Arimidex-Memory Loss

I have trouble too and I'm young.  It is scary and I worry about long term effects too. I'm never sure if its the arimidex, or the stress coupled with lack of sleep.  Either way, I'm not liking the path I'm headed down. I wonder if there are any natural type things we can take for memory?

Something that might help for memory loss and that 'tip of the tongue' feeling; check with your doctors but it shouldn't be an issue and get some over the counter lecithin; it has choline in it and it's the precursor for acetylcholine, one of the neurotransmitters in the brain directly responsible for that awake, alert feeling. Try one first thing in the morning and if you think you need more, try two.  If you take them in the evening you'll have trouble sleeping, just like if you'd had some caffeine.  They really do help and should not cause any side effects with your meds at all.  

You could also add extra choline sources to your diet; I think egg yolk is the strongest one, but personally, I get sick of eating eggs all the time and would rather take the pills. 

I know this is an old post, but I wanted to ask if you've found out more about your wife's conditon. I'm going thru the same thing, but I believe at almost 64 and already with some memory loss that I need to get off this stuff. I think it must be the estrogen loss. After menopause is bad enough, but to completely wipe it out of your body isn't natural.

I hope you get your wife checked out for dementia because there are some drugs that they say really help slow it down. I was reading on a UK Alzheimer's site where there are several people who are having real success with them, including a man who was diagnosed 7 yrs ago.

Hi Sandra,

This topic is a bit old, but still very relevant.

There has been some research showing that certain treatments can affect memory.

Take a look here:

Memory loss

Based on this, it appears that the memory issues resolve after you stop taking the medication:

Hormone therapy and memory

Let us know if this is helpful!

Best,

The Mods

dojtaylor, you are not alone in your feelings. Their is an effect to memory for many women. Lack of estrogen does have an impact on the brain. The extent varies. I did take some time to try to sort out the cause. Some of it for me was caused by lack of sleep and depression following treatments. I still notice a difference, but it has gotten a little better over time. I even was at a point where when driving I couldn't recognize where I was while driving a route that I had driven for years. Give it some time and track some of your other side effects to see if they are contributing.

hello! I know it's been a while since anyone has responded on this post. But my mom has been on arimidex for almost 5 years and had recently stopped taking it. She too has memory loss and "can't get her words out" she has trouble thinking of the words she wants to say and gets tounge tied when she tries to talk. She never had this problem before she started the medicine. I guess my question is people that have experienced these symptoms do they go away when you stop taking the medicine and if so how long before it starts to get better? Thank yo

My mom's oncologist suggested she discontinue taking Arimidex after nearly 8 years because of worsening memory issues. She's only 63. She's been off the medication nearly two months and we haven't noticed much improvement. The posted articles don't have much detail, so I'm hoping to hear from others if they experienced improvement and when.

Fearless...so sorry you are having memory issues on Arimidex. Your comment about pretending to take it or taking less really struck a chord with me. How many other people pretend they are taking it or are taking less? IMO it's so sad that we feel we have to do this. Again I'm happy for those of you who do well on anti hormone therapy. However there are just too many of us that don't. What other option are there? What can we do to increase compliance on these drugs? We should not have to decide between QOL and recurrence. WE need to speak up for better treatment options! Good luck to all navigating this complicated disease.

Oh ladies, how glad I am to hear that I'm not alone! I seriously have had horrible problems with my memory, and did not even connect it with my Arimidex use until recently. I've been on it for a year. My short term memory is totally unreliable. I can recall conversations but not who I had them with, and wake up in a panic thinking I've forgotten to do something at the office, only to get there the next day and realize that I did it. I'm 50 and too young for this! I am going to discuss it with my oncologist next month at my checkup. I want to be protected against recurrence, but is there anything out there with fewer side effects?

Arimidex was the first thing I was put on. It was terrible for my memory and gave me terrible joint pain. I felt like an old lady both in movement and mind. I was 52 at the time. (3 yrs ago). The oncologist changed it to Aromasin, then Femara. Those weren't as bad for my memory or joint pain but still had considerable pain. Now I'm on Tomaxifen and doing well on it. Definitely talk to your oncologist. There are other options for you. Tomoxifin isn't a choice for everyone if your still having periods, but the Dr. will discuss that with you. Good luck.