Arimidex - Coping with the SE's

Layla- the Cancermath site can calculate how treatment might effect your survival rate. Here is link:



http://www.lifemath.net/cancer/breastcancer/therapy/index.php



Musical- Thank you for your reminder about how easy it is to misinterpret written messages. Always good to keep in mind. I try to keep this in mind in other places too. If I get cut off in traffic, instead of getting mad I take a deep breath and imagine that someone might have been distracted by bad news or a really bad day. Life can sure get tough sometimes. Usually best to give benefit of the doubt.

Trisha,

I have been on Arimidex for 4 mos and suffer insomnia. How did you cope with this SE? I hate the idea of a chemical sleeping aid. I have tried melatonin but this has not helped.

Lori

Thx dobie, i was wondering what I was gonna do on the vacation with the coconut oil pellets melting all over my clothes packed in the luggage. The coco butter might work, has anyone tried taking something like that on a plane?

Went to a new MO today and got Femara,now all I have to worry about is bone fractures and loss of hair right?

Yep thanks, Dobie!  You are a wealth of info and I truly appreciate it!

Ha ha LOL MamaV well surely your hair is eventually going to come back wavy !  When you say "down" do you mean flat?  SOrry if Im not "getting it" but I havent heard these sayings about "up do's" etc. Boy I was sooo pleased to be able to tie mine back. It all fits into the a tail at the back now without bits falling out. I have to CONSTANTLY grapple with a dang cowlick on one side at the front. (GRRRRRR) I used to be able to cover it up with a boofed up fringe which was aided with hair spray and the like. These days as part of my pro-active thing Ive ditched those things and so now its as flat as a pancake dropped from 50 stories ... ....Oh well it is what it is. 

Don't do the flush free niacin, it is not as effective. Try the slow release...Walmart, the bottle says 'SLO NIACIN'.

Even a slight increase in exercise will increase HDLs.   

High  Cholesterol Niacin -- but not niacinamide -- has  been used since the 1950s to try to lower elevated LDL ("bad") cholesterol and  triglyceride (fat) levels in the blood. However, side effects can be unpleasant  and even dangerous. High doses of niacin cause flushing of the skin, stomach  upset (which usually subsides within a few weeks), headache, dizziness, and  blurred vision. There is an increased risk of liver damage. A time-release form  of niacin reduces flushing, but its long-term use is associated with liver  damage. In addition, niacin can interact with other cholesterol-lowering drugs  (see "Possible Interactions"). You should not take niacin at high doses without  your doctor's supervision.
 

Diabetes The effect of niacin on type 2 diabetes is more complicated. People with type 2  diabetes often have high levels of fats and cholesterol in the blood. Niacin,  often along with other drugs, can lower those levels. However, niacin may also  raise blood sugar levels, which is particularly dangerous for someone with  diabetes. For that reason, anyone with diabetes should take niacin only when  directed to do so by their doctor, and should be carefully monitored for high  blood sugar.
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/vitamin-b3-000335.htm

Ruth:  Again, thanks for your insight.  I really appreciate it.

Sigh.... Feeling a little discouraged. I think I will join the Wellness center here in my new hometown and try to do some swimming. Maybe that will help. I think I'm experiencing bone loss as my arches are falling, and my spine has shown degenerative changes over an 8-month period, according to my most recent bone scan. I'm having a bone density scan in October, so we can check it against the baseline I had two years ago when I joined the A-team. It's SO frustrating!

Rocket - that is why I went off the AIs - very high blood glucose levels, very high BP, high chloresterol, sleeplessness, depression - I had it all and had to make the decision - diabetes, heart attack/stroke or recurrence - I had no problems before the AIs - I am just one of those people who reacted terribly to the drugs BUT at no time did I take any supplements without the permission of my doctors.

A bit late to this discussion.  HAIR....I colored the micro-locks as soon as they reached the micron level.  Was way too depressing to see the dead rodent pelt on my head.  So back to Feria black, and I looked infinitely better.  I couldn't wait to ditch the wig which I did when I realized that the dentist visit would go better w/o it.  And I had a doing a two-day cycling event coming up.  NO WAY was I going to mess with a wig, so just went topless.

I looked great rocking uber short (about three months) but not the nine months after that.  Now, I love my short hair, but really took two years to get this point.  But more than OK the past year.

On number of years to take.....I think another two years or so until we know, as the study which will answer this question is just finishing up.  5 years was a guess based on Tamoxifen. I am thinking more than OK based on a UK study (of something else, but included anti-hormonals) where two years was astonishingly better than not at all.  At this point though, we just don't know.

EXERCISE is just so important in all this.  As it would be if we hadn't had cancer.  So apart from potentially making the trip through Arimidex easier and strengthening our bones, it helps our heart, brain, lungs, sleep, digestion, balance, body composition, mood, and libido.  In fact, the only downside I can think of is that looking better in clothes means you spend more money on them.

I feel so fortunate that we have AIs available. Just not sure I would be confident that I am cured if I didn't have this option.  And I really do believe this.  Thankful every day for my wonderful life. - Claire

I remember from my nursing school days that hair grows at about 1/2 inch a month.  I'm hoping I'm remembering that correctly. Hair has a 3 cycle growth pattern and about 15% of hair is in the "resting" phase.  When the follicle starts growing a new hair, the current one falls out.  So there is always some hair falling out.  Personally, I think the stress of radiation and surgeries, then the start of arimidex reset some of my follicles, 'cuase I go throught phases of almost no hair falling out to phases of lots of hair coming out over the course of a year.  But that may be just me, who knows!  

Something to talk to your docs about--all of our meds are ordered to be taken daily, but not all of us can tolerate the side effects when taken that way.  I cannot take anti-cholesterol drugs daily without getting incredible muscle pain and fatigue.  My cholesterol levels need help.  My PCP allowed me to try taking the anti-cholesterol drug every other day, which I couldn't quite handle, then 3 x week, which I can handle.  I get more muscle aches and pains from everyday activity, but not so much that I am miserable.  My liver function tests are returning to normal again.  I just cannot take that pill every day.  After recon surgery I was off the arimidex for a week and really noticed the difference in how I feel (not so achey, not so stiff), so maybe when I am done with the arimidex I'll be able to tolerate the cholesterol med better.  I talked with my med onc about taking the arimidex every other day, she said there is no research to support that (I knew that) but that logically it would be better than stopping it early.  In the end I decided not to go that route with the arimidex, choosing to take more chances with the cholesterol than the bc, but at least I felt like there were some option between take or not take.  Hopefully there will be some research on this someday.  

kjiberty - you so took the words out of my mouth about exercise being a requirement. I step it out on the road as early as possible which is when I get the less pain from peripheral neuropathy in my feet. Sometimes every step hurts and Arimidex has increased the intensity of the PN quite substantially as well as made my feet ache in certain places which is definitely not from PN, especially when 1st getting up out of bed or out of a chair after sitting a while. Excercise does "free up the pain" Ive found.I take heart that its not all the time.

Thankyou NativeM  for your post. That's very interesting what you say . SOmetimes I think we all have more "fluff" or whatever around the fringeline than other times.  

Wow Wren44  Your post is, shall I say, timely. We have a resident blackbird that we watch and in NZ its end of winter early spring here. We are laughingly watch her tail feathers coming out one by one. Yesterday LOL she's down to 2 feathers left on one side. We've been watching her for a number of years and never seen her lose all her tail, but I saw a blackbird last year or should I say last season,  lose all her tail, but that was summer. They look  funny in a cute sorta way LOL.

schatzi14