Dr. switching me from femara to aromasin?

mollyz
mollyz Member Posts: 756 Member
in Breast Cancer #1
I've been on famera for a year this month and I complained about the joint pain in my wrest and he said to stay on it in the past well today i go see him for blood work and he ask was i having a lot of pain in the wrest and i said yes and he switched it to aromasin im not sure on what to think about that,don't both meds do the same thing control the estrogen? i mean im glad but it was a little unexpected. can anyone comment on their thoughts and experiences with changing meds.~~MollyZ~~

Comments

  • mollyz
    mollyz Member Posts: 756 Member
    #2
    bumping up!!!!!!
    need some input please!!!!
  • Rague
    Rague Member Posts: 3,653 Member
    #3
    Can't help you
    I've been on Femara/letrozole for 2 1/2 yrs with no SE's. As I understand the different Ones work a bit different because they are slightly different in what's in them though they work similarily. I remember someone saying that when Femara went generic in June 2011, she started having SE's that had not bneen there on the original Femara. She tried different manufacturers of the letrozole and finally found one that worked for her. When I switched to letrozole, I had no problems. I know that's not the answers you're looking for but all I have.

    Winyan - The Power Within

    Susan
  • mollyz
    mollyz Member Posts: 756 Member
    #4
    Rague said:

    Can't help you
    I've been on Femara/letrozole for 2 1/2 yrs with no SE's. As I understand the different Ones work a bit different because they are slightly different in what's in them though they work similarily. I remember someone saying that when Femara went generic in June 2011, she started having SE's that had not bneen there on the original Femara. She tried different manufacturers of the letrozole and finally found one that worked for her. When I switched to letrozole, I had no problems. I know that's not the answers you're looking for but all I have.

    Winyan - The Power Within

    Susan

    Thanks!
    I'll take what i can get on answers.thanks again Susan
    ~~MollyZ~~
  • NancyJac
    NancyJac Member Posts: 91
    #5
    I had this very conversation with my oncologist
    I recently started on Anastrozole (generic for Arimidex). Before I started using it I asked my oncologist why that particular one, how is it different from others, etc. She told me that AIs pretty much all worked the same way and have the potential for the same side effects. She usually prescribes Anastrozole because it has been on the market the longest and therefore has the longest history of use. She also told me that ever though they are very similar, for various reasons, a given person might experience a SE with one but not another, or that it might be more severe with one than another. She also said that changing meds often produces a honeymoon effect....a period of 2-3 months where the SE of the previous drug wear off and the the new one hasn't been cumulative enough yet for SE to be apparent. Some oncologists also take patients off of an AI temporarily, any where from a week to 3 months, to allow SE to subside, and then they go back to the same AI.
  • mollyz
    mollyz Member Posts: 756 Member
    #6
    NancyJac said:

    I had this very conversation with my oncologist
    I recently started on Anastrozole (generic for Arimidex). Before I started using it I asked my oncologist why that particular one, how is it different from others, etc. She told me that AIs pretty much all worked the same way and have the potential for the same side effects. She usually prescribes Anastrozole because it has been on the market the longest and therefore has the longest history of use. She also told me that ever though they are very similar, for various reasons, a given person might experience a SE with one but not another, or that it might be more severe with one than another. She also said that changing meds often produces a honeymoon effect....a period of 2-3 months where the SE of the previous drug wear off and the the new one hasn't been cumulative enough yet for SE to be apparent. Some oncologists also take patients off of an AI temporarily, any where from a week to 3 months, to allow SE to subside, and then they go back to the same AI.

    @NancyJac
    Hi Nancy, welcome to the boards,I'm not on as often as i use to be and i see there's so many newbies so i welcome all. Thanks for the info and yes my oncologist did tell me to stop the femara (generic) for a week before i start the new and it's been 3 days now and i can feel the wrist pain subsiding a little. ~~MollyZ~~
  • CypressCynthia
    CypressCynthia Member Posts: 4,014 Member
    #7
    Hope this helps
    For some, changing to a different aromatase inhibitor my diminish or eliminate joint pain. Chemically, all 3 drugs are a little different and aromasin is the most different of the three as it is what is called a steroidal aromatase inhibitor as opposed to a non-steroidal aromatase inhibitor. Aromasin is also considered irreversible (permanently inhibiting a tumor from using estrogen--a good thing in my opinion).

    There are 4 sisters in my family and 3 of us have had breast cancer. We all live in different parts of the country. My little sister is on femara; I was on armidex; My Seattle sister was on aromasin. We have the same type of tumor--just different docs start with different AI's.

    The sister on aromasin claims that she never had any side effects at all from aromasin. Arimdex and femara caused mild joint pain for my little sis and me.

    So, it is definitely true that all 3 can cause joint pain, but, with some folks, switching to a different drug can really help. I would do it in a second as all 3 appear to work well against ER+ cancer.
  • Kylez
    Kylez Member Posts: 3,761 Member
    #8
    mollyz said:

    Thanks!
    I'll take what i can get on answers.thanks again Susan
    ~~MollyZ~~

    I am not on aromasin Molly,
    I am not on aromasin Molly, but, I hope it is better for you!
  • SIROD
    SIROD Member Posts: 2,194 Member
    #9
    Aromatase Inhibitors
    Hi Molly,

    I used both Arimidex and Femara. Though they are very similar drugs, almost kissing cousins, they acted very differently. I had no bone or joint pain on Arimidex. Femara was awful for me. However, I used Arimidex when I was younger and had no bone problems. When I began using Femara, I had
    osteoarthritis, torn tendons, inflamed tendons, bone spurs and you name it. I used Arimidex for many, many years. My oncologist thought Femara was to close to Arimidex to help me. I did have 24 months on Femara.

    I can't use Aromasin at this time. Hopefully I will be able to use Aromasin with Afinitor in due time. I expect it to buy me more years. I think aromatase inhibitors are the best drugs invented so far for ER or PR positive cancer.

    Perhaps Aromasin since it is a steroid will help you to be free of bone & joint pain. It is certainly worth a try. The best of luck with Aromasin.

    Doris
  • mollyz
    mollyz Member Posts: 756 Member
    #10
    SIROD said:

    Aromatase Inhibitors
    Hi Molly,

    I used both Arimidex and Femara. Though they are very similar drugs, almost kissing cousins, they acted very differently. I had no bone or joint pain on Arimidex. Femara was awful for me. However, I used Arimidex when I was younger and had no bone problems. When I began using Femara, I had
    osteoarthritis, torn tendons, inflamed tendons, bone spurs and you name it. I used Arimidex for many, many years. My oncologist thought Femara was to close to Arimidex to help me. I did have 24 months on Femara.

    I can't use Aromasin at this time. Hopefully I will be able to use Aromasin with Afinitor in due time. I expect it to buy me more years. I think aromatase inhibitors are the best drugs invented so far for ER or PR positive cancer.

    Perhaps Aromasin since it is a steroid will help you to be free of bone & joint pain. It is certainly worth a try. The best of luck with Aromasin.

    Doris

    Thank you all
    This was all very positive information,yes I've felt like somebodies grandma for a year,I started my first aromasin today so time will tell,I don't know about the steroid part but if i start gaining weight I'll know what happened,I went vegan about 6 months ago and the weight just melted off me people started asking me was i OK because my weight really stayed the same during chemo just a 3 or 4 pound difference. thanks again ladies~~MollyZ~~
  • pw.star
    pw.star Member Posts: 1
    #11
    mollyz said:

    Thank you all
    This was all very positive information,yes I've felt like somebodies grandma for a year,I started my first aromasin today so time will tell,I don't know about the steroid part but if i start gaining weight I'll know what happened,I went vegan about 6 months ago and the weight just melted off me people started asking me was i OK because my weight really stayed the same during chemo just a 3 or 4 pound difference. thanks again ladies~~MollyZ~~

    joint pain and femara
    I have been on femara for 6 months- after 2 years on tamoxifin- I am extremely stiff when waking up- the pain moves around to different joints but it is always somewhere. I am trying a new supplements all the time. Hopefully one of them will work. Will keep you posted!
  • Carol1018
    Carol1018 Member Posts: 6
    #12
    went from arimidex to aromasin
    Was on Arimidex for the past 4 months and the pain was unbearable, my joints, bones, pretty much everything hurt, felt like my entire body was broken. Took pain meds, sometimes they would help, so my doc told me to stop taking it, did so for about 2 wks while they did scans to make sure it wasn't cancer in my bones, scans came up positive, so he switched me to Aromasin, so far after 2 wks on it the pain has subsided but I have pain, don't know if any of these meds don't cause some pain...not very encourging :/

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