ARIMIDEX Reviews (ANASTROZOLE)

Average Rating: 2.5 (1431 Ratings)

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 ANTINEOPLASTICS AROMATASE INHIBITORS

 Type: Rx Drug

  

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)

  

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Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.)
5=HIGH (this medicine cured me or helped me a great deal.)

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More on ARIMIDEX: Reviews Summary  |  Drug Safety Information

RATING  REASONSIDE EFFECTS FOR ARIMIDEXCOMMENTSSEXAGEDURATION/
DOSAGE
DATE ADDED
 
 2  Breast cancer tired all the time, weight gain, joint pain, depression, terrible weakness in my legs have fallen several times over the last couple of months. Doctors say the weakness is not from the Arimidex, but all tests have come up with nothing so far. I've been taking this drug for 5 years and before that I was taking Tomoxifin for 3. I can no longer walk the four miles I used to daily, I can barely walk the short distance from my car to the grocery store without fear of falling. If anyone else has experienced any kind of muscle weakness or trouble getting up and down stairs please let me know. I feel like I'm going crazy. Thanks F 53 5 days
2/16/2009
 2  DCIS,non invasive,-nodes,ER+ , radi nausea,weight gain, hypertension,joint&muscle aches,low libido,varicose veins (none prior),difficulty sleeping due to discomfort,tingling of hands/arms,weepiness or irritability I don't feel like myself.I was told that it gave me a 50% less chance of cancer occurrence. Quality of life is important too.I will meet with oncologist, since my arm feels like I have phlebitis.I'm a nurse and have done lots of research, don't like side effects so common to all. F 58 6 months
2/13/2009
 3  breast cancer pretty much all of them over the past 5 and 1/2 years...just lately headaches are bad you can't laugh or talk loud you will suffer with a headache next day..arm numbness in shoulder's arms and hands..alot of aches and pain to much to mention ,sore throat,pain in left side especially around lung had fluid around 10 months ago.. Is any one out their on it longer then 6 years or should i say still alive taking it... F 52 6 years
2/4/2009
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 2  Stage II cancer I have been on Arimidex since 2006. The way I am feeling, I told my mom I am days away from assisted living! Every joint hurts. They said it was arthritis, I say BS. Extremely tired, wobbly, can't feel my feet and fuzzy headed. Similar to when I started chemo. As of today, I have taken myself off. I will make an appointment with the oncologist in 6 weeks. I will see how it is going then. F 58 2.5 years
2/4/2009
 4  breast cancer only vaginal dryness and weight gain. My doctors have suggested I join weight watchers, and I have. they don't expect miracles, just some control over the problem. my Doctors all insisted that I exercise, arobic and weight bearing, also I take a exc. multi- vitamin, coq10, fish oil, 2000 vit. d3, Epicor, and IP6 and Dim. I feel great, stronger and healther than ever before. I have noticed that when I don't exercise over a period of time, I do have joint pain. Now I never skip a day. Even added Yoga to my routine. I find my joints are never stiff, and I don't get sick any more. Not even the sniffles. F 63 2 years
1/29/2009
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 3  Breast CA I lumpectomy/chemo/radiat Severe carpal tunnel in right hand one week after starting Arimidex. Joint pains, swelling and stiffness in both hands and wrists. Tendinits in left middle finger with morning locking and severe pain. Had an injection in my left hand which helped for four months but syptoms are coming back in the left middle finger as before. In first few months pain in major joints. I felt like an 80 year old. Rheumatologists put me on two Sulindac per day, strong arthritis medicine with Protonix to protect my stomach. After on meds for one year have experienced depression and severe fatigue with periods of anxiety. Also my face has aged five to ten years in the past few months with many lines and wrinkles, especially in my forehead. Dry vagina, which never was a problem before. Decreased sex drive. Gyn put me on Vagfem but stopped for several months because it caused cystic acne at prescribed dosage. I now use twice a month. Am having loss of memory and loss of focus but was told it was due to F 55 26 months
1/29/2009
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 2  DC invasive, stage 2, lump+rad, ER+ Overwhelming exhaustion in the evening (hitting the sack by 8:30), hot flashes, night sweats, joint stiffness especially hips, some bone ache at night, stiff feet and hands in the morning. Practicing yoga, I have a hard time putting weight on my hands and feel like I strain muscles easily. In this last week I have developed tummy problems and chills (feels like a light flu). What a bummer, I figured that symptoms would lessen over time, now I seem to be developing new ones! I lead a healthy lifestyle; walk 45 minutes each day, eat organic, and take a bahzillion supplements under the guidance of a nutritional biochemist. I have worked hard to make this drug my ally, but it has been a challenge. I have always enjoyed waking to each new day fresh and ready to go. I eat, drink, and sleep to be able to do this. Arimidex has really compromised my ability to control how I feel. I wonder if a different drug would be better, I hesitate because I fear it could be worse. I don't know if I can last 5 years. I try to take it day by day. Thank you all for contributing your experiences,it really helps to read them. F 57 4 months
1/26/2009
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 1  breast cancer No problems with Tamoxifen, put on Arimidex after 6 months, went down gradually. Tenonditis bad in ankles. carpal tunnel. tingling in hand and feet. Tennis elbow. raynauds syndrome. Fatigued all the time, not my usualy happy person. Verry fuzzy brain, and forgetfulness. aches and pains.shoulders, knees back you name it. strange sleep patterns. I am going to phone up my consultant and see if i can come off the arimidex, like everyone else, am scared, still have 2 more years on Arimidex. Maybe can put me on something else. But am just living day to day, not fair on the family. F 56 3 years
1/26/2009
 3  Stage II to III ductal carcinoma Hair thinning, skin thinning, bone pain and muscle pain especially in the feet and hands, dental problems, headaches, depression and insomnia, struggle to keep weight off, intense hot flashes Everyday I ask myself why I'm taking it. It's fear based really. I take extra Calcium, Vit D 2000 IU, 2000 mg MSM for bone pain, Zoloft for depression and Ibuprofen as needed. I exercise 5 times a week and I constantly monitor my food intake to prevent weight gain and try really hard to stay positive F 61 16 months
1/25/2009
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 4  Stage 1 breast cancer Few side effects, but I do feel like I am aging rapidly, have some memory problems and difficulty losing weight. I assume these symptoms are a result of being menopausal and from losing estrogen, which is what Arimidex does. My tumor was ER+ so I need to cut estrogen. F 51 3.5 years
1/21/2009
 2  post b/c dx Aching in joints, esp. fingers, hands and wrists initially. Then hip joint pain during normal walking of any distance. Pain in feet and toes so that I couldn't do a beginners yoga class; took one class then quit due to pain of hands and feet. Extreme fatigue so much that my get up and go got up and went. So I increased my exercise in an attempt to combat the fatigue and pain but to no avail. Additionally, with the hand pain came swelling of the fingers and additional tingling, discomfort and trigger fingers of a couple of fingers on both hands. I had trouble sleeping well (insomnia) due to inability to relax at night though feeling extremely tired. What didn't I experience on this medication! Went off it on my own for two months at the end of 2008 (Nov. and Dec.)to see if symptoms would improve (leave). However, I also increased my intake of Vit D3 from 800 to 1800 mg. daily at the same time. So, I'm not certain if it was going off the Arimidex or adding the additional Vit D that made for the improvement. Symptoms of pain decreased and energy level and mood increased. This improvement wasn't noticable until at about 6 weeks of being off this medication. Just had a visit with my oncologist (last week Jan 09) and told him about taking myself off the medication, and that I put myself back on it on January 1, 2009 to see what would happen being on the med and taking the increased Vit D at the same time. So far it's been 3 weeks and I'm feeling the joint pain in my hands and feet again. We'll see how my experience goes. My doc told me to give him a call if I have trouble with the Arimidex again. I originally tried the Femara but became extremely pruritic (itchy) on F 57 2 years
1/20/2009
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 2  Breast Cancer I was so thankful when I ran across this website - I was beginning to think I was going nuts!! I began taking Arimidex one month after my last chemo treatment (which was Aug 08). After about 6 weeks on Arimidex I started having joint pain in my hands - all the bones in my hands hurt. Then I developed a trigger finger on my left hand, a couple weeks later the thumb on my right hand. Painful knees - almost fall when I get up to walk after sitting for a while. Then the bones on the bottoms of my feet hurt. I quit taking the med 11 days ago, but so far no improvement. Yesterday my left wrist begain hurting. I am having a surgery this week (not cancer related) and will visit my oncologist after recovery to see if there is another drug I can take or whether I should get back on Arimidex. F 52 90 days
1/12/2009
 5  stage 1 breast cancer hair loss, joint pain not as bad as when i first started..its 3 1/2 years on it now and really have no more complaints about this drug. had lumpectomy and radiation in may 2005 with a sentinel node biopsy which was neg.. F 56 3 years
1/10/2009
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 1   headache, joint pain, hands aching, feet red and swollen,confusion,you name it Ihave had it. It is an awful drug vaginal redness and pain when urinating. Having to use diaper ointment. bladder in overdrive. do thye know what this drug is doing to people F 15 days
1/10/2009
 2  B C, lumpectomy, radiation On the 4th day, the worst vertigo I have ever had in my life. Could not even dress myself. Then in a few hours terrible nausea started. Was not able to eat. Oncologist told me to go to the emergency room when I didn't get any better. I could not take Femara either. I have only had this kind of a reaction to these 2 medications. I have training as a pharmaceutical detail rep and worked in the medical field. I know each drug has a long list of side effects that most people do not experience. I believe they are making light of the ones associated with Aromatase inhibitors. F 54 4 days
1/7/2009
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 4  Kill the estrogen Joint pain, especially feet and hands; fuzzy brain, no libido, swollen hands, so sleeplessness, mood swings, aging. Doctors seem not to appreciate/understand/care about the side affects. I found adjustments by my chiropractor have helped, therapeutic messages have helped and physical activity. It's really important to wear the right shoes. Heels will simply have to wait 2 more years! :-) I have to fight through the bad feelings because it is evidently working. Stage 1, lumpectomy, aggressive chemo and radiation. F 61 3 years
12/30/2008
 4  Stage II BC Fuzzy brain, joint pain that moves from place to place. Right hip is most frequent, but some days its my shoulders or my knees. Very stiff in the am and after sitting any length of time. I sometimes feel like I am 100 years old because of the stiffness and joint pain, but I am going to keep taking Arimidex (I took Tamoxifen for six months until lab tests confirmed that I was post menopausal). I've undergone surgery and eight not-very-fun chemo treatments. My oncologist gave me the choice of considering my treatment complete or continuing with tamoxifen/armidex, and I chose to do this to, hopefully, increase my chances of being around a while longer...God willing. I've always taken a multi vitamin with D and calcium, but for the last three months have added additional D and melatonin at bedtime, E, magnesium, and ginko b. While the stiffness has not gone away, the leg cramps at night have disappeared, and I think I am sleeping a little bit better, too. Exercise helps a lot. Sometimes it is an effort to get started, but it works out the stiffness. F 52 6 months
12/29/2008
 4  BREAST CANCER JOINT PAIN/FATIGUE/MOOD CHANGES/DEPRESSION/ FIVE YEARS IN MAY OF 09 F 67
12/29/2008
 2   Joint pain - especially in my hands and knees. I am also experiencing numbness and tingling in my hands and can no longer wear my wedding ring because of swelling in my knuckles. I have been married for 35 years and could wear my wedding ring even when 9 months pregnant, so there is no doubt this is due to the Arimidex. Has anyone tried Knox NutriJoint? If so, does it help? I am seriously considering discontinuing the use of Arimidex unless I can find a cure for the joint pain (mostly because I am afraid the pain will not go away when I am done taking Arimidex in 5 years). I have not had any problems with weight gain - probably because I do cardio-vascular exercises for 35 minutes almost every morning and really watch what I eat if I start to put on a couple of pounds. Although the exercise also seems to help relieve the pain somewhat, I am concerned that these arthritic-like symptoms won't go away after the Arimidex treatments are over. Is there anyone out there who took Arimidex for 5 years who can comment on whether or not the pain goes away? F 55 5 months
12/29/2008
 2  Neuroendocrine Carcinoma/Breast Transitioned to Arimidex in June 2008 after being on Tamoxifen for 10 months. The first 30 days were good - fewer hot flashes. Then it all changed. The hot flashes increased; headaches for 2 weeks, vaginal bleeding, diarrhea, flu-like symptoms, no libido, a bit moodier/crankier. Then numbing and tingling in my right hand/fingers began. Then cramping in my hand and arm, and trigger finger in 3 fingers (carpal tunnel dx). After 5 months being on this, I'm now experiencing similar pains on the left hand/arm/fingers (cramping, trigger fingers). I have frequent body/bone pains and aches (hips, back, trunk, legs). I feel better when I work out maybe because that pain masks the pain from this drug! I feel like I'm aging so quickly. When I stretch when I wake up, my body cracks and creaks. Some mornings my body feels so painful. It will be very tough to continue on this drug for 5 years but I'm afraid to not take it. I was 39 at original dx. The BC I have is very aggressive and rare. I feel like I don't have any options. I have a 3 yr old and 5yr old now. Why aren't all the side effects of this drug made known? What long term damage is happening to us? F 41 6 months
12/29/2008
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