Arimidex Anastrozole: Side Effects, Uses, Dosage, Interactions, Warnings

Other drugs may affect anastrozole, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal products. Tell your doctor about all your current medicines and any medicine you start or stop using. This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. This medication can increase the risk of bone loss (osteoporosis). Talk with your doctor about your risk, and about available treatments for osteoporosis.

Anastrozole Coupon & Prices

Because ARIMIDEX lowers circulating estrogen levels itmay cause a reduction in bone mineral density. Between treatment arms in theoverall population of 6186 patients, there was no statistical difference inischemic cardiovascular events (4% ARIMIDEX vs. 3% tamoxifen). Adverse reactions occurring with an incidence of at least5% in either treatment group during treatment or within 14 days of the end oftreatment are presented in Table 1. Along with its needed effects, anastrozole may cause some unwanted effects.

Anastrozole (Oral Route)

Five patients (18%) experienced adverse reactions thatwere considered possibly related to ARIMIDEX. These were nausea, acne, pain inan extremity, increased alanine transaminase and aspartate transaminase, andallergic dermatitis. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled,multi-center study enrolled 80 boys with pubertal gynecomastia aged 11 to 18years.

In both populations for lipids, there was no clinicallysignificant difference in total cholesterol (TC) or serum triglycerides (TG) at12 months compared with baseline. In secondary population for lipids(ARIMIDEX+risedronate), there also was no clinically significant change inLDL-C and HDL-C from baseline to 12 months. Keep all appointments with your doctor and the laboratory.

  • If you have not gone through menopause, this medication must not be used during pregnancy.
  • Results from the secondaryendpoints were supportive of the results of the primary efficacy endpoints.There were too few deaths occurring across treatment groups of both trials todraw conclusions on overall survival differences.
  • If patients have new or worsening chest pain or shortness of breath theyshould seek medical attention immediately.
  • This is not a full list of all the side effects of Anastrozole.

Consult your healthcare professional for medical advice and drug information before taking this medication and report any adverse effects to the FDA. Give your health care provider a list of all the medicines, herbs, non-prescription drugs, or dietary supplements you use. Also tell them if you smoke, drink alcohol, or use illegal drugs. ARIMIDEX may cause fetal harm when administered to apregnant woman and offers no clinical benefit to premenopausal women withbreast cancer.

Medicines that interact with anastrozole may either decrease its effect, affect how long it works, increase side effects, or have less of an effect when taken with anastrozole. An interaction between two medications does not always mean that you must stop taking one of the medications; however, sometimes it does. Speak to your doctor about how drug interactions legal anabolic steroids bodybuilding should be managed. Anastrozole is a medication that may be used to treat postmenopausal breast cancer and works by lowering estrogen levels in the body. It is usually taken for five years and hot flushes are the most common side effect. It reduces the risk of breast cancer by 53% after 7 years of follow-up, and 50% after 10.9 years of follow-up.

Inhibition of aromatase activity is primarily due toanastrozole, the parent drug. Absorption of anastrozole is rapid and maximumplasma concentrations typically occur within 2 hours of dosing under fastedconditions. Studies with radiolabeled drug have demonstrated that orallyadministered anastrozole is well absorbed into the systemic circulation. Foodreduces the rate but not the overall extent of anastrozole absorption.

For patients with advanced breast cancer, the medication should be continued until tumor progression. The plasma anastrozole concentrations in the subjectswith hepatic cirrhosis were within the range of concentrations seen in normalsubjects across all clinical trials. Therefore, dosage adjustment is also notnecessary in patients with stable hepatic cirrhosis. ARIMIDEX has not beenstudied in patients with severe hepatic impairment [see DOSAGE ANDADMINISTRATION and CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY]. Patients receiving ARIMIDEX had an increase in jointdisorders (including arthritis, arthrosis and arthralgia) compared withpatients receiving tamoxifen. Patients receiving ARIMIDEX had an increase inthe incidence of all fractures (specifically fractures of spine, hip and wrist)[315 (10%)] compared with patients receiving tamoxifen [209 (7%)].

At 12 months, small reductions in lumbar spine bonemineral density were noted in patients not receiving bisphosphonates.Bisphosphonate treatment preserved bone density in most patients at risk offracture. Clinical trials have been conducted with ARIMIDEX, up to60 mg in a single dose given to healthy male volunteers and up to 10 mg dailygiven to postmenopausal women with advanced breast cancer; these dosages weretolerated. A single dose of ARIMIDEX that results in life-threatening symptomshas not been established. There is no specific antidote to overdosage andtreatment must be symptomatic. In the management of an overdose, consider thatmultiple agents may have been taken.

It is also used for first-line treatment of hormone receptor-positive or hormone receptor-unknown advanced or metastatic (cancer that has spread) breast cancer. Anastrozole is also used to treat advanced breast cancer that has grown or spread after tamoxifen treatment. This medicine is used only in women who have already stopped menstruating (postmenopausal).