Arimidex and Insomnia Anyone?

Sherry,

OMG....insomnia is the worst.  I am having such sleep issues.  I have tried blaming everything else, but I believe Arimidex is it.  Also having mood issues and depression which I am also convinced has to do with Arimidex.  I take my Arimidex in the morning, but lately am becoming non-compliant.  I actually am thinking of not taking it for a while and see if there is a difference in the mood and sleep issues.  I am not convinced this med does what it is supposed to anyway.  Would love to hear from anyone who stopped the Arimidex.  I think there is a lot "they" don't no.  The statistics on recurrence that they quote are for those that took hormone therapy....I don't think anyone follows those who refused it or quit it.

Day,

I was taking the brand, but as soon as the generic became available, the pharmacy switched me over to the generic (ins company rules).  I didn't notice a difference, and talked to the pharmacist at great length....he said most med's are made out of the country and they still have to abide by FDA rules....he wasn't concerned and told me there would be little if any difference at all.

But still can't get to sleep and if I do, I wake at least 4 times a night.  I do take it in the morning (when I take it)....maybe I will try taking it at night.

Thanks

Marianne

OMG, I have been on generic Arimidex since Feb. 2012. No chemo or radiation therapy was needed for my breast cancer. I have been taking the medication in the morning and will definitely try switching to bedtime. Last night, or I should say "morning" I was awake until 4:30 at which time I ate a peanut butter sandwich and the carbs knocked me out. Let's see, I will be depressed, crabby, 400 lbs. but cancer free!!! My sister and I have the same type of cancer, invasive caused by estrogen, and she has been cancer free for 7 years now and did not take this medication. I will choose to keep on taking it because I feel it is important to my future health and will try to resolve this issue of insomnia. Don't much care for the constipation either. I worked in the medical field for 30 years and don't automatically trust doctors or pharmaceutical companies either. Was this stuff made in China perhaps??? God's blessings of good health to all of you.

I am on a 1 mo vacation from Arimedex (generic form) for severe SE's. My sleep this week is back to almost normal. I only woke up 1X last night (normally 4X or more) and no sleep aids. I take Melatonin before bedtime.

I have been taking Anastrozole since September 6, 2013.  For the past few months, I have had insomnia and restless leg syndrome.  I am now at the point in which I don't get to sleep until 4:30 in the a.m.  Sometimes I can sleep until 11:30, sometimes only a couple of hours.  Last night I tried, for the first time, the generic form of Ambien, 5 mg, and it didn't work at all. I use Motrin and Lorazepan, but I still have my days and nights mixed up.  Melatonin doesn't seem to help.  This may sound crazy, but a couple of applications of Mineral Ice relieved the restless legs tonight but, it's 4:30 and I'm still up.  At my next visit with my oncologist, I will ask about getting a vacation from the Anastrozole.  I can't remember the last time I fell asleep at a reasonable hour.  Any ideas?

Grandma Dee you made me laugh out loud, truly.  I am sitting here with my stomach growling, knowing that if I eat some carbs I have a chance of getting to sleep.  But since diagnosis I have gained 50 pounds and now I have diabetes!  No, it never ends!

I have been taking  Arimidex for 2 years 

and yes, I have nights where I wake up around 1am and then I can back to sleep unless I take a sleep aid.  I can fall asleep easily without aid but then wake up and can't fall back asleep unless I take something.  And then I can go a month without any aid at all, like my body just snaps out of it but then it's back to sleeplessness again.  I used to feel guilt for taking aid but now understand it's more important to get sleep then take a pill, but I still have anxiety when I still can't seem to sleep so I take an alphazolem for the anxiety and that helps me sleep as well.

I'm also in my last year of arimidex and I frequently have insomnia, and until now I hadn't realized it was a side effect.  So, apparently we need more to deal with besides the thinning hair, the bone and joint pain, inability to walk reasonable distances, and hot flashes?  And crying at the drop of a hat too!  I'm glad I'm almost at the end!

Kathy

I'm rounding the corner on two years on Arimidex and have started the insomnia business about a month ago. Writing this at 3:30 in the morning. I take it in the morning. Will try some of the suggestions posted here regarding changing times to take it to see if this helps. Thanks for these! Been through some bone pain issues (already have a right shoulder that's been giving me fits) and the pain medication causes lovely side effects with bowel habits.

The last time I had very bad insomnia (other than the usual "teenage children angst") was following an assault back almost 30 years ago. I went through a six month period where I slept perhaps one or two hours a night. I remember thinking that at some point I should collapse from lack of sleep sometime during the day but never did. It was amazing. This is just plain frustrating because I don't want to give up on the Arimidex but boy, insomnia really isn't fun! Between the insomnia, the bone pain and the constipation I get up wondering which body part I'm going to moan about that day...I'm 63 years old and I keep remember what Betty Davis used to say "Old Age Ain't For Sissies".

The only times in my life when I have had insomnia was when I was pregnant and when I was on Arimidex.  I stopped it for three months and the insomnia stopped immediately also.  My MO started me on Tamoxifen and I haven't had any issues with that drug.  It seems to be something that hits each of us individually.  Good luck!

I've been reading comments on arimidex causing insomnia and restless leg syndrome.

I started searching on google to see if I could find any information on this as I have been assessing everything I can think of and the only thing that I could think of that had changed after I had finished 6 months of chemo and before I started 30 rounds of radiation was that I had started taking arimidex (anastrozole ) .

I haven't been able to fall asleep for the whole time that I have been taking the arimidex. I toss and turn and have restless leg syndrome and rarely fall asleep before 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning, and then keep waking every hour or so and watch the clock continuously until daylight..

I seem to be functioning ok during the day but feel so tired when I go to bed just to toss and turn most of the night.

Apart from that I am feeling the best I have felt for the whole year as had my lumpectomy in February, followed by the 6 months of chemo and then 6 weeks of radiation.

I was so pleased to read all the posts about arimidex and insomnia because I thought it was only me and felt very alone.

I have my first follow up appointment next week with my oncologist and will talk to him about it.

So good to be able to talk to women that understand, we can all encourage each other instead of bearing all of our anxieties alone.

Kindest Regards to all,

Loris.

I too am having terrible in somnia even tho I moved my time of taking it to morning. Ambien has only helped to some degree. Before I quit I am going to request the non-generic form and see if that helps. I cannot believe there are no studies comparing recidivism rates of those taking arimidex vs those who don't. This is a subject for research before stopping the medication for me

Hi everyone. Well its pretty obvious that insomnia is a SE of arimidex! Ive decided not to take an anti hormone and now there is another reason not to! Sleep is so important to your overall health. For those of you that want to continue on it, I would suggest magnesium and melatonin also.

TNgolfer....Sorry you are having so many SE from arimidex. Im one who refused the anti hormones for many reasons. Please feel free to PM if you want to talk more about it. I don't think you will ever see a study on recurrence rates for those who refuse it. Who would fund it? Certainly not the pharmaceutical companies! I respect all the tough choices we have to make. We all have to decide whats best for us individually. Good luck to all......

Hi SleeplessinNJ - Welcome to Breastcancer.org, and thank you for sharing your Arimedex-insomnia story too!

If there's anything you need help with or have any comment for us, please feel free to contact us. We're always here.

Best wishes,

From The Mods.

Thank you all for sharing!! I just had a mastectomy of my right breast and now the doctors want me to take Arimidex. I am so against it as I have bipolar disorder and fear that this drug will mess up my body chemistry. Am also against taking Arimidex as it causes insomnia, which is horrific for a bipolar patient. I had Stage 1A ER/PR+ invasive/no lymph nodes affected. I need to make a decision soon whether or not to take Arimidex. Reading these posts make me want not to take the drug even more. There must be a safer way to slow down the production of estrogen without resorting to Arimidex!