Best time of day to take AI?

HapB
HapB Member Posts: 527
in Breast Cancer #1

Hi, I am about to restart Anastrozole after being off Femara, which was horrible for me.  i want to give myself the best shot at doing well and I need to sleep at night, which was impossible on the Femara due to pain, night sweats, racing heart.  What time does every take their AI?  Will I lose my hair again? 

Comments

  • Teach76
    Teach76 Member Posts: 354 Member
    #2
    Sharing

    i had the opposite experience. . . I was on anastrozole and developed a severe sore throat that did not go away.  I switched to Femara, and the SE seem more severe, but at least I can talk!  I have been taking my AI after dinner.  I did not find any trouble sleeping - in fact, I sometimes find it difficult to stay awake.  Since my hair returned after chemo, it is thinner, but I did not lose all of it on AI.

    Kathy

  • HapB
    HapB Member Posts: 527
    #3
    Teach76 said:

    Sharing

    i had the opposite experience. . . I was on anastrozole and developed a severe sore throat that did not go away.  I switched to Femara, and the SE seem more severe, but at least I can talk!  I have been taking my AI after dinner.  I did not find any trouble sleeping - in fact, I sometimes find it difficult to stay awake.  Since my hair returned after chemo, it is thinner, but I did not lose all of it on AI.

    Kathy

    kathy

    Hi Kathy, Just out of curiosity do you know who manufactured your Anastrozole and Letrozole? 

  • Teach76
    Teach76 Member Posts: 354 Member
    #4
    HapB said:

    kathy

    Hi Kathy, Just out of curiosity do you know who manufactured your Anastrozole and Letrozole? 

    Manufacturer

    anastrozole never came in manufacturer’s bottle.  Letrozole is made by Apotex Corp. 

  • eihtak
    eihtak Member Posts: 1,473 Member
    edited June 2018 #5
    HapB...

    Hi,

    I had been on Anastrozole for over 5 years and was told to take it at bedtime which for me was around 11:00pm. The first few months I had night sweats and some muscle/joint pain, but nothing too severe. After a few months the side effects were almost nothing other than occasional mild sweats. I did not lose any hair with that medication whatsoever. 

    I will hope it goes as well for you!

    katheryn

  • HapB
    HapB Member Posts: 527
    #6
    Eihtak

    thanks for the reply. Tomorrow is the day I will start and I am trying to think positive! 

  • eihtak
    eihtak Member Posts: 1,473 Member
    #7
    HapB said:

    Eihtak

    thanks for the reply. Tomorrow is the day I will start and I am trying to think positive! 

    HapB...

    You are welcome...with any new long term medication it is important to be patient and give your body time to adjust. As I said, that was a couple months for me. I did find that getting regular exercise even just taking a walk helped A LOT with any aches I was feeling. 

    Keep that positive attitude and I bet you'll do great!

    katheryn

  • Apaugh
    Apaugh Member Posts: 850 Member
    edited June 2018 #8
    Anastrazole

    my second time around on this.  I think the first time I could not give it a fair shake due to the fact I was still undergoing Herceptin treatments.  I was miserable.  They switched me to Tomoxifen, but had to go off that due to a leg break.   So I had a two month repreive from it all and then went back to Anastrazole and instead of taking it a night, I went to mornings because I was more active throughout the day and I am doing better on it this time around.  Still have the stiffness if I sit too long and aches.  Still have to do some stretches prior to getting out of bed.  Still have breakout hotflashes and an occassional night sweat but not near as bad as before. 

    I pray all goes well and it becomes manageable.

    Hugs,

    Annie

  • HapB
    HapB Member Posts: 527
    #9
    Apaugh said:

    Anastrazole

    my second time around on this.  I think the first time I could not give it a fair shake due to the fact I was still undergoing Herceptin treatments.  I was miserable.  They switched me to Tomoxifen, but had to go off that due to a leg break.   So I had a two month repreive from it all and then went back to Anastrazole and instead of taking it a night, I went to mornings because I was more active throughout the day and I am doing better on it this time around.  Still have the stiffness if I sit too long and aches.  Still have to do some stretches prior to getting out of bed.  Still have breakout hotflashes and an occassional night sweat but not near as bad as before. 

    I pray all goes well and it becomes manageable.

    Hugs,

    Annie

    Thanks Annie!

    I am glad to hear you are doing so much better. i still have your angel hanging in my living room, where I can see it everyday! Love it! 

     

    What stage and status were you? Triple Positive? 

  • Apaugh
    Apaugh Member Posts: 850 Member
    #10
    Hap

    Glad to hear you still enjoy the angel.  I found mine early through self exam.  It was center right side.  I was stage I.  No spread to the lymph.  I cant find my paper on this at this moment but my cancer was found to be HER2 and ER+. 

  • HapB
    HapB Member Posts: 527
    #11
    Apaugh said:

    Hap

    Glad to hear you still enjoy the angel.  I found mine early through self exam.  It was center right side.  I was stage I.  No spread to the lymph.  I cant find my paper on this at this moment but my cancer was found to be HER2 and ER+. 

    Annie

    Hi. Yes, me too. Small tumor, no nodes, triple positive...and all this suffering for a tumor the size of a little dot! Ugh . Makes no sense to me at all. 

    So, i started the pills this week. So far, not too bad. i am taking it at dinner time, which seems to be ok.

     

  • Apaugh
    Apaugh Member Posts: 850 Member
    #12
    Hap

    Praying you do better on them.  Some days are tougher than others, but I push on.  Movemepnt helps. 

    Keep us updated on how you do. 

    Hugs

    Anie

  • JayDeee
    JayDeee Member Posts: 5
    #13
    AI

    I have been on anestrozol (might be spelled wrong) since April, i find some hotflashes but changed to taking this in the morning and nights are much better now.  Good Luck, i hear many have joint problems with all AI's I can't wait for this to happen.  JD

  • JayDeee
    JayDeee Member Posts: 5
    #14
    eihtak said:

    HapB...

    Hi,

    I had been on Anastrozole for over 5 years and was told to take it at bedtime which for me was around 11:00pm. The first few months I had night sweats and some muscle/joint pain, but nothing too severe. After a few months the side effects were almost nothing other than occasional mild sweats. I did not lose any hair with that medication whatsoever. 

    I will hope it goes as well for you!

    katheryn

    AI

    I changed to taking mine in the morning and found this to be much better at night now.....

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