Arimidex

jannz

I have just had my 5 year check last week and have completed 5 years on Arimidex. I have been told that I should stay on Arimidex for another 5 years. my side effects are many including fatigue, joint pain, dryness of skin, anxiety, weight gain and some bone loss. I was told at the beginning of taking Arimidex it would be for 5 years.

Now I am not sure what to do, I told the Dr about my side effects but he dismissed them as minor as preventing the return of breast cancer was more important.

I eat a healthy diet most of the time, gluten free, and exercise on most days. Before starting Arimedex my weight was stable, have gain about 10 kilos.

I would like to hear from women who have come off Arimidex after 5 years and how they are now

Thankyou

Moderators

Hello jannz, and welcome to Breastcancer.org.

As well as experiences you may hear from others here in the Australia and New Zealand communities, there are several active threads over in the Hormonal Therapy - Before, During and After forum. Just click the link to go directly there to check for thread titles about Arimidex (anastrazole).

• The Mods

Anonymous

Hi jannz, welcome. I take it from the nz part of your screen name, you are in NZ? I havent done 5 years yet so not sure if I'll be much help. I did 2yrs on Tamoxifen and just done 2 years Arimidex. Arimidex came up as a side issue at a GP appt a few months back and is keen to have me do 7 years. Everyone is different with how they handle the AI and I've found the side effects are doable, but I came close to quitting earlier on in the 1st year. Exercise (walking) greatly improved my aching joints. (felt like 80>90 years old.) Sorry you are having a lot of issues.

One thing GPs are likely to take into account is your Staging, and the overall risk factor, and then factor in how you are coping with side effects. At the end of the day, when you've weighed up the pros and cons it's your decision to make. For some people the sideFX are just too much to cope with, and quit. QOL (quality of life) has it's part to play too. The 2 main Arimidex threads are very long and can be quite hard to find specifics but those are not the only threads. Indeed the above link would be a good start so you can consider what you want to do. There are ladies posting that have done their 5years.

HTHs

jannz

Thanks Musical for your comments. Yes I am from NZ, I have decided to stop taking Arimidex for 2 months and see how I am.  I will be able to see if the symptoms are really side effects or the effects of aging.

I will post my progress during this time 

Anonymous

Yes a progress report would be handy to know. It gives you a bit of time to browse info and you can always take it again if you want to.

flannelette

I'm in Canada - just stopped after my 5 yrs arimidex. thought there would be a big discussion but no - not at all. My onc said there is no scientific evidence  to show that 10 yrs is better. Maybe she looks at stage, grade, % of ER+, and so on. She said it's also important to consider bones, heart, cholesterol....I am definitely off, as of Jan 1 ( a few weeks early). it's hard to tell if ses are going away (stiffness) as I am 5 yrs older with more arthritis. Interesting, the different opinions of the oncs - usually the commonwealth countries (is NZ & Oz still in commonwealth?) tend to share the same protocols, I think.

Anonymous

DOnt know about Oz but we are Flannelette. Id say some part at least would depend on what GP knows and how he/she "sits with you". My GP is very supportive, but it's not always the case. You'd think there would be a standard protocol to follow but in reality it doesn't always happen that way. Even between our DHBs (district health boards) there can be different levels of support for the same thing. ie LE sleeves are supplied in some places every 6 monthly and others annually. There may still be others that dont fund at all. - Some places give 5 year follow up for dx similar to mine, but I was "let go" at about 4yr mark.