I was wondering if anyone has had a similar experience. Since I started Anastrazole in May I often get breathless, more specifically, I struggle to take a deep breath when I have an urge to.
It started about 3 weeks into taking Anastrozole. My oncology team doesn’t think it is related and instead have given me. CT scan to look for other causes. CT results were clear.
I also have a Goserelin implant every 4 weeks (I have been having this for 8 months now) and also Ribo (which started after the breathlessness had begun.
I think my oncology team think it is anxiety because they have done loads of tests (CTPA, echocardiogram and chest to pelvic CT) and not found an explanation, but I don’t feel especially anxious.
Has anyway else had this side effect whilst taking anastrozole?
I haven’t had the same experience though for about a month I did have a loud thumping heart multiple times a day which settled after a few weeks and there was nothing on my ECG . I’m just wondering if anywhere in those tests they have checked you for asthma which I developed as an adult and was diagnosed after I couldn’t get rid of a nasty a nasty chest infection. Maybe lack of oestrogen and / or radiotherapy if you have had it might have affected you . You could also give the Nurses on the helpline here a call and see if they can advise . There are ways of learning better breathing habits - I do these via Yoga classes usually but there are videos on abdominal breathing on YouTube that you could try . I’m glad that you don’t feel anxious but if Iwas you and had had to go through all those tests and wait for results I know I would be ! Xx
Are you taking anything else? I ask as a had a medication for gastric reflux that gave me similar symptoms (sorry can’t remember its name). Maybe worth checking with GP or pharmacist for any interactions.
Hi. Thank you for your reply. I had asthma when o was a child and up until my early twenties. I haven’t used an inhaler since then (I’m 45 yrs). They did ask me about my asthma so I got an inhaler, but it made no difference. It’s not like I am chesty or wheezing. It’s just like I can’t breathe deeply anymore. I should look into breathing techniques. I have just been expecting them to work it out. The hospital have been very thorough but now I feel as if I have reached the end of the road and just need to live with it. I had thought about asking if I could stop taking Anastrozole for a month to see if it made a difference. The idea of not being able to breath properly forever seems rubbish, so maybe breath techniques would help x
I was taking an Anti depressant, which I started a week after anastrozole. I stopped taking it three weeks ago to see if it made the breathlessness better, but it has made no difference….other than making me an extremely grumpy mum and wife
I do think it’s worth trying to learn the breathing techniques if you can . You could also try changing to another brand as some people do respond better to one brand than another if that doesn’t work then maybe a swap to a different drug . I would normally suggest having a break but as you are on several treatments I’m wondering if they will work as well if you stop AI .
You could see a respiratory Physio and see if they can help you . I know that people suffering with long COVID / persistent shortness of breath after COVID have been helped by respiratory Physio etc. Either your team or your GP could refer you . I take a Magnesium supplement for migraine prevention but it can help a bit with anxiety / sleep and is also a bronco - dilator so might help your breathing . The only thing is ask your team if it’s ok with your other meds . Xx
I started Anastrozole in February last year and the usual side-effects gradually worsened. At the beginning of this year I was having chest pains and shortness of breath and my GP referred me to a Cardiologist. While waiting for the appointment, I decided (with my BS’s agreement) to stop Anastrazole after 16 months on it. By the time I saw the Cardiologist, the chest pains and shortness of breath had stopped! The Cardiologist said it was almost certainly the Anastrazole .
No, I didn’t. My BS did the calculation and the risk of the cancer returning was quite low and at 63 years old, I chose not to live with the awful side-effects. It’s very much a personal decision and only time will tell whether I made the right decision!
Hello. I’ve had this problem too. I found I was getting breathless quite a lot. I had a one month break from the anastrazole and started to feel even more breathless, which I thought was anxiety. Eventually, it was found I had small clots in a lung. I also had a deep vein thrombosis (DVT). I am now on anti-coagulants and am feeling a lot better. Because you’ve had a scan and they’ve found nothing, I would hazard a guess that it’s a side effect of the anastrazole. But it may be wise to note this with your team. I hope this information is of some use. For some of us, anastrazole, unfortunately, causes a lot of side effects. However, I’m now in my 3rd year of taking it and the side effects, apart from the fatigue, are low.
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