How Many are doing 10 years on Aromatase Inhibitors

Jillian, that is awesome that you hit the 10 year mark!!!

Nash, I sure get the idea of feeling lost at the gym, best idea is to find a trainer to ask advise of or pay for a few private sessions.  Much better than hurting yourself

Nash, I have pretty bad truncal LE on my right side chest wall so I am limited at what I can do at the gym.  What I have been doing now for years is a vigorous cardio setting on the treadmill.  I have slowly built up to a level five which consists of a 3.75 mile sprint with half of it being on a pretty steep incline.  This is considered weight bearing exercise since I am bearing my own weight. (according to my docs)  I do this five times a week.  I also do some light weight training for my legs, butt and tummy.  This keeps everything firm.  Also, be sure and do stretches before and after.  Like some of the others said, it might be a good idea to get a trainer for a session or two to learn what is best to meet your goals.  The treadmill is a great workout for not only bone health but also cardio, weight loss, decreasing circulating hormones and for me STRESS.

Thanks Hopeful...A and B describe me. The only other exercise I do consistently is yoga.

If you want some exercise buddies, check out the Let's Post Our Daily Exercise thread on the fitness forum

My onc has switched me to Tamoxifen after 5 years on A

After I get my BCI test, if the score is low, I may stop the Arimidex after 7 plus years.  Has anyone else had the BCI test?

Edited, because I found the test. As far as I can see, it is only for node-negative patients. Oh well!

Well I know I wasn't eligible for the oncotype test even though I was node negative. Since I was HER2+ with a large tumor I was getting chemo anyway.

My Onc switched me from Arimidex to Tamoxifen at my appointment yesterday to see if my SEs of sleeplessness, spine and hip aches, and vag. dryness can be eased up.  He said that it is better for my bones and I had a hysterectomy so complications there aren't an issue.  When I asked about the effectiveness comparison, he said that since I'm a stage 1c cancer patient, the risk of cancer return would increase from 2% to 4%, which is in his opinion, a small increase for quality of life.  What do you think? I appreciate hearing what others have been told and how it affected your decisions.

Thanks lago. We try our hardest to do what we can to put the odds in our favor but still know it won't matter if we are even the one in a million. How long have you been on AI? I was on Arimidex for 7 months, off for 3 months and back on for 2. I stopped for the 3 months because of a rash caused by capillaritis to see if stopping Arimidex would help get rid of it (no change). I'm determined to stick with whatever is recommended for any advantage I can get. And for post menopausal women, it seems like there is an advantage to taking AI over Tamoxifen. I started Tamoxifen last night and slept a lot better so I'll see if that repeats tonight

My onc switched me from AI to Tamoxifen because she said that, at this time, the research has not yet proven that more than 5 years of AI will make a difference. But the research on Tamoxifen proves that 10 years is better than 5. That was the reason for the switch. My bone density didn't go down too badly but I had taken Zometa for the first 3 years. However, over the 5 years I have had a lot of joint degeneration I had to stop taking Wellbutrin because it doesn't react well with Tamoxifen (glad the pharmacist caught that). Too soon to say if sleep is better but mood seems better

Jumoing in Marieann. I've been taking anastrozole and generic lexapro with out any problems. Only on the AI a month but they don't seem to be negatively impacting each other

Hi MaryAnn. Was taking the gen lexapro before BC. It worked great for me Have to say taking it and then getting BC I didn't crash and burn with the news as I might have in the past. There have definitely been some weepy moments and fatigue like when depressed in the past. On the other hand if we didn't feel some of thei all things considered then I'd really worry! Good luck with this. All these meds can have side effects but this one was fine for me thankfully!

I have PTSD from being molested as a child so am a big advocate for protecting chikdren

My MO had me on 1200 mg but then I saw a Ruematologist for my osteoperosis and she cut it to 600 and said I should get the rest from food like yogurt.