Anyone with COLD and HOT flashes using Femara/Letrozole?

gailpet

I am not usually a cold person but the past week or so, I have bouts of shivering and being cold and still have the hot flashes inter-mixed with the cold?! And my toes/fingers are cold as ice quite often too. I started the Letrozole a month ago. The cold issues didn't start until about 3 weeks into the meds. Not sure if it is connected or not but I am really thinking so?? Just curious if others have had similar side effects. I'll call the oncologist's office on Monday but I am dwelling on it over the weekend now and would love some feedback. Thanks.

aussieched

Hi Gailpet,

Not sure in your instance what the problem might be, however I do recall that after I had ovary removal and started Femara, I was going from having the full body shakes, feeling cold and then straight into hot flushes, 24 hours a day. Unfortunately it went on for years and was a terrible time.

It could be your body trying to manage the large sudden loss of estrogen.

Ched

ChiSandy

How's your circulation? Cold extremities might be a symptom that your blood isn't circulating as well as it used to, so get your heart checked out to make sure there's nothing (e.g., atrial fibrillation) going on that might result in your heart not pumping as strongly as it should. Some metabolic disorders have cold fingers & toes as a symptom--you might want to ask about having your thyroid levels checked because feeling cold is very common with hypothyroidism. Essentially, any symptom that seems to increase after menopause is likely to be accelerated and intensified by deliberate further reductions in estrogen--and lower metabolism (often characterized by lower body temp) is one of those phenomena of aging

Anonymous

I go hot then cold all the time. The simplest draft and freezing. Was clear but I think the Ibrance / Femara is doing it. Postmenopausal.

cive

Estrogen does help women with temperature regulation sort of like a thermostat.  Take it away and your internal thermostat gets wacky.  As well as cold flashes that usually follow hot flashes, I can go into an air-conditioned building when it's hot outside, and get a hot flash!