How much pain from Arimidex???

[PinkGirl]

Up until a few days ago, the pain from Arimidex was only in my feet and also a very, very, stiff feeling every time I got up from a chair or from bed.
The last few days I have had severe pain in my ankle and one of my knees. It feels like I sprained something, but I know I didn't. Can Arimidex cause real bad pain, and does the pain usually start out mild and then get worse???

[tricia keegan]

mine did get worse and I now take glucosamine/chondroitin which helps although you may not notice a difference for six weeks or so. I hope it helps!

[Patb]

PinkGirl
I started arimidex in November and it has gotten worse every month.
The oncologist wants me to take a break and decide what to do but
I really don't want to do that but may have to. I am very stiff in the
knees and lower back has started to hurt. Not enjoyable. I do exercise
but it is not easy.
patb

[Lori]

I was wondering the exact same thing about the feet. My feet are so stiff in the morning that I can hardly go down the stairs and I am only 34 years old, so it can't be my age. I take Femera instead of Arimidex because Arimidex caused severe joint pain especially in my knees and hips. I also had a hysterectomy and bilat ooph, so I was wondering if that had anything to do with it. Then again, maybe it is that extra 15 cancer pounds that I have been carrying around. Another weird thing is my feet have grown a size since diagnosis. (Guess that matches the rest of my body.) I don't see my onc til November, but I will ask him then to see what his take on it is. I am just glad that this is my biggest complaint at this point in my life since diagnosis 2 1/2 years ago!

[Jean]

I had started out slow with the joint and muscle and it did build up.
There were mornings my ankles felt they would not support me.
It took a bit of time to get going. Exercise is very important.
After my chemo trt..I spoke with my onc. and we decided to switch
to Femara - and now it is 90% better. Small (very small) amount of
joint stiffness in fingers upon waking.

Hope this info helps..if it gets bad maybe you might wish to consider
switching...Femara and Armindex do the same job - for some reason
the Femara does not effect me the same way. I think some other gals
switched also..Ann (I think) ....

Good Luck...hope you feel better...

Jean

[Donna]

Hi PinkGirl,

I had terrible joint pains and sweeling in my knees and ankles - but over the period of a few months that all went away. I still have the arthritic stuff I had before, but all that Arimidex added went away. Hang in there!

Have a great day!

Donna

[PinkGirl]

I talked to my onc about this 2 weeks ago. He said he wanted me on the Arimidex if I thought I could tolerate it. He said something about because the way the clinical trials had been done on all the AI's, Arimidex was the best one for me.

He also said that most people who have joint/bone pain from Arimidex will have the same pain on another AI. Today, my pharmacist told me the same thing. But there are lots of women here who have switched and had less pain. I am definitely getting worse. I guess I'll give it a bit more time and then tell him I want to try something else.

[Rendi69CA]

My pain come and go. I have a hard time getting up from sitting or laying down. It went away for about 3 months and when it came back it felt like I ran 30 miles non stop.

[AlaskaAngel]

Take a look at both links under Marjorie's post in the Articles forum on "Side effects force women off 'safe' cancer pills".

AlaskaAngel

[Bev]

Hi all.

Had similiar to Rendi. Hell if you tried to stand up but ok otherwise. Effect has lessened somewhat over time. Onc said I'm just old. I think you can just fight this side effect, it will eventually go away. BB