side effects

I am happy to have found this site. I have been on Arimidex for about 4 years and am down to the last 9 months. I am anxious to get off and see what improvements I will notice. I have had weight gain, high cholesterol, tired all the time, and joint paint and arthritis. I am now seeing that all these could be attributed to the arimidex. My hands are actually one of the worst things. X rays show arthritis and it is very painful. I am trying to finish typing a paper for a class.
I am taking meds and vitamins to combat all of these things. The more you take the more depressed you get! I am very worried that the arthritis will cause permanent damage. I already feel like I am 80 and I'm only 54.

I know exactly what you mean.  My doctors has yelled at me for the past 6 months about my weight gain, higher cholesterol, higher blood sugar readings...even gone so far as to tell me I may have to be put on insulin rather than the pills I'm on now for my diabetes.  All of those things are side effects of the Arimidex I've been on for about 16 months now, but I still get yelled at. 

Some of the other side effects I've had are sleeplessness, nausea and vomiting, sore and stiff joints, and some I can't even think of right now.  It bothers me to think I still have to be on Arimidex for over 3-1/2 years.  I can't help but wonder if I'll feel like I'm 90 when I turn 70 in 3 years.  LOL.

But if it continues to work, I don't really have a choice.

I too felt old, very old, but as a bit of encouragement, I've been off the Femara (a different aromatase inhibitor) for almost 2 years now and I feel much more like my self. The finger and other joint pain has gone and I am now sleeping well. I haven't had the cholesterol tested, so I don't know about that. I'm walking regularly and have lost some weight.

It was hard to stick it out for the 5years, wondering all the time what permanent damage was being done. It seems that things are back to normal, though if high cholesterol caused problems those might be yet to show up.

Good luck! Hope this helps a little.

On 8/9/2009 Teresad32 wrote:

I too felt old, very old, but as a bit of encouragement, I've been off the Femara (a different aromatase inhibitor) for almost 2 years now and I feel much more like my self. The finger and other joint pain has gone and I am now sleeping well. I haven't had the cholesterol tested, so I don't know about that. I'm walking regularly and have lost some weight.

It was hard to stick it out for the 5years, wondering all the time what permanent damage was being done. It seems that things are back to normal, though if high cholesterol caused problems those might be yet to show up.

Good luck! Hope this helps a little.

Thanks so much for your message. I will try to stick it out. I'm tired of doctors just adding more meds on top of things for each new ailment... meds for cholesterol, hbp, sleeplessness... YUCK I'm planning to check into going off everything and checking again on the cholesterol after getting off the arimidex to determine if I really have it or it was caused by arimidex. I'm really really worried about the arthritis situation (and weight gain) so thanks for giving me hope!