aromasin side effects?

[Pray]

I tried the search here to find info. on Aromasin and it came up with 0. Is anyone on this? In 3 weeks I will be switching from Arimidex to Aromasin. The joint pain and swelling are to much for me on Arimidex. My dr. said enough was enough. I looked on the Aromasin site and all side effects percentages are just a little higher with this than arimidex. I'm not sure what I'm getting into? Hope this makes sense?

[tricia keegan]

I can't help as remain on Arimidex but got the generic version for the first time this week and think my bone /jpoint aches are worse and sorry but cant help with Aromasin but think all these drugs are alike!

[Pray]

I am so sorry Tricia that your discomfort is worse!. When you stated "I can't help as remain on Arimidex.." does that mean you have already tried the others? I do hope side effects improve soon for you.

[michka]

I switched from Arimidex to Aromasin because of joint pain but it was the same. Some women report that changing made a big difference so I think it is worth trying.

[v-ness]

i only just read this but thought i would reply anyway. i am on Aromasin now. it is the 3rd AI i have been on since late june and i can safely say i hate AIs. i haven't found the joint pain to be as bad as it was on tamoxifen or even the other 2 AIs (arimidex first, which i was allergic to - vision blurred severely) and femara (hair thinned quickly). i was only on Arimidex for a month or two and on Femara maybe the same. my oncologist took me off Femara because of how quickly i lost hair. but now i am finding things are no different on this Aromasin.

am i ridiculous to be thinking seriously of asking to go back on tamoxifen? i'm post-menopausal on account of a hysterectomy (mom died of ovarian cancer as soon as i finished radiation). i am supposed to be on AIs now, but at least i had all my hair on tamoxifen and i think the hot flashes weren't as bad. or the insomnia. i don't know how much better percentage an AI gives me of non-recurrence over tamoxifen, but i am about ready to gamble... i think it's a small percentage.

it seems kind of vain to be panicking over hair loss, i guess, but jeeze it's like adding insult to injury. i have really dark hair so to ME it shows. and i can feel it. my onco said "you have lots of hair" but i wonder how she'd feel if she was in this position? i mean, what good is "lots of hair" if i have a freakin male pattern bald spot starting to form on the back of my head and a hairline like eddie munster?

sorry... i know there are so many far worse things out there and i feel lame complaining about this. but i just wanted to feel normal.

valerie

[karen z]

V-ness,
See a good dermatologist who specializes in hair loss. Although there are some products he/she might not want you to use due to your history there are topical products you can use that will stop further hair loss and often promote new hair growth. You would want to do this sooner than later. Many of the products work better on women than men.

[Joanne S]

Pray,
I was on Arimidex for 4 years and I had some joint pain, but no swelling. I also had fatigue and weakness...
I have been taking Aromasin (Exemestane) for the past 4 months, but since I take it in combination with Afinitor (Everolimus) I'm not sure which drug is actually giving me which side-effect. I get lots of headaches, dry mouth, mouth sores, bloody sinus mucus, dry/dehydrated/aged skin, loss of muscle tone, fatigue, weakness, and thinning hair.
I believe there are several old posts on our her2support you could probably find and read through.
Search Exemestane: http://her2support.org/vbulletin/search.php?searchid=1176996

Here's a few links I found for you about Aromasin (Exemestane):
Overview: http://www.rxlist.com/aromasin-drug/consumer-uses.htm
Side-effects: http://www.rxlist.com/aromasin-side-effects-drug-center.htm
Aromasin Patient: http://labeling.pfizer.com/ShowLabeling.aspx?id=537
Aromasin Physician: http://labeling.pfizer.com/ShowLabeling.aspx?id=523

Thinking of you Pray- wish I had more info for you. Hugs, Joanne

[Joanne S]

Pray, Just realized your original post about Aromasin was a few months ago. Hope you're doing ok on it? Hugs, Jo

[v-ness]

thanks, you guys.

i held a camera over the back of my head this morning and was horrified when i downloaded the pictures. i have lost so much hair. not that the shower drain hasn't told me so these past months. but i couldn't see how bad it was until today. i threw that Aromasin bottle in the trash. that's it, i'm done. last night i was up until 4 AM with insomnia, i am not going to start taking sleeping pills on top of everything. my mood's been wildly erratic. grant you, monday is the 6th anniversary of my husband's cancer death, but still. i'm already on an anti-depressant! and my shoulders hurt so bad all the time that i just took a vicodin. i feel like there's a 50 lb yoke on them. so if i add it up - i could potentially be taking painkillers, more anti-depressant/mood stabilizer, sleeping pills, and a prescription to stop hair loss and re-grow it..... all thanks to aromasin? no thanks. i'll definitely see a dermatologist about my hair, but the destruction in a few months time is just too much for me and i can't deal with 2.5 more years of this.

i'm just going to tell my onco to put me back on tamoxifen and i'll take the odds. whatever. on that i had hot flashes (so what, i still have them) and bone/joint pain, but i work out all the time nowadays and i'll happily take glucosamine and chondroitin to counter that all i can.

it's funny (not). i pretty much skated through chemo compared to most of the population. i guess it's like a saying on one of my husband's old garage t-shirts "you can pay me now, or you can pay me later". you guys are so right when you call cancer 'the gift that keeps on giving'. and i totally realize i don't even have it that bad.

valerie

[jaykay]

It's interesting how different our reactions are to the different anti-hormonals. I was on tamoxifen for 4.5 years and was miserable but stuck with it - and I was post-menopausal. When my oncologist mentioned that AI's had a better track record, I jumped at the chance.

Was on Femara for 5 years. Yes, I had the joint pain and it didn't help my bones, but it was much more tolerable than the tamoxifen. Would NEVER go back on that again!

Best
Janis