Arimidex & Swelling Feet

Susan956
Susan956 Member Posts: 510
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
Just curious if any of you have had your legs & feet swell taking Arimidex... I stopped taking it today and don't expect to take it tomorrow. I have been taking it for about 15 months... and my feet have been getting more swollen and sore overtime. So I intend to try to convince my Onc there must be something better... I am tired of my feet hurting all the time... Let me know if any of you have had a similar issue.

Thanks for the info....

Hope you guys had a Happy Easter... I did... had a great visit with my family.. think that is what got me realizing that I am limiting my abilities due to taking the Arimidex... just getting too tired and having my feet hurt too much to have the amount of fun that should be afforded to an old gal like me.....

Take Care all.... God bless....

Susan

Comments

  • mrsbetty2
    mrsbetty2 Member Posts: 24
    #2
    Hi Susan, I have only been on Arimidex for a little over a month. I am having trouble with my legs,not swelling but achy and weak. When i get out of a chair i have to wait a few minutes to make sure they are going to move. I am only 60 but feel like 90 most days. Stairs are a real bummer. I put on weight during chemo(taxol) and can't seem to get rid of it. I have been wondering if my problems are from the Taxol or the arimidex. I don't have the swelling but maybe that is because i take a fluid/bp pill 3 times a week. I don't go back to the Onc. till June and i will have some questions for him. I hope you find an alternative or help for your problem.We know there are side effects from our meds but no one said they would be this bad.Will keep you in my prayers.
    Betty
    PS. Glad you have Spring where you live. In New York we keep getting winter and it snows about every day. Maybe if it is warms up and the snow melts i will feel better.
  • cruf
    cruf Member Posts: 908
    #3
    Hi Susan. I've been on Aromasin for almost 1 year and I don't have swelling but I have pain and burning in both my feet. Much worse after being in bed all night or sitting for a while. I'm 55 and feel like 90 at times. Once I'm up and walking, they feel better. I'm also moving slower and fatiguing easier. From what I've read, this seems to be the norm with all these drugs. Weight gain too.I was on Tamoxifen for 5 years and didn't have any of these issues. Good luck and feel better. HUGS!! Cathy
  • LesleyH
    LesleyH Member Posts: 370
    #4
    cruf said:

    Hi Susan. I've been on Aromasin for almost 1 year and I don't have swelling but I have pain and burning in both my feet. Much worse after being in bed all night or sitting for a while. I'm 55 and feel like 90 at times. Once I'm up and walking, they feel better. I'm also moving slower and fatiguing easier. From what I've read, this seems to be the norm with all these drugs. Weight gain too.I was on Tamoxifen for 5 years and didn't have any of these issues. Good luck and feel better. HUGS!! Cathy

    Hi Cathy - And all

    I have been on Tamoxifen for just over a year and have peripheral neuropathy. It was very bad. It used to feel like I was walking on cut glass in the mornings. I doubled my dose of Vit B-50 to one twice a day and started having a spoon of nutritional yeast in the mornings and I can't believe how much better it is. These drugs are difficult.

    Hugs.

    Lesley
  • pansylover
    pansylover Member Posts: 80
    #5
    Hi Susan!
    I've been on Arimiddex for over a year now. I started at 46 and feel like 106 hahaha..anyway,I do not have the swelling but I do have the neuropathy. I sometimes wonder if my feet and legs are even attached to my body. I am rather achy.I too take Vit. B complex daily...but in the morning cause if I take it later...I am zooming all over the place and won't sleep well..no wonder the 'older folks' get vit. B shots! I see my Internal doc tues and my Onc in May They will hear about these aches and pains forsure. I figure I will put up w/ the effects ..better than being 6 feet under!
    I'll let ya know what comes of my visits..
    have you tried a guided imagery CD for pain? I listen to mine often and it helps me. Go to www.healthjourneys.com. <-----Belleruth Naparstek has some good ones.
    I'll post later..good wishes for ( oh gosh my brain went dead! lol) a relief of pain.
    bunches of hugs and rubs your feet/legs... Cindie
  • cabbott
    cabbott Member Posts: 1,039 Member
    #6
    Yipes! I just checked out the side effects for the drug you mentioned and it mentioned swelling. Here's a copy of that part: Notify your doctor if you experience: breathing trouble, rash, vaginal bleeding, shortness of breath, chest pain, pain or swelling in the legs, swelling of the feet or ankles, weight gain, tingling of the hands or feet, depression. So call your doctor like tomorrow morning first thing!!! And don't wait a month to be evaluated either. Good luck!
  • KathiM
    KathiM Member Posts: 8,028 Member
    #7
    I was started on Tamoxifen almost a year ago because of low bone density....I have had relatively few sides....can you switch?

    I understand the new regime is Tamoxifen for 1-2 years, then switch to an aromatase inhibitor like Arimidex or Aromasyn for 3....then....done....

    Please keep us posted!!! We deserve quality of life as well as quantity, with all we have gone thru!!!!

    Hugs, kathi
  • babs49242
    babs49242 Member Posts: 193
    #8
    KathiM said:

    I was started on Tamoxifen almost a year ago because of low bone density....I have had relatively few sides....can you switch?

    I understand the new regime is Tamoxifen for 1-2 years, then switch to an aromatase inhibitor like Arimidex or Aromasyn for 3....then....done....

    Please keep us posted!!! We deserve quality of life as well as quantity, with all we have gone thru!!!!

    Hugs, kathi

    From my understanding,Arimidex is for postmenopausal women,Correct me if I am wrong..

    Cindie
  • Susan956
    Susan956 Member Posts: 510
    #9
    babs49242 said:

    From my understanding,Arimidex is for postmenopausal women,Correct me if I am wrong..

    Cindie

    Thanks everyone for letting me vent. I did call my Onc office on Monday morning... and they said to stay off the drug for a week and next Monday I will see my Onc. She is wonderful.. When I talked to her nurse she said that this issue is not uncommon. She wants me off the drug for a week to make sure that that is what is causing the swelling. It does seem to be some better today, I have now been of the Arimidex since Sunday. I will let you guys know what she says. I hope there is another solution.

    Take Care All...

    God Bless...

    Susan

    P.S. Leslie, I have been trying the mega B vitamins... it may be helping some.......
  • cabbott
    cabbott Member Posts: 1,039 Member
    #10
    babs49242 said:

    From my understanding,Arimidex is for postmenopausal women,Correct me if I am wrong..

    Cindie

    You are correct, at least in part. Arimidex and the other aramitase inhibitors cannot compete with WORKING ovaries to reduce the amount of estrogen the ovaries can put out. They can only reduce the estrogen-like substances produced by the adrenal glands and our body fat. There are several ways to put the ovaries out of working order if you are premenapausal. Of course they can be removed surgically, but many doctors are experimenting around with what I believe is called lupron, which temporarily puts a halt to the ovaries. This might make it possible for younger women to benefit from these drugs for 5 years and then go on to have normal pregnancies or a normal menapause. Many women find, though, that chemo has already turned the ovaries off. For those of us who are estrogen receptor positive, this side effect of chemo is actually a benefit, at least from the doctor's point of view. I got a little depressed about losing my ovaries (I had to have surgery to determine if I had ovarian cancer, which turned out to be a false alarm). It may have been time and it may have been good for my lifespan, but it seemed like a big part of my life was over when that happened. Other women don't seem to be so soft-hearted about such decisions. Looking back, things turned out better than I expected. I just get warm a lot(a real benefit on cold nights!).
  • KathiM
    KathiM Member Posts: 8,028 Member
    #11
    babs49242 said:

    From my understanding,Arimidex is for postmenopausal women,Correct me if I am wrong..

    Cindie

    Yes, Cindie...I am eligible for both...considering my total hyster benefit from my resection for rectal cancer...

    BUT the aromatase inhibitors also have a nasty habit of messing with the bone density...hense, with my -2.7T score, I would end up with a broken hip, for sure!!!

    Hugs, Kathi
  • cabbott
    cabbott Member Posts: 1,039 Member
    #12
    KathiM said:

    Yes, Cindie...I am eligible for both...considering my total hyster benefit from my resection for rectal cancer...

    BUT the aromatase inhibitors also have a nasty habit of messing with the bone density...hense, with my -2.7T score, I would end up with a broken hip, for sure!!!

    Hugs, Kathi

    I worry about my bones too on exemestane. My onc. says to just keep track and if my density goes too low we will either go back to tamoxifen (hey, it was the gold standard of care till last year so it's pretty good) or start some fosamax. Right now I'm still low normal and so the exemestane will do for me for now. Hang in there Kathi!
  • pansylover
    pansylover Member Posts: 80
    #13
    cabbott said:

    I worry about my bones too on exemestane. My onc. says to just keep track and if my density goes too low we will either go back to tamoxifen (hey, it was the gold standard of care till last year so it's pretty good) or start some fosamax. Right now I'm still low normal and so the exemestane will do for me for now. Hang in there Kathi!

    I thought Arimidex would do a number on my bone density too. Just had a BD test...Doc said I have "bones of a young adult'..Whew...I was comforted that it hadn't. cuz my mom has Osteopetrosis.

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