Is hormone therapy safe after breast cancer surgery?

Question

Hi doctor,

My wife underwent breast cancer surgery a year ago. She was then prescribed an Arimidex 1 mg tablet daily. She developed sciatic neuralgia, which made bending and walking extremely painful. The ayurvedic doctor who cured her ascribed it to Arimidex, which robs calcium from bones. Can you recommend other medicines that can substitute for Arimidex?

Kindly help.

Answer 1

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

Sciatica is usually due to local compression over the nerve supplying legs like the one with disc prolapse. Arimidex (Anastrozole) is a hormone used for the treatment of breast cancer and can cause diffuse bone loss. That is why we give calcium and Vitamin D with these hormones to maintain the bone density. So my suggestion is to continue Arimidex till the response is there. Discuss this issue with your oncologist, and I am sure he will add calcium and Vitamin D.

Thank you.

Answer 2

Hi,

Welcome back to icliniq.com.

This is enough to counter the side effects of Arimidex. If you are still concerned about it, have serum calcium levels to rule out any deficiency.

I hope it helps.

Thank you.