Life on aromasin

thanks.......think it might be better for me to take in the morning......not sure taking with a glass of wine or a margarita is the way to go.......or maybe it is?  lol

Not that I drink every night......but usually on a friday night Ill have a drink......

I found that taking Aromasin in the evening was better for me. If there were side effects like bone pain and brain fog, it occurred while I was sleeping. When I took it in the morning, I was barely able to work - unable to concentrate or retain new information, had difficulty choosing the right words when conversing, and pain getting out from under my desk. The memory since changing the time still stinks, but I blame that on getting older. The pain is minimal. I also get Prolia every six months and after my, so far, one and only injection, the bone pain has greatly dissipated. So I find evening dozing to be beneficial.

I was on Femara the first time with BC and with the second time I'm on Aromasin and have more pain it seems. But the Onc said the Femara didn't work for me...seems like I had read that Femara wasn't the best for BC.

If I take the Aromasin between 2-3 it seems to help more. 

I hae a friend who experienced horrific wrist pain, slept and worked with wrist supports during tx with Tamoxifen. She is now seeing a naturopath.

Good news.  That is wonderful to hear!!  There is a reason for these medications, for sure.

Insomnia began the first week with me and the pain came during the second.  Then they scheduled my hysterectomy/ooph and my gyn's nurse told me to stop it before the surgery.  I asked the dr if I could stop until my 2 week follow up to see how I actually felt from the surgery to not confuse the source of any pain. 

The week after my surgery I felt better than I had in a long time.  Then when I went back on (I take the generic) within 3 days the pain was back.  I am able to sleep 4 hours at a time now which helps tremendously but I still don't get a good night's rest.

I also have wrist pain on Aromasin. I switched to it from Arimidex due to swelling hands wrist ankles and feet but never had the tingling pain numbness in my hands and arm like this. I was border line carpel tunnel syndrome after being tested by a neurologist. I'm upset because other than this tingling and wrist issues I tolerated it fine. Sounds like Femera isn't much better, and tamoxifen blood clot and stroke risk scare me since it was in my family. I don't want permanent nerve damage so I may go back on Arimidex which i felt awful on, tired and very weak.

Thanks for all of you taking the time to post, it makes me feel like I am in good company hearing from all of you.    I began Greenstone brand Aromasin after a 2 week break after taking Femara for 4 months.  1st night I woke up with bad elbow and hand pain.  It went away during the day and hasn't returned.  2nd night, knee pain, that went away pretty much and pain in between my shoulder blades.  3rd night (last night) I awoke with pain in the middle of my back below my shoulder blades.  Each day it is easing up, so far, so good.  I rode my bike around this morning and my knees felt a little bad/weird, but I soldiered on and stretched like crazy when I finished and that felt better.  

I've been working with a Naturopathic Oncologist, who works with my surgeon, since the end of my radiation.  She's helped me get healthy and mitigates the S/E's of the prescription meds. She tells me that the joint pain from the AI's is your body dumping collagen on it's way to osteopenia or osteoporsis.  I have just begun taking Osteo-K Bone Support, which she told me is the natural alternative to Boniva, et. al, in place of my usual calcium/magnesium.  And I have also begun taking 2 - Zyflamend Nighttime capsules to see if that will help with the bone/joint aches, if anybody's interested. 

I can deal with some discomfort and I'm hoping that these S/E's don't escalate as I am at the end of my proverbial rope with the hormonal therapy. 

Shayne, we just drove by the Prescott exit last night on our way home from Payson, where my folks live.  They closed Hwy 87 and it was either drive thru Globe or Camp Verde to get home, we voted for Camp Verde. 

I have been taking Caltrate, Vitamin D3, Magnesium, Hair, Skin and Nails (from Sundown Naturals) and a Vit B Complex for a long time; possibly a year.  I wonder if any of this has helped with joint pain, which I don't really have much of at this point. I do have some arthritis but feel it is most likely unrelated to the Aromasin. I am stiff in the morning but it goes away quickly;  I was used to a certain amount of achiness from having fibromyalgia.

Maybe the sweats will just resolve themselves and pass.  That has been my experience.  They kind of come and go during periods of time for some reason.

Yeah - that collagen thing has an ominous sound to it.

dogsandjogs   Before I had my bone scan they told me if I had osteoporosis I think they told me I couldn't take aromasin but I'm not 100% on that.  I do know that is I was peri osteoporosis I was going to have to come every 6 months and get something through an IV for my bones.  She said it would be where I got the chemo but it wasn't chemo.  The nurse practioner has severe osteoporosis and she gets it every 6 months as well.

That 6 month treatment could have also been if I had osteoporosis but I'm not sure.  If you would like I can call and ask what it was they were going to give me.

Fondak:  The onc told me Aromasin would hurt my bones less than the other AIs. But I think they are all pretty much the same (from what I've read)

Ray: I quit Aromasin in February and just recently my bone and muscle pains are getting better. I can now walk down steps normally (instead of sideways) and the shoulder and toe pain is gone. I no longer have the constant diarrhea and depression and my vision has stabilized.  So it looks like I might be almost back to normal.

Some people get constipation with Aromasin, others diarrhea.  The other SE I forgot to mention is stress incontinence.  I had that already and it got much, much worse.  That figures, since it is related to lack of estrogen.

Good luck tomorrow. Hopefully it won't be painful!