Is there such a thing as Aromatase Inhibitor brain???

Hi girls. Yes there is definitely a change to some with these medications but it's due in part to the lack of oestrogen rather than the drug itself. As your body gets used to the lower oestrogen in it, the forgetfulness and disassociation will ease as will the hot flashes which in turn will improve your sleeping.......it may take six months or more but don't lose hope it does improve.

Hope this helps a little.

Love n hugs. Chrissy

I've been on AIs for 4.5 years now. As long as I get good sleep, my memory is almost what it was before treatment. But if my sleep has been disrupted for more than a night or so, I feel the effects. I think those with hot flashes, pain or other SE that disrupt sleep probably have harder times with the memory issues. Certainly I do. So I'd suggest tackling sleep issues as one of the steps to moderate memory problems. I sleep better if I've exercised that day, almost regardless of what else might bother me.

In two words: H*LL yes.

Seriously, I had mental issues bad on Arimidex but it seems to have cleared up on Aromasin. For all the time I was on Arimidex, I could not think of words in my lexicon--easy words--I simply couldn't recall them quickly. And I felt distracted, lost, forgetful, etc. Not to mention egregious mood swings and not in a good way.

It could have been a false cause--perhaps my chemo brain cleared up about the time I started on Aromasin--but Arimidex was an awful drug for me in so many ways, I blame it for brain fog too.

Claire in AZ

Hi every8,

I took it for about 18 months. I threatened my MO that I was going to just stop completely after 18 months of struggle, and she said she wanted me on "something", so she rx'd Aromasin. I've been on it now for over a year...and it seems that the SE from Arimidex resolved themselves right away, along with my brain slowness.

http://www.breastcancer.org/research-news/20131014...

Above is a link to a BCO article entitled "Chemo Brain Could Be Hormonal Therapy Brain".

Personally, I've had some problems with word recall and working memory on both tamoxifen (and no chemo) and letrozole (after taxol). I have decided to accept it calmly and carry on.

ChiSandy,

You are demonstrating something that educational researchers have learned. Students remember material better if it is sung as lyrics. I can only order the ABCs by remembering the childhood tune. I don't know if this has been studied in those of us post-meno.

I've always been addicted to crosswords—the harder, the better. NYTimes' Saturday crossword, though smaller than the large themed Sunday one, is my favorite conventional-style one. I love good acrostics too—in which you fill in numbered and lettered blanks of clues and then transfer each letter to the appropriate square in the grid. The grid is an excerpt or quotation from a written work. When done, the first letter of each clue's answer will spell out the author and title of the quotation. Again, the NYT has the best ones (though it's too quick and easy doing them online because it's like “Wheel of Fortune," where the letters fill themselves in on the grid when you type the answers and vice versa). I like American cryptic and Puns & Anagrams crosswords too. Word-find and jumble puzzles are too easy, and Sudoku makes my eyes cross—I've always stunk at math. Numbers don't thrill me.

But my absolute favorites are diagramless crosswords—you're presented with regular crossword clues but a blank grid. You have to figure out where the words go. Some anthologies give you the starting square, others just tell you whether there's “regular" symmetry, left-right symmetry or none at all. (If symmetry isn't mentioned, you can assume “regular" symmetry). There’s a variation called “diagramless fill-ins” where all the “E”s in the puzzle are filled in and the clues are just lists of words. You are given only the starting square and sometimes the first word—then you’re on your own.The toughest, of course, are those where you have to figure out where the first word starts, with no other hint. Those are the only ones I must do in pencil. (Crosswords printed on good paper are how I use my favorite fountain pens and inks). The only ones that truly exasperate me are British cryptics—not just because they're so hard (maybe that's why British tabloids are so dumbed-down, because readers fry their brains doing those diabolical cryptics) but because definitions, idioms, and spellings differ so much from those on this side of the pond. The spellings are least problematic, because so many who post here are Canadian and their spelling has become second-nature to me. It’s the slang & idioms that do me in.

Ihad the same experience as claireinaz. I was anastrozole for about 7 months. My word recall got so bad and I felt really thick brained to the point I was convinced that I had Alzheimers, which runs in my family. On top of that I felt flu like all the time and was exhausted. My MO switched me to exemestane after a three week break. Except for occasion word recall problems I am so much better.

I think it's so incredibly interesting that each of us responds differently to different AIs. But it also troubles me that because we are so unique in that respect, I wonder if we'll ever find a way to treat bc for all of us.

Anyway--happy Sunday, ladies. Glad you are all here with me, since my oncology check up looms end of this week, which always serves to make me feel uneasy and isolated.

Claire inAZ

Thank you, every8th.

Sometimes I think knowing too much isn't a blessing. Had two friends who (one with ovarian c and the other with bc) went to a routine checkup that ended up absolutely not routine. And so I am scared every time.

Claire