I want to share that my news is positive in relation to anastrazole.
I don’t have any joint or muscle issues, pain, soreness, stiffness, whatsoever (which were my biggest fears). I have a few hot flushes in the evening and a bit of insomnia. I think my hair and skin is more dry and I need to use more leave in hair treatment now. My weight gain is entirely explained by what I have been eating during lockdown and not so much the drug! From the long list of worrying side effects you will doubtless end up reading, I have experienced enone that are ruinous. (I know I will have to monitor bone density.) Maybe things will change over time but I do remember I felt desperate to know or get some reassurance from someone about what the first few months would be like on an AI and was there an actual chance I would not get the worst effects?
I hope this account may help someone facing anastrazole for the first time and knowing that it can be okay. Yes I could do without the hot flushes and longer term risk to my bones, but it’s not as bad as I imagined in my head, terrified and newly diagnosed, with little info to go on, or not the info I perceived as useful to me while having a very cold and underwhelming oncologist.
I hope others will get the info that they need, here or elsewhere, and feel confident to speak the truth and advocate for what they need.
","kudosSumWeight":2,"postTime":"2020-06-11T09:08:42.000-07:00","images":{"__typename":"AssociatedImageConnection","edges":[],"totalCount":0,"pageInfo":{"__typename":"PageInfo","hasNextPage":false,"endCursor":null,"hasPreviousPage":false,"startCursor":null}},"attachments":{"__typename":"AttachmentConnection","pageInfo":{"__typename":"PageInfo","hasNextPage":false,"endCursor":null,"hasPreviousPage":false,"startCursor":null},"edges":[]},"tags":{"__typename":"TagConnection","pageInfo":{"__typename":"PageInfo","hasNextPage":false,"endCursor":null,"hasPreviousPage":false,"startCursor":null},"edges":[{"__typename":"TagEdge","cursor":"MjUuMnwyLjF8b3wxMHxfTlZffDE","node":{"__typename":"Tag","id":"tag:anastrozole","text":"anastrozole","time":"2025-03-25T05:02:22.898-07:00","lastActivityTime":null,"messagesCount":null,"followersCount":null}},{"__typename":"TagEdge","cursor":"MjUuMnwyLjF8b3wxMHxfTlZffDI","node":{"__typename":"Tag","id":"tag:arimidex","text":"arimidex","time":"2025-03-25T05:02:39.957-07:00","lastActivityTime":null,"messagesCount":null,"followersCount":null}},{"__typename":"TagEdge","cursor":"MjUuMnwyLjF8b3wxMHxfTlZffDM","node":{"__typename":"Tag","id":"tag:aromatase-inhibitors","text":"aromatase-inhibitors","time":"2025-03-25T05:02:51.581-07:00","lastActivityTime":null,"messagesCount":null,"followersCount":null}},{"__typename":"TagEdge","cursor":"MjUuMnwyLjF8b3wxMHxfTlZffDQ","node":{"__typename":"Tag","id":"tag:new-diagnosis","text":"new-diagnosis","time":"2025-03-25T05:02:14.978-07:00","lastActivityTime":null,"messagesCount":null,"followersCount":null}},{"__typename":"TagEdge","cursor":"MjUuMnwyLjF8b3wxMHxfTlZffDU","node":{"__typename":"Tag","id":"tag:side-effects","text":"side-effects","time":"2025-03-25T05:01:42.742-07:00","lastActivityTime":null,"messagesCount":null,"followersCount":null}}]},"timeToRead":2,"currentRevision":{"__ref":"Revision:revision:171675_1"},"latestVersion":null,"metrics":{"__typename":"MessageMetrics","views":133},"visibilityScope":"PUBLIC","canonicalUrl":null,"seoTitle":null,"seoDescription":null,"isEscalated":null,"placeholder":false,"originalMessageForPlaceholder":null,"messagePolicies":{"__typename":"MessagePolicies","canModerateSpamMessage":{"__typename":"PolicyResult","failureReason":{"__typename":"FailureReason","message":"error.lithium.policies.feature.moderation_spam.action.moderate_entity.allowed.accessDenied","key":"error.lithium.policies.feature.moderation_spam.action.moderate_entity.allowed.accessDenied","args":[]}}},"archivalData":null,"customFields":[],"body":"I was terrified of this drug and the side effects and I even posted on here looking for support and info back in Jan. (The tone police intervened and I have stayed away from this site since because I was too scared to come back.I want to share that my news is positive in relation to anastrazole.
I don’t have any joint or muscle issues, pain, soreness, stiffness, whatsoever (which were my biggest fears). I have a few hot flushes in the evening and a bit of insomnia. I think my hair and skin is more dry and I need to use more leave in hair treatment now. My weight gain is entirely explained by what I have been eating during lockdown and not so much the drug! From the long list of worrying side effects you will doubtless end up reading, I have experienced enone that are ruinous. (I know I will have to monitor bone density.) Maybe things will change over time but I do remember I felt desperate to know or get some reassurance from someone about what the first few months would be like on an AI and was there an actual chance I would not get the worst effects?
I hope this account may help someone facing anastrazole for the first time and knowing that it can be okay. Yes I could do without the hot flushes and longer term risk to my bones, but it’s not as bad as I imagined in my head, terrified and newly diagnosed, with little info to go on, or not the info I perceived as useful to me while having a very cold and underwhelming oncologist.
I hope others will get the info that they need, here or elsewhere, and feel confident to speak the truth and advocate for what they need.
"},"Conversation:conversation:171675":{"__typename":"Conversation","id":"conversation:171675","solved":false,"topic":{"__ref":"ForumTopicMessage:message:171675"},"lastPostingActivityTime":"2020-06-14T15:51:13.000-07:00","lastPostTime":"2020-06-14T15:51:13.000-07:00","unreadReplyCount":13,"isSubscribed":false},"ModerationData:moderation_data:171675":{"__typename":"ModerationData","id":"moderation_data:171675","status":"APPROVED","rejectReason":null,"isReportedAbuse":false,"rejectUser":null,"rejectTime":null,"rejectActorType":null},"Revision:revision:171675_1":{"__typename":"Revision","id":"revision:171675_1","lastEditTime":"2020-06-11T09:08:42.000-07:00"},"ForumReplyMessage:message:171682":{"__typename":"ForumReplyMessage","id":"message:171682","conversation":{"__ref":"Conversation:conversation:171675"},"author":{"__ref":"User:user:22413"},"revisionNum":1,"uid":171682,"depth":1,"hasGivenKudo":false,"subscribed":false,"board":{"__ref":"Forum:board:hormone-blocking-therapy"},"subject":"Re: Arimidex - first 6 months","readOnly":false,"editFrozen":false,"moderationData":{"__ref":"ModerationData:moderation_data:171682"},"parent":{"__ref":"ForumTopicMessage:message:171675"},"body":"Thanks @Temple for your post on the fear of side effects. I had that fear too and have only just started taking Anastrozole 10 days ago. So far so good , I’m not sure if side effects come on immediately or are still to come? I occasionally have hot flushes even before bc diagnosis so that’s no biggie. I didn’t get a warm and fuzzy feeling with the oncologist but put it down to seeing her at the beginning of COVID-19 and she was just as scared of what could happen as we are. But maybe it was just her normal self.