FEMARA

Lily55

How many people have become really depressed or irritable on Femara please?

Scottiee1

Hi Lily .....Inhad to eventually go on an anti-depressant plus an anti-anxiety when needed. I do get irritable and find I don't have the same patience for things as I used to.

Linda-n3

Lily, I would like to blame femara for depression and any other symptom, but I had all of them before I even started. It just now dawned on me that maybe the reason I seem to be tolerating it as well as I am is that I have felt like crap since first chemo in Oct 2010, with so much pain, anxiety, changes in mood, cognition, etc. that I don't think it could get much worse anyway on some days, regardless of femara! LOL! I have also had a difficult time sorting out what is from chemo, other drugs, femara, my general personality quirks, and just normal aging. I do think the aging is accelerated by all the BC treatment, but I don't think I can blame the drugs for ALL the changes and symptoms.

chrissyb

Lily, when I was taking Arimadex I was sooooo depressed it was frightening but as soon as I started Femara the depression lifted. We all react differently to these drugs and sometimes it takes a change to see just how badly we felt. Is it an option for you to ask your onc about a change to one of the others? Just a thought.



Love n hugs. Chrissy

Lily55

THank you - I was fine before though and feel sooo different now, pre femara I did not feel like this so i am sure it is........have just got up and already ache and hhurt in every joint...........

gardengumby

GrandmaV - yes, I meant mcg!! 

Lily - for me, things seem to affect me "more".  If I am depressed - I am more depressed, if anxious - more anxious.  I wish if happy more happy - but that doesn't seem to be the case.  Overall, I feel more flat, though.  I don't get as excited about fun stuff, don't get as emotionally charged either with anger or with happiness - and especially much less interest in sex (which is the most disturbing of all, to be honest).

maltomlin

I'm sorry ladies but I just have to say, that I've been on Femara for nearly 5 years, and OK I felt very rough at first but since the first few months I've been fine. I'm actually dreading coming off this drug. It's my safety net.

Take care

gardengumby

Maltomlin - I think that's really great.  Anything we can do that helps us stave off this beast is a good thing - and if you don't get SE's from it, that's a GREAT thing! 

maltomlin

I'm not saying that I didn't get any side effects. I did. Especially in the early days, but I did get used to them. The long term effects for me were a sort of chemo brain, and the short term effects were muscle aches etc

I'm nearly 5 years out but my brain just doesn't work as it used to. That is far more important to me than the muscle aches.

Lily55

Mine are joint aches and night sweats and depression i am sure...

Chrisrenee77

Lily- have you tried Effexor for the hot flashes? I love my Effexor, I have very few hot flashes now.

Momine

Maltomlin, from what I have read, they now think that the actual cancer may contribute to cognitive problems post-treatment. They are not sure why, but even women who do not get chemo have signs of "chemo brain."

I do seem to have trouble remembering things, which would fit with the sudden drop in estrogen. I am basically forgetful and slightly dotty like a 90yo. I do find that mental gym work helps. If I am bored I do a sudoku, my work involves intellectual effort and I continue to study a difficult foreign language. Although I am on femara, I find that my cognitive function (apart from the memory issue and slight dottiness) is pretty much back to where it used to be.

Galsal

That's quite interesting.  I thought it was anasthesia brain for a while but the loss of estrogen makes a lot of sense.  I'd had no chemo.  Boss has seen me entirely forget what we'd talked about a mere hours previously.

gardengumby

I've been thinking that it's the level of stress that we are under for long periods of time - a kind of ptsd.

Galsal

Which is why I've meds to help overall.  Prior PTSD from two MSTs, although to a lesser degree than many others. 

halfcan

Hello ladies, I would like to join your group.  Today will be day 1 of five years of Letrozole ... when I get the guts to swallow the first pill.   I know it is the right thing to do going forward for sure, but not ready for any new se's.  I still have issues with burning and tingling in my feet and toes and nails dying from Taxotere and it's been two and a half months since last chemo.   I'm four weeks out from rads and finally healing up well.  Biggest leftover se from that is horrible reflux which I'm sure will pass with time.   My hair is trying to grow so have a bit of soft fuzz happening.  :-)  It feels so good to finally have some ambitious days and being able to exercise again.  Big trip planned for the start of May for three weeks so I am sure hoping this pill doesn't cause me too much grief!  I am so looking forward to a vacation from sickness and these four walls!   I know this forum will give me better info than anywhere else on the internet so I'm happy I found you.  

chrissyb

Hi Halfcan and welcome to the thread. You may be one of the lucky ones like me who have very negligible SE from your Letrozole. Hope it works out that way for you. Having a vacation sounds like a really good idea and a perfect way to start the rest of your life........enjoy!



Love n hugs. Chrissy

Eph3_12

halfcan-my advice? Take the magic pill just before bed.

ptdreamers

halfcan, you may need to try different times to see which suits you best. Some take in morning, others take after evening meal or just before bed. Any time is okay as long as you are consistant which time works out for you.

maryah930

halfcan ~ I agree with Eph3_12.  I take mine before bed and either sleep through the SEs or just lucky and have minimal.  I started on March 1st and so far, so good.

Linda-n3

Halfcan, I had a really rough time with taxotere (still have neuropathy over 2 years out) and had rough time with tamoxifen, but the femara has been a cake-walk compared to everything else! Hoping you also have minimal SEs as you start this little pill. It is always scary to start something new when you don't know what the outcome or SEs will be, but we are here to support you with whatever the results.



My MO said the key to avoiding SEs is to EXERCISE!! She said 1 hour a day, with 70% aerobic and 30% strength training. I must confess I don't get that much in, but I am now walking 3 miles about 3-4 days a week and use resistance bands to build muscle several days a week, and I was doing basically NOTHING prior to starting the drug, so at least that is ONE positive outcome for me!

Lily55

Given potencial for lymphoedema, and being told no weight above 5 kg total what is the strength training please?

Momine

Lily, you can do weight exercise with smaller weights. I use 1.5 kilo ones for my arms, and then I use machines with decent weight on them for my lower body and abs. The key is just to start slow and be very steady, no stop-start business. Make a program and stick to it. Also, start slow and build up slowly, slowly. 

gardengumby

slow is always the best way to go...

jittersmom

halfcan: I too had a rough time from Taxotere. Some suggesteVitamin B supplemnts for the neropathy in hands and feet. My hands are good now and my feet are tter than they were. I take my Femera at night also, and i agree with gardengumby...more intense anxiety, ect. No depression though but I had been on Tamoxifen and that left me with many SEs so femera doesnt seem so bad. The first couple weeks it was joint pain in my hands but everything seems to have evened out. i try to keep moving and am trying to get back to my fitness routine slowley i dont want anymore setbacks

Linda-n3

Lily, I use stretchy bands from physical therapy for strengthening. Can you get a PT referral for LE evaluation and treatment plan? A PT who has training for LE can be really helpful in determining your baseline, a good target, and the timeline to get you there. My PT told me to increase by only 10% PER WEEK and NO MORE THAN THAT! It seems to be very slow process, but it is effective, and I have not hurt myself by following that plan. So I started out with 5 reps with a yellow band (about the least resistance you can get!!!), doing flexion, extension, pulls, rows, internal/external rotation. Worked up to 20 reps, then went up to the next color band (red). Repeated. Then up to green band. Am now up to purple band, have a long way to go, but it IS progress!



Question for anyone: Today saw my MO, the femara is not working. She ordered CT scan for next week and added Affinitor to the meds. She explained that even though my cancer is ER + and I had not had a good long trial of hormone therapy (had been on tamoxifen twice for 2-3 months each time with disastrous quality of life issues), that apparently the cancer has other ways of growing besides estrogen - can take it or leave it - so she wants to use the affinitor to block another step of the growth, that it might increase the effectiveness of the femara. I am disappointed the femara isn't working well because of all the drugs I have had over the past 2 years, I have had the least SEs and best quality of life since this miserable journey started. So the question is: anyone else out there on this combination? I will check on the affinitor threads as well for info.



Thanks.

Momine

Linda, that is really annoying about the femara. Somehow it slipped me by that you slid into stage IV along the way. I am sorry to find that out. How can she tell that it is not working? Unfortunately I don't know anything about affinitor.

Heidihill

Linda, I'm sorry to hear that Femara is no longer working. There is an Afinitor thread on the Stage IV Forum. I bumped it up for you. There is also an Afinitor/Aromasin thread which is active.

artsee

Petdreammer.....Look back to March 5th and many before that.' Shreck4' only replies with a "0". What the heck is that? A different language? Give us a break!

KarenLS

Hi Ladies, I have been talking Femara 2.5mg for almost three months.  Some joint pain but not too bad.  However, over the last few days, I have experienced alot of excess gas and gas pains mostly in my stomach and higher up.  Has anyone had similar reactions or am I just a 66 year old who is becoming gassy!

Thanks