FEMARA

Hi girls! I join the club of high cholesterol 6.1mmol/L , 6 months on Femara. Just discovered by neuropatologist by chance. The bons aches gone, flaches getting rare, mainly in the night, but  cholesterol is up and thyroid is hyperactive.

Hi everyone. Just found out Femara is going generic within the year.

Hi Cheryl: I also called Novartis directly. They put me on a patient assistance list to try and help me with co-pay. I have to wait to hear from them.  Novartis people did explain that you can only use one coupon for the reduced amount up to $800.00 which I have exceeded. No more.

 I went to Onc today, my hemoglobin is down, waiting to see other results of my blood work, (incl. iron)I told the dr. I am considering going off the med because it is either take the medicine or eat. He was nice and gave me some samples.

All in all, I find living is easier with Femara than Arimidex.

Can't wait for generic. Has anyone else heard this. Novartis and Doctor told me.

Hugs.

We at least I do not have to worry about my thyroid as that has already been taken care of, was diagnosed with hyperthyroid in 2000, took the drug to slow it down then it started to affecting my liver function, stop it then had my thyroid nuked, opted for non removal since it is attached to your voice box.  Now hypothyroid, been on synthroid ever since.  Going to see my PCP about my cholesterol to see if it is high next week and see what other things we need to look at.  SE at a minimum knock on wood.  Except for the lack of sleep I am doing better.

KatherineP, My onc. put me on 37.5mg of effexor, that did the trick!

Hi... sorry I haven't been on in awhile.  I had a bone density test, and I have lost significant bone mass since starting Femara one year ago.  

So...  it's back to Tamoxifen for me...

Bye...    good luck to all!

Harley

No it's not Bev. Sometimes I feel like beating people up when they make comments like "I'll bet you're glad it's all behind you!" If they only knew!

chrissy, you are so right. Though many of us suffer through femara, women need to know it is very doable, for most, and some (lucky you) have little difficulty. 

Of course you should post. It's encouraging to us all to hear success stories at every level !!

Does anyone have any idea why Dr's decide on which AL to give us? Mine said Femara, but I really have no idea why, he just said it was the best one for me if I could handle it ok.

kira-I know some of the s/e's determine which AI is used. I think Arimidex and Aromasin might cause blood clots more frequent than Femara. And some are worse for those with cardiac disease, etc.

I understand that because Femara lowers the levels of circulating estrogen, it prevents or slows the growth of estrogen sensitive cancer cells. And, according to clinical trials, it does a better job than the non-steroidal Arimidex. I for one would be willing to take this pill the rest of my life if it would prevent my cancer from coming back or developing in the other breast. The small yellow pill has been a part of my daily life since Nov. 1 and so far I've had no SE. I do continue to exercise and work like heck to maintain a positive outlook. So it's hard to tell if any muscle aches are from Femara or my Body Pump classes. Lifting weights will also be a daily part of my life forever to guard against bone loss. Best wishes to all.

Diagnosis: 9/10/2010, IDC, <1cm, Stage I, 0/2 nodes, ER+/PR+, HER2-

Katherine_P,  Have you checked to make sure that Prozac does not interfere with Femara.  I say this because Effexor is the drug being prescribed for breast cancer patients on hormone therapy because Prozac and others were found to interfere with Tamoxifen but I'm not sure about the aromatase inhibitors.  I would ensure that it does not make Femara less effective before I switched if it were me.  I will be finished with my five years of aromatase inhibitors in July of this year.  I will have been on Arimidex for one year and Femara for 4 years.  My oncologist originally put me on Arimidex but I asked to change to Femara after a year because I read studies showing Femara reduced circulating estrogen levels lower.  There is no proof that Femara is more effective than Arimidex, not yet anyway as studies are ongoing but it made sense to me to switch.  I do think that all 3 of the AI's are good drugs and it probably doesn't matter that much which one you take as long as you continue on some type of anti-estrogen therapy. 

At my follow-up appt with my oncologist this month I asked him if I could stay on Femara and he agreed.  He said that if my nodes were negative he would say no but that since I had a positive node he would agree.  He would not commit to how much past the five years but I asked if I could stay on at least until the results of the MA-17R trial (which compares taking an AI for 10 years with only taking it for five years) are in which is suppose to be in 2012.  He asked me about my side effects and I told him I basically have them all but I still want to continue.

Ronna - I started on Femara in April 09 and in NZ Femara became generic late 2009 and I have been on it ever since.  It is called Letara here. The cost is NZ$151 per year and our government covers the cost - I pay NZ$12 per year dispensing fee.  The SEs haven't changed so I guess it is doing the same job as the original.

ask the onc FOR the pills-they have samples!

Nanna, sometime this year the Femara pill will go generic, probably the end of the year.

My retail price for 30 pills is $522.00. Call Novartis directly and ask for patient assistance. Last June the cost was $430.00. Obviously someone is looking to make a profit before generic is out.

My onc. also gave me samples.

Have you tried the coupon on line. Go to Femara. There is a coupon. Try it.

Hugs,

Hi Ladies (and Gentlemen if applicable), This is my first post. I have early stage breast cancer, aggresive and margins less than 1 mm. I had two mastectomies (July and December 2010) and chemotherapy. The bone pain during chemo required morphine. After chemo, I started on Femara (mid-November). The hot flashes and night sweats diminished after about 4 weeks, but the bone pain has increased daily. I take glucosamine and chondroitin, Vit D, Calcium, fish oil, and just started this week on Actonel (bone builder) since I already have osteoporosis. I feel like I am 100 years old. I have the "broken feet", and pain in my long bones as well as every joint in my body. There are time when I need help to move. Note: I am not 100  only 61. I exercise, although this is becoming more difficult. I have led a healthy lifestyle, etc. My Question: Will this joint pain start to diminish in the next few months, or is this a 5-year problem? Help!