Hi, i am nine months post diagnosis and doing well, i luckily am not on any hormonal treatment. I have a friend at work who is 18 months since diagnosis and has been on arimidex for nearly a year. Her attitude to the cancer has been the opposite to mine. She has not wanted to know any details at all, she does what the doc says and thats that, she couldnt even remember the name of her hormone treatment, she had to look at the packet!
Currently she has mood swings and is often very tearful and low. we work together and she is finding it very hard to cope and has been signed off for stress. I am sure the arimidex has something to do with this and wanted to know if these are common side effects. If so what help can i give my friend?
She is really frightened by the way she is feeling but when i mentioned that it could be the arimidex she got all flustered because of course the doc has prescribed them and to her the doc is always right. I, on the other hand know that they are not! If the armidex is causing this can she change?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated
lou
Hi louise,
I am sorry your friend is feeling so low. I have been on arimidex for 18 months also and have none of the effects your friend is going through. Arimidex tends to give you aching joints and hot flushes, but i personally haven’t experienced anything else. I have checked the leaflet and mood swings etc isnt on.
Her doctor will have prescribed the best treatment for her condition, so maybe she need anti-depressents or counselling.Either way, it sounds like she should consult a doctor. This is such a crap disease, it affects people in different ways - none of which are good.
Hope this helps.
Rosie x
Hi, i managed to stick Arimidex for 8 months, got terrible side effects including high bp, high cholesterol, am now on aromasin, can’t say its much better as i still also have the terrible joint pain but am too scared to come off the damn thing! i do still get a bit tearful though, but i do think that may be more due to the surgical menopause that i am going through. maybe your friends gp can try her on either the aromasin or femera, they both do the same sort of job i believe, but her onc would be the best person to advise her
Alisonxxx
Hi I’ve been on arimidex for six months and was also having the aching joints! When I got up in the morning I could hardly walk - felt about 90 but it would gradually wear off and could usually walk properly after about an hour but would seize up in the evenings if I was sitting watching tv. My GP suggested I take ibuprofen 3 times a day and also put me on amitriptyne which is supposed to help the pain in the nerve ending Don’t know which of the tabs worked but although I still am a bit stiff it has reduced dramatically! Hope this helps Kaye x