Does anyone get on OK with Arimidex?

Does anyone get on OK with Arimidex?

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

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

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.

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

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

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.