Arimidex? Femara Anyone?

Yankee Girl
Yankee Girl Member Posts: 21
in Breast Cancer #1
I am new to this online forum as of today, so hello to anyone who reads this ! I have been on Arimidex for 1 year and have common side effects such as joint and muscle stiffness, and worst of all insomnia. Yesterday my oncologist changed my meds to Femara but said I will probably have the same side effects but maybe not. Has anyone else had this experience? And any suggestions to help me sleep? I don't want to become dependent on Ambien, though I take it when desperate for sleep.

Comments

  • missrenee
    missrenee Member Posts: 2,136 Member
    #2
    From One Yankee Girl to Another
    I'm both from NY and a huge NY Yankee fan! I have been on Arimidex for 1 year. Joint pain and stiffness come and go and yes, I do have insomnia as well. I catch my sleep whenever I can, though. I'm not much of a pill-taker either. I'll be interested to see if you get any relief from the Femara. By the way--having a big problem with weight gain on the Arimidex--what about you?

    Hugs, Renee
  • Yankee Girl
    Yankee Girl Member Posts: 21
    #3
    missrenee said:

    From One Yankee Girl to Another
    I'm both from NY and a huge NY Yankee fan! I have been on Arimidex for 1 year. Joint pain and stiffness come and go and yes, I do have insomnia as well. I catch my sleep whenever I can, though. I'm not much of a pill-taker either. I'll be interested to see if you get any relief from the Femara. By the way--having a big problem with weight gain on the Arimidex--what about you?

    Hugs, Renee

    Arimidex/Femara
    Wow. i only joined this network about 40 minutes ago and already a reply and from a Yankee fan no less. Fabulous ! I am from NY but live in California. Anyway, I gained weight after last years surgeries. Not sure if it was caused by the Arimidex or being so inactive fot a while. I started doing cardio at a gym and have taken off 12 pounds since April 25th !! I will let you know if the Femara is better, worse or the same than Arimidex. I'm tired of waking up and walking like I'm 70 years old !!

    Hugs back at ya !

    Lori
  • Yankee Girl
    Yankee Girl Member Posts: 21
    #4
    missrenee said:

    From One Yankee Girl to Another
    I'm both from NY and a huge NY Yankee fan! I have been on Arimidex for 1 year. Joint pain and stiffness come and go and yes, I do have insomnia as well. I catch my sleep whenever I can, though. I'm not much of a pill-taker either. I'll be interested to see if you get any relief from the Femara. By the way--having a big problem with weight gain on the Arimidex--what about you?

    Hugs, Renee

    Arimidex/Femara
    Wow. i only joined this network about 40 minutes ago and already a reply and from a Yankee fan no less. Fabulous ! I am from NY but live in California. Anyway, I gained weight after last years surgeries. Not sure if it was caused by the Arimidex or being so inactive fot a while. I started doing cardio at a gym and have taken off 12 pounds since April 25th !! I will let you know if the Femara is better, worse or the same than Arimidex. I'm tired of waking up and walking like I'm 70 years old !!

    Hugs back at ya !

    Lori
  • Yankee Girl
    Yankee Girl Member Posts: 21
    #5
    missrenee said:

    From One Yankee Girl to Another
    I'm both from NY and a huge NY Yankee fan! I have been on Arimidex for 1 year. Joint pain and stiffness come and go and yes, I do have insomnia as well. I catch my sleep whenever I can, though. I'm not much of a pill-taker either. I'll be interested to see if you get any relief from the Femara. By the way--having a big problem with weight gain on the Arimidex--what about you?

    Hugs, Renee

    Arimidex/Femara
    how do I delete duplicate posts?
  • Rague
    Rague Member Posts: 3,653 Member
    #6
    Femara only
    I've only been on Femara (so far the "real: but will start the generic the end of this month) for a bit over 1 1 /2 yrs. CAn't say i've had any SE's. Occasionally i do have problems getting to sleep proms but not anything new - have always had that prob for many years. I do have Ambien to take on those nights which are usually about once or twice a month at the most.

    For sleep - a glass of warm white milk just before bed. Just remembered that - year ago when I was a CNA at a facility in CA, there was one older RN that would always have us give a cup of warm milk to any one who was still awake when we came on (I worked "Graveyard") before she would give any more drugs to knock them out. It usually worked great.

    Susan
  • natly15
    natly15 Member Posts: 1,941
    #7
    I took arimidex for
    I took arimidex for approximately a month and half but could not tolerate it. It started putting me in a deep depression with mood swings. I've been on Femara almost a year and so far so good. I take Glucosamine and Chondroiytin for my joints and that really seems to help. I take the femara late in the day because it causes me to be drowsy. Best wishes with the Femara hope it gets easier for you. Welcome to the boards we are a great support network with lots of info and love. Hugs to you. There are quite a few gals who also live in Calif.
  • skipper54
    skipper54 Member Posts: 936 Member
    #8
    natly15 said:

    I took arimidex for
    I took arimidex for approximately a month and half but could not tolerate it. It started putting me in a deep depression with mood swings. I've been on Femara almost a year and so far so good. I take Glucosamine and Chondroiytin for my joints and that really seems to help. I take the femara late in the day because it causes me to be drowsy. Best wishes with the Femara hope it gets easier for you. Welcome to the boards we are a great support network with lots of info and love. Hugs to you. There are quite a few gals who also live in Calif.

    On Femara for 4 months or so
    and the only real problem is the nuclear hot flashes. Although now that you mention it I sometimes have trouble sleeping but not often so didn't relate it to the Femara. My onc told me to take it at supper, with food.
  • GrandmaJ
    GrandmaJ Member Posts: 209
    #9
    skipper54 said:

    On Femara for 4 months or so
    and the only real problem is the nuclear hot flashes. Although now that you mention it I sometimes have trouble sleeping but not often so didn't relate it to the Femara. My onc told me to take it at supper, with food.

    Femara
    Been on Femara since May 2010. I take my Femara first thing in the morning. If I take it late in the afternoon or at night, I cannot sleep at all.

    Yes, weight gain with Femara and thinning hair. So far, no real bad joint paints. Guess we all react differently to meds.

    Judy
  • Yankee Girl
    Yankee Girl Member Posts: 21
    #10
    Rague said:

    Femara only
    I've only been on Femara (so far the "real: but will start the generic the end of this month) for a bit over 1 1 /2 yrs. CAn't say i've had any SE's. Occasionally i do have problems getting to sleep proms but not anything new - have always had that prob for many years. I do have Ambien to take on those nights which are usually about once or twice a month at the most.

    For sleep - a glass of warm white milk just before bed. Just remembered that - year ago when I was a CNA at a facility in CA, there was one older RN that would always have us give a cup of warm milk to any one who was still awake when we came on (I worked "Graveyard") before she would give any more drugs to knock them out. It usually worked great.

    Susan

    Femara
    Will give the warm milk a try ! Glad to hear you don't have side effects from the drug. That makes me hopeful !

    Lori
  • Yankee Girl
    Yankee Girl Member Posts: 21
    #11
    Rague said:

    Femara only
    I've only been on Femara (so far the "real: but will start the generic the end of this month) for a bit over 1 1 /2 yrs. CAn't say i've had any SE's. Occasionally i do have problems getting to sleep proms but not anything new - have always had that prob for many years. I do have Ambien to take on those nights which are usually about once or twice a month at the most.

    For sleep - a glass of warm white milk just before bed. Just remembered that - year ago when I was a CNA at a facility in CA, there was one older RN that would always have us give a cup of warm milk to any one who was still awake when we came on (I worked "Graveyard") before she would give any more drugs to knock them out. It usually worked great.

    Susan

    Femara
    Will give the warm milk a try ! Glad to hear you don't have side effects from the drug. That makes me hopeful !

    Lori
  • Yankee Girl
    Yankee Girl Member Posts: 21
    #12
    natly15 said:

    I took arimidex for
    I took arimidex for approximately a month and half but could not tolerate it. It started putting me in a deep depression with mood swings. I've been on Femara almost a year and so far so good. I take Glucosamine and Chondroiytin for my joints and that really seems to help. I take the femara late in the day because it causes me to be drowsy. Best wishes with the Femara hope it gets easier for you. Welcome to the boards we are a great support network with lots of info and love. Hugs to you. There are quite a few gals who also live in Calif.

    I never thought about taking
    I never thought about taking it at night. Perhaps I will give that a try.
    Thanks for your reply.
  • sinee
    sinee Member Posts: 196 Member
    #13
    procrastinating
    I still have to fill my prescription for Armidex and I will be doing that tomorrow, I just hate the whole idea of taking a drug for the next 5 years. My surgeon just about begged me to take it, and he is the one that I really trust from my team. So I will be filling it tomorrow. I will let everyone know how I am doing on it, but as you can see, it won't change my sleeplessness much, it is 2:45 am and I am wide awake, even after having a very full day. Weight gain? yikes I hope not, I am already very pudgy...lol..love to all my pink sisters. Staying strong and moving on~love ya
  • smalldoggroomer
    smalldoggroomer Member Posts: 1,184
    #14
    Welcome Yankee girl
    I to am from N.Y. Onodoga out side syracuse. I have been taking Arimidex since Jan. I have the usual side effects also. Joint pain Muscle aches. And some times trouble sleeping. I just take Tylenol pm. when that happens. It will be interesting to see if taking femara makes any difference in the side affects.

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