ARIMIDEX Reviews (ANASTROZOLE)Average Rating: 2.5 (1431 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare ARIMIDEX with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
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Results are sorted by length of time drug was taken from shortest to longest duration (reviews with no time reported listed first). Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.) Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 |
More on ARIMIDEX: Reviews Summary | Drug Safety Information
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR ARIMIDEX | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 5 | stage 2 breast cancer | I am about six weeks off of Arimidex after taking for 5years. I am still not feeling any better. Lots of nights sweats and joint pain. Cannot seem to lose weight. Hopefully will feel better soon. | F | 63 | 1 mg 1X day | 8/15/2010 | 5 | Stg2 Breast Cancer-hormone+ | The past 4 years of negative side effects have been challenging, but the alternative is far worse. I just celebrated 5 year, cancer-free anniversary & I'm happy to be alive - side effects & all. | F | 54 | 1X day | 9/11/2011 Patient History | 5 | Breast cancer stage 1 er+ her2+ | Infrequent hot flashes exacerbation of thumb joint pain ( had before BC). More stiffness after extended physical activity and some insomnia. Even tho stage one I wanted to aggressively treat. Lumpectomy no lymph node involvement chemo and rads. The side effects I think are partially the drug ane partially old age! Plan on finishing the 5 year regimen. Also lowered my magnesium level so taking supp along w calcium. Nothing severe enuf to make me stop | 2years | F | 59 | 1X day | 5/1/2016 | 4 | stage 2 BC | I have been on it for about 9 months. I did pretty well at first but gradually began experiencing joint pain, especially in my hips and lower back. I feel like I am 100 when I get out of bed in the morning. I started taking glucosamine w/chondritin about a month ago and I think it may be starting to help. Lately, I have had pain in my shoulders and when I first get up even my feet hurt. I never experienced any of this before. Lately, I have been gaining weight and I am trying to get more active in spite of the fatigue, but I feel like someone is blowing me up with an air hose! My memory definitely is not what it was. I think I may be experiencing some mild depression, due to the drug or the side effects? I also wake up at night more frequently than usual and have red blotches on my face at times. | I am happy to have the drug to fight off 'the beast' but a little sad about feeling prematurely aged. But anything is better than cancer! Keep up the research! | F | 58 | | 1/26/2007 | 4 | | 6/2/2007 | 4 | BREAST CANCER | JOINT PAIN/FATIGUE/MOOD CHANGES/DEPRESSION/ | FIVE YEARS IN MAY OF 09 | F | 67 | | 12/29/2008 | 4 | Stage IIIA Breast cancer | joint, muscle pain. | I've only been on Arimidex for a little over 1 month but I've been experiencing body pain. It began prior to my chemo and the Doctor believed it was due to my cholesterol medicine-Lovastatin. When i went on decadron for my chemo, all the pain disappeared. 4 weeks post chemo, my body pain returned so my doctor took me off my cholesterol meds. Afterwards i began Arimidex. My body pain in becoming worse. I have difficulty walking when i first get up in the morning or if I've been sitting awhile. Walking around seems to help. I have trouble using stairs and if I have to sit on the floor to do anything. I'm looking for anything to alleviate the pain because I don't want to come off the arimidex. Personally, I'd rather deal with the stiffness,pain then have to deal with a return of my cancer. | F | 45 | | 7/15/2008 | 3 | HR positive breast CA stage 2 | Hard to say which side effects are from Arimidex and which from chemotherapy. The only ones I think are due to Arimidex are carpal tunnel, some increase in joint pain, fatigue, 10-15 lb weight gain, and depression. | I've been taking Arimidex for 7 months. I'm ambivalent about it. I will stay on it a year and see if symptoms abate. One of my nodes was "questionable" -- two cells "lost" in process of analysis -- so I agreed to take Arimidex to decrease odds of recurrence. I feel old and tired like many of you...but I'm told residual effects of chemotherapy (Adriamycin and Cytoxan) can last a year after stopping chemo, and I want to sort out which treatment is responsible for which side effects. I am the type of person who would kick myself all the way to my grave if my cancer recurs and I haven't done everything possible to prevent it; that's why I'm hanging in there with Arimidex, at least for now. I eat a healthy natural diet. I eat very little meat or poultry, only free range animals that are fed no growth hormones or antibiotics. I take calcium/magnesium/vitamin D, glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM, a European herbal-based anti-inflammatory called Zyflamend and an immune bo | F | 57 | | 6/3/2008 | 3 | Breast Cancer stage 1 | Developed severe joint and muscle pain over 41/2 years on this drug particularly in knees and hands. Became frustrated with pain and no medication appeared to relieve the pain. Also had mood swings and depression. | Have been off all Arimidex for 5 months now and my body has slowly been returning to managable pain although there is permanent damage to my bones and joints. I have been amazed at how little Drs acknowledge the side effects of Arimidex and have found that there are very few people to talk to in the Cancer Councils or support organisations. The only good thing is that I have not had a re-occurrence of breast Cancer and hope that will continue. | F | 60 | | 11/10/2008 | 3 | invasive b/c bil mastectomy | memory poor lack of concentration joint pains hip worse. | i hope to be able to take it for the four years left if it keeps us cancer free.been taking the drug for 10months 19days | F | 64 | | 9/1/2008 | 3 | Breast cancer, chemo, radiation | Joint aches, anxiety, depression, fatigue, chest pains, developed osteoporosis, memory loss. | I have been on this drug for 3 years and for the last 6 months I have noticed an increase in aches, fatigue, anxiety & depression. Does this drug have a cumulative effect? Am seeing my oncologist in 2 days - I have a lot of questions for him. | F | 54 | | 8/22/2007 | 3 | | 4/29/2007 | 3 | Breast cancer stage 1 | F | 51 | 1X day | 6/23/2010 Patient History | 3 | Eary BC, no nodes | I feel Old!!! Hot flashes (taking Effexor to help), joint pain, lower back, stomach troubles, elevated liver enzymes (alkaline phosphates). Think I may "cut the tables in half" to see if there is any change in how I feel. Could not tolerate Tamox. | Having liver and bone scans soon. May stop drug completely and "hope for the best". 9 months on Arimidex. | F | 54 | | 12/1/2005 | 3 | part of bBreast cancer treatment | | 10/10/2007 | 2 | Breast Cancer | I have Sjogren's Syndrome, degenerative disc disease, thyroiditis, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and mitral valve prolapse. Lucky me, I then get stage 1 breast cancer to add to my list. I had surgery in June (partial mastectomy/lumpectomy by an excellent surgeon) and 3 lymph nodes removed (no cancer spread). Then came the 30 daily radiation treatments, what a summer! In August, I was put on arimidex and seemed ok until about 2 weeks ago. Since I already experience vaginal dryness from Sjogren's, Arimidex has been a terrible drug for me. It has exacerbated the problem to where it is difficult to sit. I have stiffness in my low back upon arising and more pain in my knees than I had before. Back came the hot flashes! I don't know what to do or who to turn to for help. I hear that tamoxifin can cause blood clots and since grandma died of a stroke, I'm not really hot about that choice either. Does anyone have statistics on survival if you dont take either of these drugs? | F | 60 | | 11/5/2005 | 2 | BC Stage between I and II, no nodes | Weight gain, extreme fatigue, joint pain, stiff hands to the point of not being able to type (I'm a writer!). Post-chemo hair growth very slow and thin. Drenching night sweats followed by severe chills and can't sleep more than 2 hours at a time. Depression (who wouldn't be?) Feel horribly old and unsexy -- no interest in sex and that just isn't like me at all. Felt better during chemo than I do on this stuff.. | The doctor did not discuss any of the potential side effects and the reading material given me glossed over the side effects. The fact that all the reading material was from the pharma company, I'm not surprised. I wonder if the 2% "protection" from cancer recurring is worth the diminished quality of life for 5 years. At 53, I think I'd rather have 5 good years than 7 bad ones. Seriously considering getting off of it but will first talk to the dr. Since I had DCIS and an "encapsulated" 2.5 cm tumor with no node involvment and chose bi-lateral matectomies as a precaution followed by 6 months of chemo, if we didn't knock out the cancer already, I think I'll take my chances. | F | 53 | | 3/19/2007 | 2 | BC Stage between I and II, no nodes | Weight gain, extreme fatigue, joint pain, stiff hands to the point of not being able to type (I'm a writer!). Post-chemo hair growth very slow and thin. Drenching night sweats followed by severe chills and can't sleep more than 2 hours at a time. Depression (who wouldn't be?) Feel horribly old and unsexy -- no interest in sex and that just isn't like me at all. Felt better during chemo than I do on this stuff.. | The doctor did not discuss any of the potential side effects and the reading material given me glossed over the side effects. The fact that all the reading material was from the pharma company, I'm not surprised. I wonder if the 2% "protection" from cancer recurring is worth the diminished quality of life for 5 years. At 53, I think I'd rather have 5 good years than 7 bad ones. Seriously considering getting off of it but will first talk to the dr. Since I had DCIS and an "encapsulated" 2.5 cm tumor with no node involvment and chose bi-lateral matectomies as a precaution followed by 6 months of chemo, if we didn't knock out the cancer already, I think I'll take my chances. | F | 53 | | 3/19/2007 | 2 | breast cancer | Here's the update: Due to extreme bone/muscle/joint pain, fatigue, and assorted other symptoms, I contacted my oncologist and another alternative med. doctor, informed them of details and told them I was not taking Arimidex anymore, and put myself back on Tamoxifen (no side effects so far for me in 2 years). The common literature says half-life of Arimidex is 40-50 hours BUT when I called AstraZenica and talked to a nurse there, she said the ACTUAL half-life is between 10-11 DAYS and even though I only took two Arimidex doses, I could possibly be experiencing these side effects for at least a month as the drugs work out of my system. So far it has been 19 days and I am still having major joint pain in my hips, some in my back, pain releivers don't really do much for this. I am HOPING the side effects will really eventually go away. The extreme pain has diminished, kindof like I used to have a "migraine" feeling in my hip/bones/muscles and now it's down to just a "bad headache" constant feeling. Jeez. This is a rough drug when you really react to it. | F | 59 | 1X day | 9/15/2010 Patient History | 2 | Joint pain - hands, knees, hips, shoulders, elbows. I have been in remission from RA for years and feel like I am back to the beginning with the pain. Going on an Arimidex vacation with the hope that the SEs subside. This is not the way I want to live my life and hopefully it can be reversed. | F | 54 | 10 1X day | 9/12/2011 |
ARIMIDEX (ANASTROZOLE): Anastrozole is used to treat breast cancer in women after menopause. Some breast cancers are made to grow faster by a natural hormone called estrogen. Anastrozole decreases the amount of estrogen the body makes and helps to slow or reverse the growth of these breast cancers. FDA Approval Date: 1995-12-27 (Sources: U.S. Centers for Medicare Services, FDA)