Alternative drug to Arimidex

In answer to the OP, I was eating half a large mushroom a day and taking Grape Seed Extract (GSE) as natural AI's prior to being prescribed Arimidex.  They caused strong flushes and sweats so I knew they were working to reduce estrogen but I was concerned that I was just swapping artificial AI's such as Arimidex for natural AI's and there are no studies to show any potential changes to side effects or recurrence rates from the natural AI's.

When I started Arimidex I had a few weeks where I was feeling stiff in the hands and knees with a little pain on awakening.  This eased off but my  knees are now stiff on many occasions, therefore I can see that the effects of natural AI's vs Arimidex is different for me and have no idea whether that would help my DFS or not.   One of the Arimidex vs Tamoxifen studies showed that the effects of Arimidex were there regardless of the dose of Arimidex so I'm seriously considering cutting the Arimidex tablets in half and taking them alongside the mushroom and GSE so as to get equal benefit from natural and artificial AI's. I'm only about 50Kgs / 115lbs so the Arimidex is probably strong for me anyway.

That's typical of me, I'm always sitting on the fence. 

Oh yes, and I'm following the progesterone and natural hormone threads to some extent, but really choked on the Lee book when I borrowed it from the library during chemo.  I'll have to read it again now that I'm not so overwhelmed with the chemo and RT behind me.   Maybe my brain has recovered enough to understand the book now.

Somebody posted a video interview link by well-known Boston oncologist who reported that there two ongoing studies to determine Arimidex's absolute survival. He didn't say what the studies were.

 I seem to recall that SO FAR, one study seemed showed slighly less survival and the other showed slightly more survival. I got the impression they want to test Arimidex a few more years to see if there is any survival advantage.

In clincial trials for cancer drugs the control group must ALWAYS receive the current gold standard treatment, never a placebo.

 I've been on Arimidex for a week (plus zoladex) and have NO side effects.  It is early, I know.  But I suspect it won't be bad if I get any since I'm off to a great start. 

I was on arimidex for 6 months and had a really hard time. I fell into the 34% who have debilitating bone pain.  Stopped for one month got switched to aromasin. Onc. said he was okay with me cutting them in half. Incidentally, I had my hormone levels checked and my estrogen is in the desired level for non-recurrence. Was advised to have them checked again in 6 months. Mind you, there is always the risk of  recurrence from radiation which can occur several years down the road.

Gosh, aromasin are tiny pills, was easier cutting arimidex in half.

Wblibrary: Obviously, Oncs are not going to generally recommend cutting AI's in half because there are no studies done on only 1/2 dosage,  these drugs are "one size fits all" and we are not one size women, we are all different. The onc. adresses the health problems related to the side effects vs a reasonable quality of life. 

Hi Wblibrary-One thing you really need to be concerned with on Arimidex is the bone loss. I was also very afraid to go against what my oncologist told me, but with a lot of personal research on the subject and prayer, I got off of tamoxifen and went to a naturopath in Houston. I keep my vitamin D level up, take other supplements and use bioidentical progesterone. Thank the Lord I sleep through the night, my bone density improved, my skin, hair look good again. I am also a registered nurse and am convinced that the docs do not have all the answers. Best of luck to you.

Dear wblibrary,

I found these links where people talk about their symptoms/problems while on Femara.

http://www.askapatient.com/viewrating.asp?drug=20726&name=FEMARA  

http://www.topix.com/forum/drug/femara/TFTS86D0FBSP8CEL8

I tried to post , had a long post and it came out with all these really odd "things" all through it. I will try later to post what I really wrote.

Wblibrary 

but in your case it could be a consideration

I take this comment back! I was just watching Dr. Christiane Northrup on PBS TV. She was commenting on tamoxifen. She said if we take this drug for 5 years 40%  of us will have a recurrence in the other breast and a bigger tumour!  Wow, that's scary!

Hi Sarabhealed,

Oh, so you are on kelp...I might get that one as it is an over the counter supplement. I couldn't find Iodoral. Thanks for your input. (Are you still using the progesterone?)

Hi Patty,

I was hoping I would find Iodoral at the local health store as I hate using my credit card on the internet.

After watching Dr. Northrup on PBS, seems kelp is just as effective.

Glenis

 You can't get enough iodine from kelp tablets

PLUS in one of the tapes, Dr. Flechas said 9 out of 10 kelp tablet products one of the doctors had tested at an independent lab was contaminated with arsenic and heavy metals.   Not enough to kill you but enough to weaken your system.

Thanks Mathteacher and Patty,

I will definitely get the Iodoral!!!

PS. I missed the first hour of Dr. Northrup. Let's us know if she says anything significant.

Glenis

I took tamoxifen for 26 months.  I had the stomach flu one weekend, didn't take the tamox, then a day turned into a week, a month, and more.  Then it was time to fess up to the onc.  I was apprehensive, had the highest bp reading ever in my life.  When the onc entered the room and I spilled the beans, I swear, the man nearly yawned.  He shrugged his shoulders in the same way he responds to my complaints of fatigue, and said 'some women do fine on tamoxifen and some find it intolerable.'  He didn't mention one word about arimidex!  Perhaps he thought he knew me well enough to know that I wouldn't want to take it, but it still strikes me as strange he didn't even mention it. 

Other things I don't recall ever being mentioned were percentage estimates of my survival of with vs without pharmaceuticals.  And what really chaps my hide about these studies that report on survival, the context is surviving just the bc.  If I get heart damage and die of a heart attack, I'm a bc success story.  Well, I say fat lot of good it does me to survive bc treatments if I end up dead from a heart attack!  Every single time I see that Leann Womack commercial about heart health and how more women die of heart attacks than breast cancer, I wonder every single time, how many of those women were bc survivors before the heart attack came along and killed them?  ...this probably doesn't belong on the arimidex thread.  It's chemo and rads that are more notorious for heart damage.  But these studies that spout one set of stats after another really should include information about deaths from other causes.  ok, stepping off that topic's soapbox...  

 wblibrary, I've had help with sleep from taking valerian root (for a while at least, then not so much).  Some people get help from melatonin, which doesn't do squat for me, but 5-htp helped for a good long while.  Now I supplement with magnesium (I use a spray on my skin, which never seems to cause any 'bowel tolerance' issues, which is sort of a guessing game in other forms as to how much you can handle).  Magnesium is very important for bone health, plus it helps people sleep and for those with joint pain, it helps sometimes for that.  

I also take iodoral and get it from breastcancerchoices.org.

 ruthy, how do you like your naturopath?  When I get some money saved up (I hope that will happen in this lifetime), I'm willing to travel to find a practitioner worth a copay.  If you need something from a compounding pharmacy, can your naturopath get you what you need?  I gave up on doctors in my town 2 years ago.  

I heard an oncologist on a video say that at least 30% of women prescribed Arimidex stop taking it because of unbearable side effects. Has anybody else found that statistic?