FEMARA

Eph3_12

cowgal I'm getting ready to start year 5 on the 16th! Yahoo, only one more to go. All I really remember was nasty fatigue which went away when I started taking the pill at night before bed!

flat13good

I do get a littler nausea but if I eat it's not so bad. Joint pain is much worse for me My hands, hips, lower back ache all the time. When I'm at work I try to get up and walk around but it hurts when I get up but I need to move. 4 years to go...............

artsee

Different subject....where do I find my favorite people that I follow. Since the new format I don't know which to click on. I went through all the listings on the left of the screen and nothing comes up.

Thanks!

chrissyb

Artsee if you click on the 'Dashboard' heading in the column to the left at the top all your friended people should be listed just as they were in the previous format.

Blessings2011

Three weeks on Femara...

So far, the nausea and diarrhea are all gone, but I still have some low-level dizziness that won't go away.

Anyone else with the dizzies?

Momine

Blessings, yes, I had a bit of dizziness here and there. Now it seems to be gone. I find the SEs weird that way. They come and go, although the general trend seems to be going rather than coming, so that I have fewer SEs now than I had the first 6-9 months or so.

micheleboots

Blessings, I too have dizziness. I have had it since starting Letrazole. My onc says it is not a se, but if you use dr google then it is. So confusing to say the least.

flat13good

I have my bottle and it has a warning label on it that it may cause dizziness That is funny

jhawk78

I started Letrozole (Femara) approx 1 month ago and cannot tell any difference…I wondered how long it would take to start seeing side effects. Not complaining at all. Also have to wonder about these AI's…the dose is the same for all of us, not weight based. I have wondered if any studies have been done to see the effectiveness of lowering estrogen levels in the patients that are heavier (which includes me).

chrissyb

Jhawk, I'm no shrinking violet either and stage IV. My treatment right now and for the last three and a half years is just Femara. It has gotten me stable and is keeping me there with virtually no SE's so take it from me, that one little pill sure does work even for the rotund.

Love n hugs. Chrissy

Eph3_12

I think Jacee takes half a dose per night. or she used to.

cowgal

Thanks ladies for the help on dealing with the nausea and side effects from the Femara. I did switch to taking it at night, which while I don't feel very good then at least during the work day I don't have the nausea. I do think the nausea may be tapering off already.

I have wondered about the "one pill fits all sizes" for years but I need to lose weight and have put on more of it on AIs but experience severe joint pain from them so I would have to say that they must be effective. I have made it a little over 3 1/2 years cancer free so far.

Just an interesting side note. When I saw my new MO (old one retired), he switched me from Aromasin to Femara to see if we could lessen the severity of the joint pain. I have already been on Arimidex previously. Anyway, he told me in my scenario that there was only a 30% chance that I would have less joint pain by switching.

Scottiee1

Ladies, I have been on Letrozole for almost two years now. I had a very bad spell of nausea and found taking a gravol suppository did the trick. I am noticing now that I am having more severe joint pain.

Taking Glucosamine and fish oil helps somewhat, and of course, exercise. My nausea is gone and hope it stays that way. Working in the joint pain.....lol

cakes

Scottie1 - I have a little joint pain from Letrozole and have found fish oil (really good stuff) and exercise do help.

Cowgal - I take my Letrozole at night with 8 oz of water per my MO and this seems to work for me. Hope you get through the SE of nausea.

nanna

I have 24 more days and will be off femara !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Scottiee1

Nanna.....congrats.....do you have S/E now?

dkerler

Congratulations Nanna!  Can you let us know how you are doing Femara free?

nanna

16 more days on femara but who is counting!!!!!!!!!!

gardengumby

the SE's that I haven't mentioned yet that I have since starting letrozole are rapid heart beat and high... REALLY HIGH blood pressure. So far I haven't found anything that helps. I've retired now and am hoping that will provide some relief. I would rather not start more meds with yet more side effects if at all possible to avoid. I've cut back on salt and am attempting to lose weight.

artsee

Garden......Just want to say that the five years on Letrozole never made my blood pressure more above the normal range that I have always had..

Maybe there is another reason......

Vicks1960

Gardengumby...I have been on Letrozole since November 2011, my BP is normal....just this evening it was 115/72.

Are you on any medication for it?

Vickie

Scottiee1

I've been on L for almost two years and it has not affected my BP either.

cowgal

Only been on Femara for about 3 weeks and BP okay so far but when I was on Arimidex it did raise my blood pressure over time and require more meds to deal with it. As I understand it, Femara and Arimidex are pretty closely related so I am not surprised to hear this. I was able to drop back on my BP meds when I was on Aromasin so these drugs can certainly affect it.

sgreenarch

Hi. My BP has always been normal, on tamoxifen and now on Femara, but.....my cholesterol has shot up like crazy! Was normal and in 6 mos on Femara was suddenly 265. Dr wants to put me on statins but I am so fearful about taking even more drugs (I also need to take daily maintenance meds for asthma.) Now I read that having high cholesterol is a risk factor for breast cancer and can even cause the AI's to be less effective! Well, what if the AI's are causing the high cholesterol (everyone, my GP, etc., says that this is the case, no other risk factors and it was a sudden rise along w the start of femara.) What a pickle this is turning out to be! What do do? Any ideas? Going to see the onc in Jan. Need to figure this out....

Thanks!

Momine

Greenarch, how incredibly annoying, I am sorry.

First off, my cholesterol rose the first 6 months on femara, but then it stabilized and even dropped down again.

Second, what is your diet like and how much exercise do you get? It seems that cholesterol can often be dropped by increasing exercise and fiber in the diet.

sgreenarch

Momine, you are always so nice. So informed, so responsive. (I also like that you're on a similar time zone:)

I have always eaten rather well, but post BC I really started to pay attention. I eat mostly organic,mostly plan- based (poultry once every week, some eggs, some fish) nuts, seeds, and only dairy is organic goats milk yoghurt now and then or a teeny bit of low fat cheese (love cheese.) The gastro dr I spoke with (when I was dx w gallstones, post bc) said that only 30% of cholesterol problems are solvable by diet. I'm not sure how much more I could change my diet except to become a vegan and I'm not there yet. I try to do some form of exercise for an hour a day, usually either swimming (a vigorous 1.5K) or one hour of fast walking. I've been gaining weight since my ooph and Femara, but only about a kilo over my usual weight in total. (Back up after the wieght loss post mastectomy.) I could stand to lose about 5K but according to my onc and gp, weight is not a health concern in my case. (Would LOVE to lose this weight but in truth its been hanging on for about 15 years...) I convinced my GP to recheck my cholesterol levels every six months to see if I could lower it by lifestyle, but I'm not sure I've been successful. Am going to ask him to run a blood test again not that it's been 6 mos since the last one. Happy to hear if you have any good ideas.

Thanks, Shari

Momine

Greenarch, yes, it sounds like you are doing everything right. I did experiment at one point with fasting 2X a week. On those two (separate) days, I only ate 600 calories. I couldn't stick with it, because it made me lose weight, but I noticed that it also made my cholesterol go down. It might be worth trying for, say 4 weeks.

sgreenarch

Interesting. Did you abstain from food and water, or only food? Ironically, there are quite a few fast days in the Jewish religion, which we observe, and they call for abstaining from food and water. I'd be interested to know what you did, because skipping the food even for 24 hours is quite doable, but the not drinking is very hard. Amazing how lightheaded one gets without drinking. (How about a tiny cup of coffee? Hardest other thing on those fast days:)

Momine

I both ate and drank, but kept food intake to 600 calories and drank just water, tea etc. Typically I ate some cut up veggies in the morning, a big salad with no oil and a little steamed chicken or fish for lunch and pureed soup of cauliflower and carrots for dinner. It was not really all that difficult.

sgreenarch

I think I can do that, thanks!