel like my old self again before this dreadful disease , the fatigue and side effects.

i hope this helps, I know everyone is different 

Irishgirl1397

That is really good to know, I am only two weeks in but early days.

Thank you so much, that is very encouraging.  

Hello Carrie,  sorry to hear that you are suffering with side effects.  I have not seen any studies about taking Anastrazole on a reduced schedule and I am wondering if the oncologist would soon want you to go on the daily regimen.  
I have been taking Anastrazole since about the middle of May.  I have been ok with it other than very dry mouth at night and my skin feels dry but no joint pains.  I was very concerned when I started taking it as I am sensitive to so many things.  
Do you think you can start getting outside and taking short walks and getting some air?   How about a bath with some epsom salts to relax?  I hope you feel better as it is an important drug in breast cancer treatment. 
Take care.

Thank you for your response.  The side effects for me were overwhelming. I could hardly get off the sofa with the fatigue, nausea and pain.  I felt as though I was being poisoned. I am quite a strong person mentally but this was something else!  The plan is that my body will get used to the alternative day dose and then I will build up as I can tolerate. The problem is the one dose fits all approach.  Thank you for your encouragement. It is good to hear you are tolerating the Anastrozol and it gives me hope.  I hope your treatment goes well. 

I did ask my medical oncologist if there was a different dose as I am a lightweight and he said no everyone no matter the size gets 1 mg of the Anastrazole.  It is so hard sometimes to adjust to these strong meds.  Just one day at a time and hopefully you’ll get feeling better real soon.  
Barbara

Evajean

i wish you well 

it certainly is a journey 

I started exemestane every 2nd day for the first month as I thought my body might cope better and get used to it. I'll never know if it made a difference. My oncologist said most side effects settle within 6 months, I found a had very sore wrists from a couple of months after taking it to about the 8 month mark and now they're fine. Different brands make a big difference to me and I have settled on Accord as the one that I can cope best with. My local pharmacist has a note of that and are brilliant at making sure I only get that brand. 

Other brands gave me stomach issues, much worse insomnia, mood issues, it was a long list.

I've been taking them for around 16 months and feel pretty settled with it all now. I went into a medical menopause with zoladex injections and that had the biggest impact as the menopause was so intense. But things really did settle down with time for me.

I read about trials of reduced dose letrozole with the same effect, but I don't think any trials have taken place for the other AIs.

Just to add, I had been taking a high dose vitamin d and calcium supplement and then reduced it down to one that was just up to recommended RDA. It really affected my mood and I didn't put two and two together until I really wracked my brain trying to think what could have changed. I read up about it and apparently higher doses of vitamin D help with muscle and joint pain when on AIs, so I started taking a slightly higher dose and my mood improved too.

Oh that’s interesting about Vitamin D tablets. I am already on a high dose Vitamin D and calcium tablet for my osteoporosis so that will help me. At my post op my consultant said my vitamin d levels were excellent so that was good to know. I call those tablets my horse tablets because they are huge but you chew them, not unpleasant, just enormous!