Arimidex Withdrawal Symptoms

[Maureen Craig]

I came off Arimidex 3 weeks ago after taking it for 5 years and I feel dreadful: nauseous, jittery, light-headed plus I have an extremely uncomfortable thrush-like condition in the nether regions. Has anyone else gone through this?

[Debra]

Maureen Craig wrote:

I came off Arimidex 3 weeks ago after taking it for 5 years and I feel dreadful: nauseous, jittery, light-headed plus I have an extremely uncomfortable thrush-like condition in the nether regions. Has anyone else gone through this?

Hello Maureen.. I too have just come off Armidex after 4 years and can not find any info on the effects of coming off the drug.. only being on it. I am experiencing minor hot flushes, sore throat, heart palpitations and generally feeling quite tired and lethargic..If you find any more info regarding withdrawal and the length of time it lasts, I would be interested in hearing about it. Because I am feeling quite crummy I think that I will speak with my ongologist and discuss these issues.

[para]

Have you found any info since this post? Shouldn't somebody being studying the effects of getting off the drug?

[Joyce DeWoskin]

I came off of Arimidex after taking it for 3 years. 2 days later had to go to bed in the afternoon because I could not stay awake and felt extreme heaviness in my body. Since then I have felt okay,but it took a long nap to recover any energy. At the time that this occured I felt as if I had been placed under anesthesia. More infomation and study needs to occur on withdrawal from Arimidx

[ORLY USHA]

I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF THERE ARE ANY BENEFITS CONTINUEING TAKING THE ARIMIDEX AFTER 5 YEARS, IS THER ANY RESEARCH DONE ABOUT IT?
PLEASE SEND ANSWERS TO [e-mail]

[para]

I called AstraZeneca and asked about any studies being done on the effects of stopping arimidex. They said no. But they are interested in how "we" patients are doing. Maybe if enough people called them, they would look into it.

[paula 1]

I came off of arimidex after taking it for 5 years. I would like to know if anyone knows how long the side effects of withdrawal last? I have been off the drug since May 2007 and have these side effects, a heavyness in my chest, hot flashes, feeling of a sore throat and ear infection, dissiness, weakness in the morning by afternoon I feel better but still not perfect. I also wake up in the night unable to sleep. I also got a bacterial infection in my scalp creating small sores that are very painful to the point of creating severe headaches and nausia. I have been to various doctors and had several cat scans, mri,blood tests,ekg, echocardiogram stress test with all tests showing normal.

[Mona]

I just came off Arimidex after 4 years and have developed severe upper back pain. Feels like nerve pain rather than skeletal-muscular. During my use of Arimidex, I had severe joint pain, almost like gout but never knowing what joint would be affected. Has anyone had this same experience? How long does this withdrawal seem to last? Thank you for any help you can offer.

[lin]

was on arimidex for 5 years and have been off it for just over a week and feel awful. thought I had flu. really sore and dry throat and awful light headiness with noises in my head or ears a bit like waves. have to have tv on at night to try and drown it out.sleep, forget it. has anyone else had similar or am I being silly as the professionals would say

[Paula]

I was on tamoxifen for 2 1/2 years and then arimidex for the remaining 2 1/2 years. I have had liver issues from the tamoxifen (hepatitis for a year) and bone thinning and chipped teeth from the arimidex. I also had the chronic fatigue, the bone-tiredness, the mental fog, and the joint and nerve pain, not to mention weight-gain that was totally uncharacteristic in my past. I have been off all meds since Sept. 1, and I feel no different, yet. A study at UCLA <http://www.physorg.com/news79282045.html> ;
showed that "chemo brain" is real and lasting, so I do not know how many of my issues are due to chemotherapy and what will disappear now that I am off of arimidex.

[rboyd]

paula 1 wrote:

I came off of arimidex after taking it for 5 years. I would like to know if anyone knows how long the side effects of withdrawal last? I have been off the drug since May 2007 and have these side effects, a heavyness in my chest, hot flashes, feeling of a sore throat and ear infection, dissiness, weakness in the morning by afternoon I feel better but still not perfect. I also wake up in the night unable to sleep. I also got a bacterial infection in my scalp creating small sores that are very painful to the point of creating severe headaches and nausia. I have been to various doctors and had several cat scans, mri,blood tests,ekg, echocardiogram stress test with all tests showing normal.

HAVE YOU FOUND OUT HOW LONG THESE SIDE AFFECT LAST FOR?

[rboyd]

HAVE YOU FOUND OUT HOW LONG THE SIDE AFFECTS LAST FOR WHEN COMING OFF THE DRUG?/

[Trijnie UK]

I've just been for my appointment with my oncologist. I was hoping for the all clear (after 5 years) en thank goodness I did get that, which I am very happy about!!!
But I also thought I was going to hear that I could stop taking the arimidex (had tamoxifen first for 2 years), but found out that I still have to carry on with the arimidex for another 5 years? Does this happen a lot?

[virginia Arkansas]

I have just completed 5 years of Arimidex Have been having wild dreams and trouble sleeping. I did fine while I was taking Arimidex, but would like to have a good nights sleep But after the last 9 and a half years this too will pass. Three cancers, non related, maybe I just don't feel things as well as others do. But count your lucky stars and thank God there are things that can help.

[virginia Arkansas]

Trijnie UK wrote:

I've just been for my appointment with my oncologist. I was hoping for the all clear (after 5 years) en thank goodness I did get that, which I am very happy about!!!
But I also thought I was going to hear that I could stop taking the arimidex (had tamoxifen first for 2 years), but found out that I still have to carry on with the arimidex for another 5 years? Does this happen a lot?

I asked my Doctor about more and he said no.

[Trijnie UK]

virginia Arkansas wrote:

<quoted text> I asked my Doctor about more and he said no.

I've just spoken to my breastcancer care nurse and she said that from several researches it was found that some women do benefit from an extra five years of arimidex. Something I somehow could have guessed, but although I had the all-clear last Tuesday I do not have that all-clear-feeling now that I have to carry on with the tablets.
So, although it will give me more security - and I should be and am grateful for it - I'm not looking forward to having to have all those shitty side-effects.
But hey, what am I moaning about! I'm alive!!!!!

[Trijnie UK]

virginia Arkansas wrote:

<quoted text> I asked my Doctor about more and he said no.

Dear Virginia (Arkansas),

I'm sorry that I went on about the fact that I was a bit shocked about having to carry on with arimidex, while you actually wanted to have more and wasn't allowed by your doctor. I suppose everybody reacts differently on certain medication. So, I'm sorry.
Trijnie

[Katie]

I have taken Arimidex for 5 years, and was looking forward to getting off it in August2007--but my Doctor wants me to take it 2 more years, due the fact that I had a recurrance 3 years ago.(he wants me to take it 5 years from the date of my last recurrance. I tolerate it well, but am having neuropthy in my feet--and am wondering if it`s from taking Arimidex.

[kate]

all these side effects make it impossible for me to work walk drive sleep smile and I question the quality of life and if I could just take care of all the things on the latest Johns Hopkins study - maybe take half the dose -

remember that when the birth control pill first started coming out the dose was astronomical - and now it is down to nothing - and this Arimidex is a one size fits all portion - which is highly suspicious to me since no other prescription we have is like that.........bet in a few years they will say oh you can take the new low dose
arimidex and achieve the same results...

I for one am thinking of taking less - or going to
tamoxifen - any thoughts ladies????

[Trijnie UK]

kate wrote:

all these side effects make it impossible for me to work walk drive sleep smile and I question the quality of life and if I could just take care of all the things on the latest Johns Hopkins study - maybe take half the dose -
remember that when the birth control pill first started coming out the dose was astronomical - and now it is down to nothing - and this Arimidex is a one size fits all portion - which is highly suspicious to me since no other prescription we have is like that.........bet in a few years they will say oh you can take the new low dose
arimidex and achieve the same results...
I for one am thinking of taking less - or going to
tamoxifen - any thoughts ladies????

Hi Kate,
I had tamoxifen for the first two years and changed over to arimidex, BECAUSE of it's side effects! And to tell you the truth, it didn't change much at all! I still have aching joints and they are swollen and stiff in the mornings and my lower back is hurting all the time. I still am pretty quickly tired and am fed up being fat! So yes, I was quite upset that, when I got the all clear last month, I was told to carry on taking arimidex for another five years!!! But thinking about it...... many women still DO die of breastcancer, so thinking of that it is maybe a "small" price to pay. I have had to put up with a hell of a lot the last 15 years of my life and finding out that I had BC was well way too much!! I really didn't think that I deserved that too, but what can you do? Ok, I'm on anti-depressants (was already on them before the BC started) and think that they have helped me a bit too. Doesn't mean that it makes me great all the time. Believe me, there have been and still are many many times that I'm soooo f***ing fed up!!! But, at some moment, I do realise that I should be feeling lucky that I'm still alive, so I just put up with it and think that there are a lot more people in the world that are a lot worse off than me.
But yes, it's not fair, and we have to put up with all this afterwards, while we already had enough shit with the operations,chemo and radiotherapy.
Kate,just hang in there. And as I mentioned (in a very long sort-of-round-about-way!)I've had tamoxifen. But I've read that researches have shown that arimidex is better (and it is also a hell of a lot more expensive), but more effective after two years of taking tamoxifen.
I do understand your view on this all, but I think that science has got us this far, so I think I will go along with what my oncologist thinks is right for me.
Feel free if you want to email me privately.