losing safety net?

SweetSue
SweetSue Member Posts: 217
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
After taking Arimidex for 5 years, doctor said I won't be taking it anymore. I feel like I am losing my safety net? Is anyone taking anything after the 5 years?
Thanks to all of u who respond.
Sue

Comments

  • Unknown
    Unknown
    #2
    Sue, I have been taking tamoxifen for a little less than 2 years now. I can totally understand your feelings of anxiety around losing your safety net. At my 2yr anniversary my surgeon told me that he will be seeing me until year 5 and then if everything is still fine then no more follow-ups. I became immediately anxious. I hope that my medical oncologist and radiation oncologist will be seeing me for longer than that but I did become very nervous at the thought of losing just one of my safety nets or as I like to say security blankets. As far as I know, there is not any meds for after the 5 yrs. I wish there was. Its hard when chemo ends and it is hard with each transition after that because there is a sense that we are losing our guards against the enemy. I am in a clinical trial so I think I will be followed for quite a while, but at some point I will have follow-ups only once a year and that will be a bit stressful I am sure. I wish I had a plan on how to deal with that, but I don't. This disease is so awful that it is almost impossible to let go of the shadow of fear of recurrance. Hang in there and remember that we are all there with you and offer our support. Blessings, Eileen
  • KathiM
    KathiM Member Posts: 8,028 Member
    #3
    My mom, after 5 years of Tamoxifen, stopped taking all drugs. That was almost 10 years ago. I am at year 2, and am looking forward to the same....cancer gets 5 years of my life (actually, with the rectal cancer, it will be almost 7...lol...) NO MORE!!!!

    Hugs, Kathi
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    #4
    I took tamoxifen for 7 years and nothing since.
    I stopped in 2001.
    It's a little spooky at first, then you come to realize that there are no guarantees and that you are strong and can deal with the future just as you have the past. God bless.
  • cabbott
    cabbott Member Posts: 1,039 Member
    #5
    I no longer see my surgeon since I am now at 5 years from my last surgery date. I plan to keep going to the university teaching hospital though. They have trained nurses who can do a professional breast check after the mamograms and they are great at keeping me up on the latest developments on what I can do to prevent reoccurance. Right now that includes staying very active with daily exercise, eating right, doing regular breast checks, and keeping tabs on my vitamin D level. The nurse pointed out some things I already knew, like to keep tabs on my bones since the exemestane I am on (like your arimidex) is a bone eater. My next bone density test is August 6th and she wants a copy of the report. I have heard that we should go to our General Practioner or Internal Specialist after we're finished with cancer treatment, but I feel more comfortable with the nurse practioners that are specially trained on cancer problems. I hope the program continues as long as I feel I need it!
  • tlmac
    tlmac Member Posts: 272 Member
    #6
    I started taking Arimidex 3 weeks after my last chemo in May 2003. My 2 1/2 cm lump was stage 2/grade 2-3 with local vascular involvement but clear lymph nodes. When this past May rolled around my oncologist and I discussed going off or staying on an he left it up to me. Since there's no evidence it stops working after 5 yrs. and I have no symptoms other than thinning hair, I'm staying on. I take Fosamax weekly for osteoporosis, diagnosed 2 yrs. before breast cancer, so no problem with bone density. I'm definitely not ready to lose that protection. Good luck!
    terri
  • chenheart
    chenheart Member Posts: 5,159
    #7
    I am a few months from the stopping point of Arimidex as well....I felt the same way on my last day of chemo; and I used your exact words: on a highwire without a safety net.

    I don't know how much estrogen post-menopausal women make naturally, but I am hopeful, that at age 59, once the Arimidex has reached its 5 year mark, that there won't be much estrogen in my body for any E-Pos cancer to feed on! I dunno tho~ it all seems like the proverbial crap shoot to me!

    Hugs,
    Claudia

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