not common side effect of arimidex

Soapsud,

I was very interested in your posting.  I was 'diagnosed' with osteoporosis age 41.  Here I am 13 years later luckily I've never had a fracture.  I have always been suspicious about the WHO bone density standard.  There are all manner of interesting stats like in many Asian countries post menopausal women have low density but rarely have fractures.  Interestingly this would support the questionable comparison with people of different weights.  Like you I decided to do all the good things for bone health - except I am not a milk drinker.  I exercise etc.  I was a little freaked out at how much my density was reduced post chemo. but fundamentaly there isn't anything more I can do so I  decided to just get on with life and not stress about it. 

Thanks for your input

Anna

Hi ladies,

I have been on Arimidex for 3 months and have sore thumbs which is fine but have recently developed sore boobs and a tight rib cage. No obvious reasons such as scarring. Does Arimidex give breast sensitivity. Need to wear a bra which is new and still don't feel comfortable jumping or running. Only small reconstructed boobs so is quite weird. Surgeon is puzzled. 

 

Hi ladies,

I have been on Arimidex for 3 months and have sore thumbs which is fine but have recently developed sore boobs and a tight rib cage. No obvious reasons such as scarring. Does Arimidex give breast sensitivity. Need to wear a bra which is new and still don't feel comfortable jumping or running. Only small reconstructed boobs so is quite weird. Surgeon is puzzled. 

 

Dear Anna

Yes like you I feel like the decisions are life and death choices, which heaps lots of stress on me, I am hardly deciding on what holdiay destination I want to go to they seem like such serious decesisions.

My husband did some research and he came up with raloxifene used for osteoporosis treatment, but is a hormone therapy drug a new version of Tomoxifen I am going to ask for this drug.

 I will tell you personally,  that 100 million people world wide are reported to have osteoporosis, I am not so comfortable with the testing they do for osteoporosis and have done a lot of study on it.   Some of my friends with breast cancer, their doctors here in Brisbane went to a conference in Paris last year ,where they discused the testing they do for Osteo, and are now advising their patents not to do the test but instead are just  testing their  levels of Vitamin D instead ,this is due to  the inaccuraceies of the testing.itself.          example, I weigh around 100 pounds and the sample of 100 persons they measured me against   probably weight 150 pounds average  I dont need the same amount of  density  in my ones as someone that weights this much, so they really need to measure me against people who are my own size to get an accurate reading,  But of course I feel that I should be extra aware of my bone health now..

 

  I know you are  only 54  and if you can think further down the track  5 or 10 years from now how different treatments will be.  Dr,s  can only tell you in todays terms of medicine about what your options are, I meet a great breast nurse and she point it out to me how different medicine will be in 5 or 10 years time if my cancer comes back, it will probably make the treatments we are having now seem some what basic, and to just do my treatments, and then get on with my life. I keep remebering this.

 and if it is any comfort I know that there is a lot of overseas  testing going on right now for stem cell rejuvernation of  bone density, so the future is  a lot brighter  for osteoporosis in the future.

 

I thought getting through the chemo would be hard but making decisions about ongoing treatment felt really difficult because there is so much information to weigh up.  My husband was also really good at working through data for me.

I had chemo and radiation after double mastectomy and right axillary clearance (5 positive nodes out of 19).  I knew I was osteoporotic before my diagnosis, I'm 54 years old.  So my bone density was so bad -4.2 I couldn't start on Arimidex.  I am 10 years post menopause so I was anxious about starting Tamoxifen.  I have had no side effects but  I will have annual pelvic ultrasounds to watch my endometrium and well as ovaries (I am considering a hysterectomy so I can stop worrying about this) - probably overkill but it makes me feel like I have some control.  I know long term outcomes are slightly better with the Arimidex and I hope after a few years of Tamoxifen I can switch to Arimidex.

Sounds like you are gathering all the information you can, then you have to make the choice that feels right for you. Frustrating though, I felt like being the patient was hard enough without having to make difficult decisions.

Anna

Hi, this is Lisa from the Policy Team. I'm sorry to hear about the side effects you're experiencing, but it is great that you have discussed these side effects with your oncologist.

I just wanted to let you know that BCNA has developed a new fact sheet about bone health and breast cancer. The fact sheet discusses the effects some breast cancer treatments may have on your bone health and includes some really practical suggestions that can be used to help keep bones healthy. It also mentions bone-strengthening medication, which a doctor may recommend, and lists a range of sources for more information.

You can access the bone health fact sheet here: http://www.bcna.org.au/fact-sheets-and-booklets.

Cheers,
Lisa

I just wanted to let you know,that apart from the small amount of bleeding that I had,I have found Tamoxifen to be just fine.My oncologist told me,that the risk of uterine cancer in the first 3 years of using Tamoxifen is VERY minimal,in post menopausal women.I will change to an Aromatase inhibitor after 3 years,and by doing this,hopefully I will give my bones extra protection.I currently do a lot of daily exercise,which not only helps my general fitness,but also strengthens my bones.I hope that you have a good result with your test.I read that spotting in the early days with Tamoxifen,as your body adjusts to it,is not uncommon.Take care,and I would be interested to hear how you go.I am having a bone mineral density test next week also.Cheers Robyn.

thanks for the reply, I chose the arimidex because it had less side effects or as I found out appears  to have  as my side effects are not listed and should be so that other women are aware if them

Tamoxifen  has a four fold increase of  cancer of the  uterus if you are aged between 50 and 59 , Arnitese inhibotors have a greater protection against it reaccuring in the first 5 years  I sort of weighed up the pros and cons of both and thought the Arimidex was the lesser of two evils.

I find them all scary, My partner read a survey that said that  there were quite a high percentage of mostly younger women that go of the hormone therpy but dont tell their doctors they have come of it, because they could not cope with the side effects

I hope you get favourable results from your tests I am having mine tomorrow 

my husband has been doing lots of research and has found me a drug I did not know about called raloxifene, and it builds bones not break them down, with less side effects than tamoxifen I will keep you posted