Hormone therapy question

marinochka

Hello, dear All

I want to ask question for my friend, who lives in Eastern Europe.

She was diagnosed 2 years ago with breast cancer, stage 2B, hormones +. She had left breast mastectomy, chemo and radiation.

She is now 62 years old. She tried tamoxifen for a while, but after that switched to Anastrozole.

She is diabetic for more than 10 years, and has blood pressure issues(before breast cancer diagnosis).

After few months taking anastrozole, her blood pressure is out of control even with medication, sugar is up also.

Does anyone have those issues. I have read here about sugar elevation, bone/muscle pain, but I did not hear about blood pressure issues.

Today there was a consultations with a team of doctors for her. And decision is to stop Anastrozole without any substitution.

I am very worried about her. I hope something can be done in this case instead of just not taking anything.

Please let me know if anyone had similar situation and what was the solution?

thank you!

kathabus

Hi--

I'm sure someone here knows the answer to this....if it were me, I would ask if I could take Tamoxifen.

bcincolorado

The main site here has a good chart with all side effects for all of the hormonal meds if you have not seen it. I know I found it helpful myself. https://www.breastcancer.org/treatment/hormonal/comp_chart

marinochka

thank you for your answers!

I hope anyone else will give some input on this issue

CBK

My blood pressure went through the roof on anastrozole. I was placed on a calcium channel blocker and it went back in normal range. Anastrozole is known to elevate blood pressure and I continue to take it with blood pressure med (benicar).

marinochka

thank you CBK, it is very helpful

did you have high blood pressure before anastrozole? did you take any medication for blood pressure before?

because my friend was already on some type of medication, but now she takes double dose, and with anatrazole, blood pressure is still not under control.

MicheleH57

So glad to find this topic and comments! I had high(er) BP before my BC diagnosis. So have been taking 25 mg of hydrochlorothiazide and 50 mg of atenolol.

But since I started anastrozole, it is nuts! I take my BP at home and it is 130/90 or so, and some days it is about 140/90.

BUT I go to a doctor appointment and it's like 160 or 170. And the med tech who takes the BP is ANGRY AT ME! I have assumed it's classic "white coat syndrome" because the doctor now is not my friend at all (even knowing what I'm up against with cancer, but this is not a happy place) and the examining room is cold and bright and has lots of sharp edges. Wonderful ambiance.

I wondered if the hormone therapy had something to do with it, but didn't even know how to ask!

Something to bring up with the oncologist for sure.

I was thinking that this is all on ME and my "fault," so if I could figure out how to lose 10 or 20 pounds (a good move, anyway), it'd help the BP.

And keep the med tech from being so flip and sighing with disappointment after taking my BP.

The oncologist has not addressed my weight directly or the high BP. Not yet. But I know it's coming.

I am exercising and working on breathing exercises to try and lower the BP. What I do need to do is just eat less. In November I'll finally get a consultation with a nutritionist to discuss how I can get the best nutrition BUT also cut the food intake and by how much. I'm am taking a multivitamin with D3 and lots of calcium already.

Yeah, this is a far distance from the surgery and recovery portion of this "cruise" when I was encouraged to snack (!) [altho the foods on the list were high protein for healing.]

marinochka

MicheleH57

My friend with BP issue -she is not overweight at all. She eats well. she is also diabetic, so it makes follow the diet.

And still her BP is high even with medication when she takes Anatrasole.

Anonymous

When I started on hormone therapy (anastrozole) my blood pressure was controlled with a moderate dose of Losartan HCTZ. After a year, I had to go up to the highest dose, then they added another drug. My BP was still too high after a few months. I saw a cardiologist, changed drugs, and now with two drugs at highest dose BP is under control.

Both my onc and the cardiologist say it's not due to anastrozole but other sources say anastrozole can cause hypertension, including an article on this very website -

https://www.breastcancer.org/treatment/side_effects/high_blood_press

my glucose readings are also higher than before

I am 4 years older nowand am on two other cancer drugs, one of which can cause high BP ... so can't definitively blame anastrozole but...it is a possibility

gb2115

My blood pressure was higher on tamoxifen. Not super high, but higher than normal. Once I came off tamoxifen it came back down. Now that I'm on chemo and super stressed all the time, it manages to stay normal. I think it was definitely the tamoxifen!

moodyblues

It's been a very long time since I have been on this site, a very long time. I recently changed over to Exemestane last week after being on Letrazole for almost 4 years and I'm having terrible issues with sleep now. I am hoping that someone can give me some tips on what they did to get some rest, maybe the magic time that worked for them to take this med. I've tried it right before I dropped in bed, I've tried it a half hour before bed. I am tired! When I do finally fall off to sleep, I wake up over and over; I do fall right back to sleep though, thankfully. I work and was afraid how it may affect me if I took it during the day. Anyone?

Thanks!

macdebbie

Olma61, all of the AIs have the side effect of hypertension. I hate it when docs dismiss known side effects. There are recent reports also that all of the hormone blockers raise glucose, and that there is an increase in diabetes with patients who never had diabetes before. I think the AIs were 3x as likely to cause diabetes as Tamoxifen.

macdebbie

Marinochka - Yes, AIs definitely have side effect of hypertension. Check drugs.com Professional Page and it lists the % for each of them. They also raise blood sugar. AIs are 3x more likely to cause diabetes in patients without any prior history of diabetes.

Do you know why she was taken off of Tamoxifen? I have high blood pressure and diabetes as well as osteoporosis, so have chosen to try Tamoxifen vs and AI as I haven't seen any literature that states hypertension is an issue with Tamoxifen. Could she perhaps try a lower dose or switch back to Tamoxifen?