[Donna]

Okay, so to re-cap, I wanted to know: since each AI I have tried took a few months to grow into full blown joint pain and each one hit a different area (Femara lower body joints, Arimidex hands) and now on to Aromasin to see how it works - would it be medically efficacious to just keep switching every couple of months to stay ahead of the side effects each produces?

My oncologist said I could try that, absolutely - but her prediction would be that now that I am three years into this and the mechanism of action on the AI's is similar, I might not go back to square one and start over on each, that they would simply progress from where I am now.

She did, however, point out that the next thing I might try assuming Aromasin might not be the magic bullet I am hoping for, would be Tamoxifen. The mechanism of action is different - it fills the estrogen receptors so it is blocked - but it has shown to be slightly less effective than the AI's for her-2. She was quick to point out these were small studies and quality of life is a big issue to consider since my side effects are definitely affecting my daily life.

So - there you go - we have options! I wonder if I had started switching AI's early on before side effects advanced to this point if I could have been in better shape now? Or would the cumulative effect still be the same? Anyway, food for thought,

Have a great day everyone!

Donna