Hi Ive been on Anastrazole for nearly 2 years after Grade 2 DIC At first a little pain in my joints and  occasional hot flushes but all has calmed down and I find it easily manageable. I do have to take Adcal vitamin D twice a day and every 6 months I have an intravenous Bisphosphonate injection to protect my bones, this is just for 2 years so am about to have my last one.  I haven't taken Letrozole or Tamoxifen so don't have a comparison. Hope it gets easier for you

Best wishes

Silver 

Hi Silver, nice to hear from you. I switched from letrozole to anastrozole about a month ago and can't say I've noticed any improvement in my side effects. Just woken for the 2nd time tonight in a puddle so not a happy bunny. The hot flashes in the day are easier to deal with than these awful night sweats. But by far and away the worst side effect for me is the awful pain in my joints, especially my wrists and thumb joints and more recently my knees. Kneeling down is agony. You say you have been on anastrozole for 2 years but how long did it take for the flushes and joint pain to go away? Also do you suffer from "brain fog"? I put my dreadful memory and general feeling of fuzziness down to chemo fog but have recently found out that it is very likely to be the drug. This seems to be backed up by the recent Davina McCall documentary about the menopause. It seems that oestrogen protects the brain and obviously we now have little or no oestrogen. Is this a worry for you too?

Nice to have your company, have a good day, kind regards, Mog, x

Hi Silver, nice to hear from you. I switched from letrozole to anastrozole about a month ago and can't say I've noticed any improvement in my side effects. Just woken for the 2nd time tonight in a puddle so not a happy bunny. The hot flashes in the day are easier to deal with than these awful night sweats. But by far and away the worst side effect for me is the awful pain in my joints, especially my wrists and thumb joints and more recently my knees. Kneeling down is agony. You say you have been on anastrozole for 2 years but how long did it take for the flushes and joint pain to go away? Also do you suffer from "brain fog"? I put my dreadful memory and general feeling of fuzziness down to chemo fog but have recently found out that it is very likely to be the drug. This seems to be backed up by the recent Davina McCall documentary about the menopause. It seems that oestrogen protects the brain and obviously we now have little or no oestrogen. Is this a worry for you too?

Nice to have your company, have a good day, kind regards, Mog, x

Hello

I am way past the menopause although still have occasional hot flushes I assume from the drug. It's the lack of eostrogen that's causing those symptons. The menopause caused brain fog and I feel for you coping with menopause as well as cancer treatment. I must watch the Davina McCall on catch up.As to the joint pain I had a little in my wrists and woke feeling stiff but apart from that not too bad For you it's the Consultants that really can give you any advice, maybe tweaking the drug and resolve these issues

Silver x 

Hi Silver, good to hear from you. Bit of confusion I think with my last post as I am way past a natural menopause and it is the anastrozole which is causing those symptoms now. I didn't have a menopause when I should've done as I switched straight from the pill to hrt so avoided the effects of lack of oestrogen. Now I wondering if the artificially high levels of oestrogen for so long, essentially my whole life, caused my cancer. I am really struggling with the pain in my wrists and hands. Living alone I don't have anyone to help and simple things like taking the top off the milk hurts a lot. It's pretty miserable. That being said it's the brain fog that concerns me the most and I shall be talking to my oncologist about it when I see him in June.

Have a good day, kind regards, Mog, x