Monitoring and Reducing Risks of Aromatase Inhibitors

Dear All. the suffering is so rampant and getting others to truly understand is a challenge. They often don't get it plus it upsets them that we are altered by treatments and side effects. I am on Anestrazole and seem to be tolerating it well. I do take Vit D 1200 IU daily, am on Lexapro(an antidepressant) and have been simvastatin for long time before breast cancer. Exercise and good healthy diet are key and sleep. I find that my sleep cycle is severely interrupted. I was getting up every hour when taking Xeloda. Somewhat better now that I am off it but between needing to nap during the day and disrupted nights mood and stamina are not great.

Take care.

Me too! Love prunes anyway, so was glad to learn this-thanks Ruttbru!

"Me too! Love prunes anyway, so was glad to learn this-thanks Ruttbru!"

Time for a prunes subforum, maybe?

Exercise, exercise, exercise, and get the best moisturizers and skin creams (not lotions) that you can. Use them all the time. When bathing, Dove soap, it's the most mild on your skin.

If you have a fitbit, you can use their dashboard as a diet aide. You can tell it how much weight you want to lose and have options of calorie reductions depending on how fast you want to lose it (slow, medium, medium hard, fast). It automatically keeps track of your exercise and movement and if you log in your food, it will tell you how many more calories you have left (it's the differential between the calories in and out that matters). So if I have gone over my calorie goal, I can go for another walk (or whatever) to get back into my range. You can also record how much water you drink, and it tracks sleep (which is very interesting as I have always felt I was a restless sleeper.....and I am, so it's just not in my mind!). I need gimmicks, so this really works for me.

I actually think there used to be a 'Prune Thread'.

I don't know how to insert links, but there is another one too. I'll bump it. It's under the Forum: Bone Health and Bone Loss → Topic: Prunes for bone density-anyone have success?

Ruthbru, thanks for that prune reference. From prunes to Gladiators! I bet no one has ever uttered or written that phrase before. Another aside, about 3 times in the last 8 years my husband and I have headed out to ND right about this time of year to Theodore Roosevelt National Park!

Now back to the Cetaphil and other side effect reducing measures.

Lea, Theodore Roosevelt National Park is one of my very favorite places!!

Anyone who wants some exercise buddies, come over to the Lets Post Our Daily Exercise thread on the Fitness Forum (it's always in the active topics). A great group of ladies at all exercise levels and all stages of treatment and beyond.

Do you just hike around or ???? Camp? Stay in Medora (at the Rough Rider Motel?)? Which is your favorite, the North or South unit?

OK, mums the word........what state are you from Lea?

My mom was from Chetek (near Eau Claire) so I have spent lots of time in western Wisconsin. That's a LONG drive to Medora!!!

Yes, it's a beautiful area. Althogh last year they got nailed by that awful tornado. It went right through some of my relatives land, uprooting trees, pulling off shingles. Very scary. It still looked bad when we visited in the fall.

My parents were married in Chetek too! At the Lutheran Church in town. My uncle and aunt and a bunch of cousins and their families still live there, and the raspberry bushes on the side of my house came from my great-grandfather's raspberry patch in Chetek.

I am a retired clinical social worker and spent 37 yrs treating people with mood and anxiety disorders. If you are not getting your antidepressants from a psychiatrist you may be under treated. My experience was that other providers routinely under prescribe and once levels are clinically appropriate patients begin to get relief. It may also help to see someone who specializes in treatment of PTSD. PTSD is actually an anxiety disorder but has significant depressive features. It is complicated and having someone help you sort out all that has and is happening to you can be a Godsend. I recently had bilateral mastectomy and am highly aware of my sx of PTSD and am considering seeing someone for psychotherapy. Whatever you do, DO NOT abruptly stop your antidepressants. That will throw you into an even worse emotional state. If you decide to discontinue the antidepressants, talk to your doctor about how to wean yourself off slowly. I am so sorry you are suffering so much. Dealing with the BC is hard enough without struggling w depression as well. Good luck with finding the right medication regime.

Margun, sorry I don't have an answer to your question. You may wish to pose it in the forum labeled "Hormonal Therapy-Before, During, and After."