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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Breast Cancer / July 2005Phemara alternative to Arimidex ?
My wife started to be on Arimidex six months ago and suffered increasing nausea symptoms, apart from medium bouts of joint discomfort. So as, it became unbearable, she asked her surgeon to have another drug. The surgeon decided for a one-month break , free of any drugs, and then a switch to a new treatment called "Phemara" that she is due to start next week. Anybody has been hearing about that ? (we are living in France). george > My wife started to be on Arimidex six months ago and suffered increasing > nausea symptoms, apart from medium bouts of joint discomfort. So as, it [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > (we are living in France). > george I think that would be Femara which is an aromatase inhibitor that works in a similar way to Arimidex. The surgeon's approach seems sensible, to take a break to ensure that the symptoms are due to the drug and not some other problem, and then to switch to another drug of the same general class, but to which she may not react so badly. Tim Jackson >> My wife started to be on Arimidex six months ago and suffered increasing >> nausea symptoms, apart from medium bouts of joint discomfort. So as, it [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > >Tim Jackson Tim's right. I'd just like to add that here in the U.S. Femara is not new at all. It's been available for years. - Tony >I think that would be Femara which is an > aromatase inhibitor that works in a similar > way to Arimidex. Femara also seems to have the same side effects as Arimidex so would it really be helpful in this case? Don't all these aromatase inhibitors work the same way in our bodies? If so, why would Femara be more suitable for the wife than Arimidex? I have side effects to Arimidex but figure it would do no good switching. If it does for the poster's wife, I do hope he will repost and let us know after she has tried the Femara a while. Thanks! Bea >>I think that would be Femara which is an >>aromatase inhibitor that works in a similar [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > Bea Depends whether the side effects are a reaction to the suppression of estrogen of a reaction to the drug itself. If it's a matter of hormone levels then you are between the devil (cancer risk) and the deep blue sea (side effects) and have to decide on a compromise. But if she is developing something like an immune reaction to the drug, then switching may well improve matters. It seems probably that if one person gets an abnormally bad reaction (like Susan graphically describes in another post, for example) then that is probably a drug reaction, like an allergy. Tim Jackson thank you again, Tim; Bea, I will let you know, but only in a month or two , as side effects, in the case of Arimidex, did not appear before this lapse of time. By the way, I forgot to tell you that she had Tamoxifen, years ago, without any side effects. >>>I think that would be Femara which is an >>>aromatase inhibitor that works in a similar [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > > Tim Jackson > thank you again, Tim; > Bea, I will let you know, but only in a month or two , as side effects, in > the case of Arimidex, did not appear before this lapse of time. > > By the way, I forgot to tell you that she had Tamoxifen, years ago, without > any side effects. Tamoxifen works differently, unlike Arimidex it does not suppress estrogen production but blocks the estrogen receptors on breast tissue cells (mainly). So it does not produce estrogen deficiency symptoms to anything like the same extent. Tim Jackson >>I think that would be Femara which is an >> aromatase inhibitor that works in a similar [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >wife, I do hope he will repost and let us know after she has tried the >Femara a while. Thanks! Bea, let me assure you that you can't predict how a particular patient will respond to a specific treatment in advance. Statistics will guide the therapy but only trial and error can determine what works and what doesn't for any given individual. - Tony New from a switch : after a month on Femara, my wife is better than with Arimidex : she tells me that the nausea is still here but at a much lower level and she can fight it with anti nausea drug (vogalene). in fact it's still a bit early to be sure , as the side effects of Arimidex have been growing and became unbearable only after five months. georges > >I think that would be Femara which is an >> aromatase inhibitor that works in a similar [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > Bea |
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