If not an AI-what you are taking and how is it going?

Hey Azz & Kathy- thanks for posting. Well, my onc turned out to be like about every other medical professional and insisted on the AIs...what floored me was that she did not have an estrogen level for me. When I specifically asked if the AIs do anything other than inhibit the estrogen she said no. To which I said Then why can't we monitor what my DIM plus and other supplements are doing and if it does not keep levels down, I will go on AI. She said it is irrelevant! That I have to be on an AI as it is protocol. That is just ridiculous to me. I said you know, I want something I can live with my entire life not just for five years. Totally ignoring me, she said there was no need for an estrogen level - which I believe she was saying so I could not measure my progress with naturals. Anyway, I agreed and took the prescription- when I left the office I called back and said since I am a numbers person, please order the estrogen blood test so I can see how the AI is working other than "the side effects" as she told me I would have (Now isn't that professional) She agreed after I swore I would take the AIs. So, I will have my test and get my levels and continue with my regimen for the next three months until I see her again and get retested. It is so moronic to have to play games such as this but I will as my life depends on it. Estro Detox does not seem to be a bad product for hormone suppression from what I read. Once I have my levels I will post them and then repost again in three months. I am not a fool- if this way does not work at suppressing the hormones, then I will try the AI.

EVebarry is a wonderful username!

This is my personal experience with Arimidex. I bit the bullet and decided to try it. I was fearful that in myown way I was outsmarting myself by not taking what every medical professional told me I needed. One pill, that's all I took. I decided to try it at night, before I went to sleep. I was calm and actually thinking it would be a good thing. I  took a bath and went to bed. I fell asleep shortly after. Then I woke up. And went back to sleep. This repeated itself through the night interspersed with bouts of explosive diarreah. I woke up (for tenth time) and got ready for work feeling like I was on the worst kind of speed. I skipped my vitamins as I did not want any extra enhancements adding to the mix. One pill, the night before. I got to work and was hyper and of course tired, from the lack of sleep. But felt like, ok, if this is the worst, I will just take the pill very very early in the morning and then I will be able to sleep. Maybe the diarreah was stress or something. That was fine until about 1pm in the afternoon, I was standing outside talking to a friend and my left arm went numb. Like I had just woken up after sleeping on it. I shook it and commented how odd it felt. Then she looked at me and said how glassy my eyes were and I said not much sleep last night. I sat down and then my left leg was tingling. I said this is ridiculous, it must be from me being scared or something, one pill could not do this that quick. So I got up and laughed it off and went back upstairs to the office. By the time i got back my eyes were watering and I felt my head was pounding,my eyes were burning and red.I shook it off, again, saying this is CRAZY, I must be getting sick. My brain was completely spinning. My sister came over and asked me what was wrong as my eyes were so red and glassy and I was holding my arm funny. I said I did not know. I hadnever felt this bad in my life...inclduing when I go the BMX...at least when I woke up from that I anticipated something would hurt. But this was weird. Like nothing before. I called my husband and said I didn't know if I could drive home so to hang in case I needed to call him. I made it home crying the whole way. By the time I got home I was convinced it was not the pill but that I had undergone a small stroke. My neck was was sore and the left side was weirding out. My husband got home and sat withme and got me to take a hot bath. Once I sat back in the tub I got really really MAD! I said I must be nuts honey...because one pill could not do this to a person. He corrected me and said I knew better than that. He reminded me of the two times in his life when he had violent side effects following the first or second dose of two different drugs. He reminded me of the drugs back in high school that people (him and his friends,not goody two shoes me:) took and how one little pill did an awful lot. I started crying harder. I sadi what if it doesn't get better? My arm and leg are numb and I have shooting spur type feelings in my foot. My neck hurts and I my stomach is rumbling loud enough for him to hear it. I turned on the jets in the tub to massage my hold body ...and kept crying. I was too scared to take a tylonel or an ativan because I did not know if it would make &it& worse...he told me to get mad so I would not be scared...(he knows me well) so i did. I went on to say not only would I not ever take a FRIGGIN AI of any kind again but I damn well would quit smoking without adding more drugs to the mix. Somehow I had slowly started to buy intoit all...the big name hospitals and the big name docs telling me I NEEDED THIS STUFF. Now don't get me wrong...i am not a fool and if I had a more agressive cancer I damn well would do what was neccessary. BUT...this is why I had a BMX, this is why I started a regimen to suppress the estrogen naturally based on clinical trials...this is why I changed my diet, this is why I decided to stop smoking...to battle the BC so I could live a good life. So I got good and mad. Mad atmyself for not trusting my gut which has led me right since all of this began. I was mad that there untold women suffering horrific side effects so they can make some magical 5year mark while their life is compromised in so many other ways along the path to get there. NO. My sister called as she was worried about me and said she had never been so scared in her life when she saw me that afternoon. And let me tell you my sister is no alarmist and in fact would be the first one to tell me it was inmy head. She said you know, maybe that is why so manypeople can't believe you have gone through all of this...as you are healing so well and have generally been getting stronger and healthier...maybe if you had taken the AIs right after surgery like they wanted you to you might have been sicker like everyone seemed to expect you to be. And maybe you would not haveknown the difference thinking it was all part of the process of breast cancer. That you were supposed to feel like &hit. And I thought about that and I have to agree. Don'tget me wrong, I have had some rough days since the BMX but not anything like what happened to me yesterday. But if I hadnot had eight weeks of healing before trying this poison how would I know how to feel? I had never had breast cancer andsurgery before...all of the symptoms would have gotten swept up in the general Bc aftermath....Let me say this,  Ivcould never have dreamed it would hit me that hardvthat fast. I stayed home from work today and rested. As the day has gone on most feeling returned with just my upper arm and elbow and knee and heel tingling/feeling weird still. My stomach is racked. A little gross aside...I went to the restroom and after wiping...there was blood. Now I know where I wiped and have neverhad blood from my rear before in 54 years. I start screaming a bit ago for my husband and we looked it up...yep, one of the rare side effects...I missed that one in my reading..I am hoping that I had a hemi I did not know abotu suddenly decide to bleed (dont they do that? soemtimes) from all the diarreah....If it continues until tomorrow I will go to doc. But i am sick of docs rightnow. Pissed at docs right now. So here it is almost 24 hours following one dose  of arimidex. My story, my experience. No wonder so many write of their pains, I will never glossover those plaintive writings again when reading them. I truly believe none of them are exagerrating and they must feel like theya re going nuts to have that stuff start popping off in their bodies. My case might be unique and the effects extreme. I can only liken it to a poison that my body is trying to get rid of. The bitch is the drug can linger in your system for 50-60 hours. I will stick with that and not pay attention to someone who called astrazeneca and was told each dose can actually remain active within for 10-11 days. Nope. In this case I will use mind over matter to get over this mini catastrophe. And be grateful that now I do not have to play the what if game. I don't care what brand or formulation, I will not put it in my body again. It scared me and I hope I don't have lingering anything from it. God bless all of you who can handle it. I cannot.