Does anyone get on OK with Arimidex?

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Does anyone get on OK with Arimidex?

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Does anyone get on OK with Arimidex? I have taken a conscious decision to have my ovaries removed so that I can become menopausal and start taking arimidex instead of tamoxifen.

All the posts here seem to be negative - is there anyone who does not have problems with arimidex side effects. Or, can anyone suggest some good ways of dealing with the side effects.

Anxious Ruth

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Hi Ruth

My onc changed me from Tamoxifen (which I took for 2 years) to Arimidex in November 06. I suffered from frequent hot flushes in the first few weeks but these have lessened considerably to the point where I hardly notice them now. Also, my joints are a bit stiff first thing in the morning but I’m OK once I get going!

I know there have been a lot of negative posts recently, but I’m going to be positive and say that I feel much better since I changed from Tamoxifen to Arimidex.

Hope this helps.

Regards.

Jo

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Ruth - For me Tamoxifen was a nightmare and I stopped it after 3.5 years as it was ruining my quality of life with hot flushes every 20 mins 24/7. Now 17 years on my BC recurred and I have been on Arimidex for 3 weeks and the side effects are much less. I am getting hot flushes but not nearly as strong as before plus a few headaches but that is all. And I have always had migraines so maybe am more susceptible to headaches. Early days but hope they can only get better. Good Luck to you.

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Arimidex I have been on Arimidex for 3 weeks and so far so good. I have a few hot flushes particularly at night but they are not too much of a problem.
All the best.
Anne

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Reassurance Thank you Anne, I feel more positive now. Ruth

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I get on pretty well with it I’ve been taking Arimidex for three years now; I chose to take it in preference to Tamoxifen. In the first few months of taking it I had frequent hot flushes, never very severe; now I have warm flushes occasionally. I also had nasty cramps in my legs during the night - these were awful but stopped after about six months.

I’ve had some joint stiffness and pain, but never severe; for a minute or so after getting up in the morning I feel 103 I’m so stiff, but then it stops; this can also happen if I’ve been sitting down in the same position for a while. I find that if I’m exercising regularly - and I go through phases of regular exercise and not exercising at all - this symptom improves.

So I get on pretty well with Arimidex. Recently during a time of upset and upheaval I forgot to take it for a few days; I noticed that my joints, my knees especially, felt less stiff, even though I hadn’t really been aware of them being stiff before. But I reckon that little bit of stiffness is worth it.

I hope it works out ok for you.