Tamoxifen OR Arimidex???

Different Ballgame said:

Aztec - Please Post to Let Us Know How You Are Doing in 3 Weeks
Aztec,

Please be sure to let us know what happens to you in 3 weeks. We all have different reactions - some more - some less - some none.

I hope you get better.

Hugs,
Janelle

Will Do
Will do. Thanks.

P

Lighthouse_7 said:

Femara
Hi Aztec,
Boy am I learning a lot about how Femara can effect mood. Do you ever just cry for no reason? How can you tell if that is from this Dx or not? Just need to know why I feel like I am going crazy. Femara has been in my bloodstream since beg. of Jan.
Thanks for any input.
Light

Hello Lt Houst
Hello, Lt. House,

The mood swings is another big reason why I got off of it and I really don't plan to go back to it. I didn't have crying spells. I am already taking Citrolopram because when I was DX with breast cancer, I had crying spells. The Citrolopram helped that. I just would bite someone's head off for things that are really stupid but at the time, I would get so irritated I would jump down a person's throat. I checked to see if my blood pressure was high or if I was tired or if it was stress, but the thing I think that was causing my violent reactions was the Femara. So I am off of it. And I really don't care what the Onc proves or disproves, I don't intend to take it again. I will have him give me another drug to use in its place.

Another think I recently encountered was dry skin. I mean dry skin on my body, my hands, my face and my lips, etc. That may not sound like a big deal but when it dried out my
Hoo-Ha, it became a really big issue. My Onc said that this was cause by lack of estrogen. So they prescribed me a ring with a low dose of estrogen that I insert in my Hoo-Ha and leave in for 3 months. This should help with the dryness, but I am also wondering if it will help with my moods and my body aches. I will let you know.

Take care,

P

Mama G said:

onlly 5% ER positive
and my onc still wants me to take the Arimidex. Anyone else in or around my category?
Just wondering if it matters.

Arimidex/Aromasin/femara and Tamoxifin
I haven't been on here in awhile, but I want to know if there is any woman out there that is around the age of 70. I just turned 70 in February, I had a mastectomy last May, had ER Positive, 3 tumors, no cancer in my lymphnodes, I was in stage 2, had radiation for 6 weeks, started bleeding under the skin where the mastectomy was, they had to put a drain tube back in for 3 weeks, then I got an infection which spread up my chest and into my other breast. My oncology doctor waited until the infection was cleared up, he called me "atypical" which means I am different. Boy am I. He then put me on Arimidex and after 36 days I couldn't even walk across the room my joints hurt so bad and were so stiff I could hardly do anything. So I quit, went back to him he waited for about a month and then put me on Aromasin which I have now been on it for about 5 months, but the pain in my bones and joints are getting so bad it is putting me in a depression. I feel like my quality of life is being taken away. He wants me to be on it until September when I go back to him, but I don't know if I can go on like this. I feel horrible. At 70 I was a young person, at least in my mind. Now I feel like I am 90. He said the only other choice would be Tamoxifin, but that is for younger women not me. He didn't even mention Femara which has the same side effects. Anyone else out there having the problem at or near my age. I am getting very frustrator. I told my husband this morning I don't like living this way. What else can I do? I have even thought about stopping everything and taking my chances on the cancer not coming back. Stupid thought, huh.

Judy

JudyAS said:

Arimidex/Aromasin/femara and Tamoxifin
I haven't been on here in awhile, but I want to know if there is any woman out there that is around the age of 70. I just turned 70 in February, I had a mastectomy last May, had ER Positive, 3 tumors, no cancer in my lymphnodes, I was in stage 2, had radiation for 6 weeks, started bleeding under the skin where the mastectomy was, they had to put a drain tube back in for 3 weeks, then I got an infection which spread up my chest and into my other breast. My oncology doctor waited until the infection was cleared up, he called me "atypical" which means I am different. Boy am I. He then put me on Arimidex and after 36 days I couldn't even walk across the room my joints hurt so bad and were so stiff I could hardly do anything. So I quit, went back to him he waited for about a month and then put me on Aromasin which I have now been on it for about 5 months, but the pain in my bones and joints are getting so bad it is putting me in a depression. I feel like my quality of life is being taken away. He wants me to be on it until September when I go back to him, but I don't know if I can go on like this. I feel horrible. At 70 I was a young person, at least in my mind. Now I feel like I am 90. He said the only other choice would be Tamoxifin, but that is for younger women not me. He didn't even mention Femara which has the same side effects. Anyone else out there having the problem at or near my age. I am getting very frustrator. I told my husband this morning I don't like living this way. What else can I do? I have even thought about stopping everything and taking my chances on the cancer not coming back. Stupid thought, huh.

Judy

Question
I don't understand my mom is in stage 4 and has it in her bones and Tamoxifin was one of the frist one that the doctor talked about.

The arimidex
Tracy, I have taken Arimidex that was the oncologists first choice. I took it for 36 days and had to go off it because it affected my joints so bad I could hardly walk. Then he put me on Aromasin, which I am going to have to go off it, I can't take it either, my hands are swelling so bad I had to try to get my rings off because they hurt. Even my skin hurts on my hands when I wash them. So now we will see what the next step will be.
He talked about Tamoxifin, but that really is not for me because I am post menopausel, but he said he may try it, it is our last resort. So let me know what he decides for you and if you have any side effects. I pray you don't.

God Bless Judy

aztec45 said:

Well Gang
Well, Gang,

I went in for chemo this past Friday and had a chance to speak with my Onc. I told him that I did not wish to take Femara anymore. He was alarmed. He pointed out that clinical trials show that Femara, Arimedix, and Tamoxifen are the best drugs to use to reduce the recurrence of breast cancer. I told him that I did not like how Femara made me very irritable almost combatative at times. That is not me. I am pretty laid back unless prevoked. The drug is also hurting my knees, ankles, and lower back. It is too difficult for me to do my job. The onc said he would take me off of the drug for 3 weeks. If I improve he will change my drug; if I do not improve he will more than likely run some tests to see what is going on.

Let's hope I get better.

P

Praying that you get better
Praying that you get better aztec45! Let us know if you find some improvement and what you decide to do next.

Hugs, Leeza

tamoxifen vs arimidex
I was on tamoxifen for 7 years back in the 1980's and have now been on arimidex for 1 year.

Here are symptoms I experienced (very unscientific and anecdotal):

Tamoxifen: Fatigue, loss of libido (I was only 33 then so that was very noticeable), weight gain

Arimidex: Neck pain, muscle aches, fatigue (fatigue the first month only), decreased vitamin D level (from 40 to 25 about 9 months after starting arimidex). I am now on 5000 IU Vit D (per endocrinologist) and neck pain and muscle aches are much better.

None of the above is anywhere near as bad as chemo and definitely better than breast cancer.

JudyAS said:

Arimidex/Aromasin/femara and Tamoxifin
I haven't been on here in awhile, but I want to know if there is any woman out there that is around the age of 70. I just turned 70 in February, I had a mastectomy last May, had ER Positive, 3 tumors, no cancer in my lymphnodes, I was in stage 2, had radiation for 6 weeks, started bleeding under the skin where the mastectomy was, they had to put a drain tube back in for 3 weeks, then I got an infection which spread up my chest and into my other breast. My oncology doctor waited until the infection was cleared up, he called me "atypical" which means I am different. Boy am I. He then put me on Arimidex and after 36 days I couldn't even walk across the room my joints hurt so bad and were so stiff I could hardly do anything. So I quit, went back to him he waited for about a month and then put me on Aromasin which I have now been on it for about 5 months, but the pain in my bones and joints are getting so bad it is putting me in a depression. I feel like my quality of life is being taken away. He wants me to be on it until September when I go back to him, but I don't know if I can go on like this. I feel horrible. At 70 I was a young person, at least in my mind. Now I feel like I am 90. He said the only other choice would be Tamoxifin, but that is for younger women not me. He didn't even mention Femara which has the same side effects. Anyone else out there having the problem at or near my age. I am getting very frustrator. I told my husband this morning I don't like living this way. What else can I do? I have even thought about stopping everything and taking my chances on the cancer not coming back. Stupid thought, huh.

Judy

Three out of Four
I was dx two years ago at age 58. I started off on Femara and had severe joint pain to the point I wasn't sleeping at night. My onc switched me to Arimidex -same thing. Since last Oct. I've been taking Tamoxifen as my onc figured I wouldn't have any better luck with the other AI. The tamoxifen is somewhat better - I have more hot flashes but they have eased up a bit. I am sleeping better but instead of joint pain, it's more muscle pain. She says we may try one of the AI's after a year on Tamox. I don't like the side effects of any of these drugs but feel the alternative isn't too good either. Plus I'm one level above having osteoperosis so the AI drugs concern me.

Judy, I hope you can find some relief from the aches and pains.

Sally

blazytracy said:

Well - it has been decided!
I start Monday on Tamoxifen. Totally not what I expected but my Doc. explained to me that since I had regular periods before Chemo, she is considering my pre-menopausal now. She also say that your periods should be stopped for at least a year in order to be post-menopausal.

She said that I will be on Tamoxifen for at least a year and then we'll see if any change in treatment.

She just called me yesterday (Friday) and told me to pick up the prescription on Monday!
Wow! I thought I had until June 9th when my next appt was going to be before I started anything so this is quite a shock - I was not expecting her call.

Good luck to you Tracy!

Good luck to you Tracy!