June 9th
2008
7:45 AM
My 89 year old independent mother-in-law started low dose Arimidex after mastectomy 6 months ago. She experienced sever bone/hip pain (requiring a middle of the night ER visit). She was advised by the oncologist's office to discontinue Arimidex. Several weeks after stopping the Arimidex she began to have night sweats, becoming increasingly severe.. She is uncomfortable, to say the least. Is this truly a side effect of stopping arimidex? Have others experienced this side effect post arimidex? Should we look into some other cause?
-- By a1a1a1 | Reply | Private Message me
August 23th
2007
1:52 PM
My Aunt is 61 and had a one sided Mastectomy in January of this year. She had been suffering for about 8 years with the menopause (she took HRT for 18 months a few years back). She was told her cancer was hormonal and once she had the tumour removed (behind her milk gland) she was advised that she didn't need any chemo or radiation. She had 6 lymph nodes taken and all were clear. She was originally put on Tamoxifen for 4 months and then switched to Arimidex. She has suffered with hot flushes and extreme coldness (she had this beforehand) but has increasingly suffered with very painful indigestion/heartburn/acid reflux or possibly IBS. She has tried all the over counter indigestion medications to no effect. Is this normal? I am trying to get her to go to the DR about it - but she is very apprehensive. Is there another drug she could try other than Arimidex and Tamoxifen? Are these stomach problems normal? I would also say she seems to suffer with depression and tiredness. She doesn't sleep well because of the hot sweats etc. She also bloats out quite a bit and is still numb from where they took the lymph nodes under her arm. She also says her scar gets sore. Her mastectomy was Jan 3, 2007. She obviously didn't have reconstruction and doesn't intend to.
Is there anything I can get for her to make life easier? I am at a bit of a loss as to how to help her. Any thoughts would be very much appreciated.
-- By mjuk29 | Reply | Private Message me
October 7th
2008
3:46 AM
Fatigue, flashing in the left eye, worsening migraines:
-- By expat92 | Reply | Private Message meI have been on Arimidex since July, 2007 (after lumpectomy in January 2007, chemo, a mastectomy in same breast in August, 2007 followed by radiation) and seemed to be tolerating it quite well, except for the fact that I wanted to go to bed at no later than 9PM every night.
Recently, however, I had noticed retinal problems in my left eye (could also be a result of my nearsightedness and my age --61) and worsening migraine attacks which I could not relieve completely with my usual medications. I did research on Google and found that Arimidex could indeed lead to worsening of headaches and perhaps lead to retinopathy as well.
This morning I decided not to take the pill and called my oncologist's office to find out what he thinks about stopping it for a while.
I have also made an appointment with a neurologist since I haven't had a brain MRI since 1987 (to rule out other causes than migraine for my headaches).