joint pain from arimidex - Page 2

bonniemarie · 02-19-2006, 11:05 PM

thanks for responding to my e-mail. i had uterus & ovaries taken out last august. no cancer in the uterus as they thought. hooray! it was a year on january 20th since i had the mastectomy. i do think arimidex is proving to be better than tamoxifen. stage 3, huh. i'm sorry. mine was stage 2. i did not have chemotherapy other than zoladex shots. so, i feel i really need to continue with the best pill. but, will i be able to walk after 5 years on arimidex???? it was interesting to hear that you still had the pain after being off of it for 6 weeks. what about your fingernails, have they been peeling and splitting, like mine? how have you been without the norco? was it addictive enough that it was agony to quit taking it? are you going to start again? does your oncologist recognize that the pain is real? mine said that the arimidex salesman says that it does not cause pain. i wondered if it was just me until i found this site. thanks. misery loves company, i guess. i will have to discuss switching back to tamoxifen also - but i know my oncologist strongly feels that arimidex is better... and i don't want more cancer. tough decisions. take care. thanks again for sharing. bon

shelley2977 · 02-20-2006, 04:17 AM

HI BONNIE, HEY WHY DID YOU NOT HAVE CHEMO? WHAT IS ZOLADEX? IT MUST BE A FORM OF CHEMO SINCE MOST ALL STAGE 2 PEOPLE GET CHEMO THESE DAYS. I HAD MY OVARIES REMOVED BECAUSE ALL OF A SUDDEN I STARTED GETTING PERIODS BACK AFTER CHEMO AND IF YOU HAVE PERIOD ARIMIDEX IS GOOD FOR NOTHING. SO AT 48 I HAD THEM REMOVED. THE NORCO WITHDRAWAL HAS BEEN TORTUE AND I AM ACTUALLY GETTING LOTS OF HELP FROM THESE BOARDS ON ADDICTION. FOR YOUR DOCTOR TO SAY THAT THERE IS NO PAIN WITH ARIMIDEX IS CRAZY. EVERY RESEARCH INFORMATION STATES THE 1ST MAIN SIDE EFFECT IS JOINT PAIN. MY GOAL IS TO GET OFF NARCOTIC AND GO TO PAIN MANAGEMENT DOCTOR AND SEE IF THERE IS SOMETHING ELSE TO HELP ME. YES, AFTER 5 YEARS WILL WE BE CRIPPLED DUE TO THE ARIMIDEX? THAT IS A GOOD QUESTION THAT NO ONE CAN ANSWER. I AM ALL OVER WITH MY RESPONSES TO YOU SORRY! YOU ARE RIGHT, AFTER 6 WEEKS OFF OF ARIMIDEX MY PAIN DID NOT GET ANY BETTER WHICH MIGHT LEAD ME TO BELIEVE THAT THE PAIN IS FROM THE AGRESSIVE TYPE OF CHEMO DRUGS THEY USED ON ME. I HAD TAXOL AND TAXOTERE ALONG CYTOXAN AND ADRIMYIACYM (BAD SPELLING) . IT IS SO WEIRD THAT YOU MENTION THE NAILS. MY WERE CHIPPING AND BREAKING AND SOMEONE MENTIONED THAT HAD TO DO WITH YOUR LIVER. WHO KNOWS. OH MY GOD, I AM SO SELF OBSESSED, I'VE GONE ON FOREVER. STAY IN TOUCH AND BE WELL. SHELLEY

bonniemarie · 03-06-2006, 10:48 PM

hi shelley
to set it straight... the drug sales rep for arimidex is the one who says it doesn't cause pain (not my doc). sorry to mislead you. i've been in florida the past couple of weeks to welcome a new grandson. it was nice to be warm but the plane ride was miserable. i need to keep moving so that i don't hurt so much. bedtime is rough, too. do you take anything to help you sleep? i realllllllly missed my bed. air bed at my daughter's house wasn't good!

i'm 51 yrs old. are we about the same age?
hope you are doing better with norco withdrawal.
thanks for your helps. it's still good to know that i'm not the only one experiencing these things.
stay well, yourself!
bonnie

mishtina · 05-02-2006, 09:37 PM

Hi everyone, I thought I may as well chime in on the Arimidex question. There is definitely pain. Pain that makes you walk like an OLD,OLD lady. There is also other side effects, such as blood clots, eye problems, painful and swollen hands, not to mention an itchey rash. There's not much information yet on side effects that you can find. I had my breast cancer in late 2001, and a heart attack in Nov. 2004. My oncologist says Arimidex had nothing to do w/ my heart attack.He was upset that I wanted to quit it. So I didn't at the time, however now my eyes are starting to be extremely irritated and dry. My eye pressure went to 33 in each eye and I had to see a specialist. You see, the lacrimal glands use estrogen, and Arimidex negates estrogen. I'm not really sure of the cause of my eye problems and that's why I'm on this board. I wanted to get some input from others about their experience with Arimidex. At the moment I've stopped taking it. I'd appreciate your comments .

bonniemarie · 05-07-2006, 08:43 PM

hi mishtina
since i last posted to this thread, i have visited my oncologist twice. i have stopped taking arimidex and am back on tamoxifen. the pain began to subside after about 3 days and after two weeks it was almost completely gone. i slept almost straight for a week after i started feeling better. i was very sleep deprived from the pain. but, every person with breast cancer needs their own individual plan. a good oncologist will know how to direct you. the added benefits of arimidex were not sufficient for me to continue - considering the pain i was having. i am happy to report that the tamoxifen side effects are not too bad. some memory loss and a little joint pain but NOTHING like the other. i did not have eye problems with arimidex. i hope you get that figured out soon. tamoxifen also negates the estrogen but in a different way. and, there are some brand new meds out that may be even better!
the muscles around my heart hurt while taking arimidex - actually, every muscle & bone hurt. i don't know if arimidex could cause a heart attack but it definitely causes pain & stress to add to the chances. i feel so much better after being off for six weeks that i am actually hiking again and i ran-yes ran across the parking lot yesterday at walmart! not bad for an old lady! it is awesome to be feeling good again. good luck with your treatment plans. let us know how it goes.