Arimidex is the brand name for anastrozole, a medication often used as part of a breast cancer treatment regimen for postmenopausal women. Scientific research indicates that some of the side effects of Arimidex can be alleviated with magnesium supplementation, although more clinical trials are needed to confirm that the supplementation is safe and effective. If you are taking Arimidex, do not begin supplementing with magnesium until you have spoken to your doctor about proper dosages and possible side effects.
Arimidex And Hot Flashes
Arimidex is useful as a breast cancer drug because it functions as a nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor. Medications of this type inhibit the amount of estrogen that a woman's body produces. Since many breast tumors require estrogen to continue growing, Arimidex can often stop or slow the cancer's progression. However, the drug's effect on estrogen can cause the postmenopausal women who take it to experience a number of severe menopausal-like symptoms, including frequent hot flashes.
Magnesium and Hot Flashes
In 2011, researchers at the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System in Richmond, Virginia, conducted a small pilot clinical trial on the effectiveness of magnesium supplements as a way to decrease hot flashes in breast cancer patients taking drugs that include Arimidex. The women were given 400 mg of magnesium oxide daily for four weeks, with some progressing up to 800 mg daily. By the end of the trial, the women experienced 41.4 percent fewer hot flashes. They also reported that the episodes they did have were 50 percent less severe than those they had before taking magnesium.
Possible Side Effects
In the magnesium supplementation pilot trial, only four of the breast cancer patients who were also taking Arimidex experienced side effects that included diarrhea, migraines and nausea. However, the University of Maryland Medical Center warns that supplementing with magnesium can increase the risk of calcium deficiency and may interfere with the function of antibiotics, diuretics, blood pressure medications and diabetes drugs. Magnesium should not be taken by anyone with kidney disease because impaired kidneys cannot remove excess magnesium from the blood and toxicity may result.
Considerations
Over-the-counter magnesium supplements are not regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and have not been checked for purity or safety. Contaminated supplements may contain substances that can interact negatively with Arimidex or other drugs you are taking. In addition, the researchers in charge of the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System study stressed that larger placebo-controlled clinical trials would be needed before magnesium could be recommended as a reliable method for treating the hot flashes associated with Arimidex use.
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