Arimidex

Hi San-Dee

Sorry for taking so long to get back to you. Hope you are doing okay. I seem to be better for taking the tablets at night which I am grateful for. Do wake up a bit 'heady' but that passes as I get up and move around. Our Christmas holiday is to NZ. We are kiwis that live here in Oz. I am looking forward to going 'home'. It has been awhile. I looked on the website for travel insurance. Went to Compare the Market. A good website. I looked at a Woolworths one which seemed okay. They have 43 pre existing medical conditions in their disclosure. I rang them about breast cancer. Possibly what you travel agent said is right but what the lady told me was that seeing Breast Cancer is not on the list and if you do anything overseas to hurt your breast or something to do with your breast cancer flares up you are not covered. They will still give you a policy but wouldn't pay out on that if anything happened re the Breast Cancer. As I don't know you circumstances re your op and what you had etc cannot really comment. I had a lumpectomy and radiation and now I am on the tablets for five years. As far as I am concerned I have nothing wrong with me now. I would say I am in remission. I don't personally think that anything would go wrong with me but who knows. Hope you understand all that I have said. Would be good to personally chat about this. We could email?

Hugs

Ady :-)

Hi Ady,

Glad to hear changing your alarm has made some difference. It's all hit and miss this thing, isn't it!! We are all different and need to play around with things until it is right for us personally. 

Thanks for your tip on coconut oil. I had forgotten all about that. Might give it a try .... at least it smells nicer. HA!

Hope you have a wonderful holiday. You deserve it. We have just booked a holiday to NZ after Christmas and need to start looking for travel insurance. Our travel agent insists I won't be able to get it because of my breast cancer. Have you organised insurance and did you have any issues with them?

Good luck with the new timetable and let us know how you are doing with it.

Hugs

San-Dee 

Hi Scorpionqueen

Sorry to hear you are still  suffering from the effects of Chemo. Not nice at all. I was lucky I avoided that and only had radiation.

As I told the lady below I do feel a bit better since I started taking the tablets at night. Hope it continues.

All the best

Ady

Hi Rowdy

I started to take the tablets at 7pm but when I read the first lady's answer set my alarm for 9pm. I can definitely say that I do not feel as bad with symptoms now I take it at night and it only has been a few days. I am still a bit achy through the day but I do have bursitis in my hip which is annoying.

Oh yes it was exciting to finish treatment but not so nice to get all these problems but guess we just have to get on with life. I am not going to let it get to me even though it is annoying.

Hope your knee improves soon so you can exercise. Drink more water and it should curb your hunger. I like mine with a bit of lemon in it.

Cheeers

Ady

Hi I have been on arimidex since November last year. I have changed the time I take it from 6 at night to 9 at night. I have found this better for me, hasn't helped the joint pain, sttill getting hot flushes that wake me up.. I have started to take panadol osteo and this has helped a bit. I'm having issues at the moment as I have just had surgery on my knee so I feel like I'm falling to pieces. The weight I'm hungry all the time and having trouble with my knee is not helping with exercise. Yep dry down there and no interest all side effects of medication. It is great isn't it you think yay finished active treatment but it dosen't seem to end.

I'm on tamoxifen and was advised from the start to take it at night to help alleviate the flushes etc.....

i have only just started it and i am only know realising that what I'm having are hot flushes.....they were really mild to begin with....I notice i get them more intensely when i'm due to take the next tablet as for the aches etc....it's hard for me to tell as i still have numbness in my fingers and toes from the Docetaxel chemo and i ache anyway as I have Osteo Arthritis......

Hope this helps you!

Hoping you get some relief by taking the tablet at night time....

xx

Hi San-Dee

Thanks for your reply. Oh my hot flushes were definitely not as bad as yours. When it was cold I took my cardigan off and on all day but only had a few at night. I take it at 7pm (set my alarm on phone!) but may take it later to see how that goes. I have never had pins and needles. Yes my mouth gets dry but not too bad but do drink a bit through the night. It is 4 1/2 months since I have finished radiation. It sure knocks you around and I was very tired to start. Still get tired but not as much. You should try and do a little exercise even though you are tired. Just a walk around the house or yard. I go to exercise classes twice a week for an hour a time. Today we do boxing and I always feel great afterwards! These tablets also increase your weight so I am trying my hardest to not eat as much and replacing sugar for honey if needed. Holidays overseas at Christmas so want to be a bit lighter. Tumeric is very good for the aches. I drink a cup of Tumeric Chai tea every morning. Coconut oil for down below too is good and natural. Yes I will see after a few weeks how I am after changing tablets to night time and then decide if not better to go back to Oncologist. Watch this space. Good luck with yours :-)

Ady

Hi Ady,

I have been on Arimdex for about 6 weeks now. Hot flushes were horrendous, as were the pins and needles, aching joints and dry mouth. I haven't suffered the dry vagina ... yet ... but anything is possible.

The breast nurse suggested I swap from taking it in the morning to last thing before I go to bed and it has helped. The hot flushes are still there, just took a little while to settle down to a reasonable level and I no longer wake up in wet sheets! The aches and pains are still there, not as bad and I take a pain relief if necessary. I have been told moving is the best thing, so I try to do that whenever I ache.The dry mouth is horrendous. I now keep a bottle of water on my bedside table and it is usually empty by morning. I have never been a water drinker, but find I am going through it like crazy now. I suppose that is a good thing! 

My weight has increased, but then I have just recently finished radiotherapy and any exercise is just too exhaustive for me. I'm hoping the scales will look better when I get moving again.

As far as a dry vagina goes, I expect it to happen. I have been told one of the best things for this is plain old virgin olive oil. Put it in your bath, massage with it after a shower and even use a douche to insert it into the vagina. I will be trying that before I try anything else.

I saw my medical oncologist only last week and explained all these symptoms to him. He wants me to persevere for a while longer, saying they should settle down and no new symptoms should arise. If I am still having issues with it, he can change the medication, but then I suppose I'd only end up with a whole lot of new side effects to contend with.

So my suggestion, I suppose, is to stick with changing the timing of the dose to night time for a while to relieve symptoms. It won't happen overnight, but it will happen. And don't forget, you are the patient and if you aren't happy get your oncologist to change meds.

I'd be interested to know how you fare. This is all new to me as well.

Hugs

San-Dee