FEMARA

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  • Momine
    Momine Member Posts: 7,859
    edited September 2012

    Chrissy, where did you find the list? When I asked my doc about possible SEs, he told me there were so many that it was pointless to list them.

    Neither onc nor main doc seemed to know that it could be caused by femara. However, it has gotten better, especially after I started some vitamin B supplements. Not sure if there is a connection or if that was pure coincidence.

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  • chrissyb
    chrissyb Member Posts: 16,818
    edited September 2012

    Google Femara SE's then scroll down to Drugs.com and start reading. The list is enormous.

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  • Momine
    Momine Member Posts: 7,859
    edited September 2012

    OK, thanks, Chrissy. So I guess my doc did have a point.

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  • ForestDweller
    ForestDweller Member Posts: 232
    edited September 2012

    My worst side effect is having been given the senior discount at the pizza place yesterday.  I'm only 50....lol.  My oncologist will get a laugh out of this one. 

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  • Ginger48
    Ginger48 Member Posts: 1,978
    edited September 2012

    The list is pretty comprehensive and can be a bit frightening. I have a coworker who had a stroke and it was blamed on femara. She is in her 50's and doing fine now but no longer on it. I try not to worry about it for the most part and hope for the best.



    But a senior discount takes the cake...lol.

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  • Stacie
    Stacie Member Posts: 607
    edited September 2012

    2 mos on Femara and hubby noted fuzzy "longer than before" white facial hair on my face. You see it really good in the right light and angle. I am not happy I will have to wax my face. Ugh!! Ugh!! Double Ugh. Anyone else?

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  • Ginger48
    Ginger48 Member Posts: 1,978
    edited September 2012

    Yes. I have it too.

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  • chrissyb
    chrissyb Member Posts: 16,818
    edited September 2012

    Wow ForestDweller........great savings when you get them! Good for a laugh as well.....lol.



    Sometimes I think knowing what the SE's are can do us a great disservice. Our minds are powerful instruments and can convince us that there is a problem where none exists. Not knowing but questioning something out of the ordinary makes life a whole lot easier as we are no longer second guessing.



    Just my thoughts.



    Love n hugs. Chrissy

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  • justagirl
    justagirl Member Posts: 730
    edited September 2012

    Stacie,  I got the long fuzzy white hairs on my face too after about 2 months on Femara.  Instead of waxing, I have had IPL treatments about every 4 months and I am noticing there is much less growth and I think it's been like 5 months since I've had it done.

    Chrissy - yes mind over matter.  Didn't you also say a while ago that maybe some of the side effects we think are caused by the Femara are just caused by some of us being in the older catagory when we started taking it?

    The only true thing I know Femara has done to me is make my ankles and hips stiff after sleeping so when I get up I am gimpy but it dissipates and walking helps.  And, most of all, Femara had caused a 13% loss of bone density since I had my first bone scan before starting on it....and yes, I take calcium at the maximum dose that is safe and choke down a couple of dairy products a day.

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  • chrissyb
    chrissyb Member Posts: 16,818
    edited September 2012

    Justagirl yes I did say that and find it very true. It gets really hard to tell a SE from an aging ague so I choose not to acknowledge either unless it is a definite one or the other......... I'm still of the notion that I have very few if any SE's that can be wholey blamed on the Femara regardless of the size and quantity of the list given.

    I prefer to laugh than moan.......lol.......but that's just me.



    Love n hugs all! Chrissy

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  • Shrek4
    Shrek4 Member Posts: 1,822
    edited March 2013

    0

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  • Stacie
    Stacie Member Posts: 607
    edited September 2012

    Justagirl -What are IPL treatments.

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  • Rosie24355
    Rosie24355 Member Posts: 71
    edited September 2012

    Thank you ladies for your input about the lung problem.  I had the CT scan on Saturday and they said the dr would have the results by Weds.  Seems a bit slow to me but I'm the one trying to stop coughing so I'm probably being impatient. 

    The heart issues justagirl mentioned might have played into this.  I had Hodgkins 32 yrs ago and had radiation to the chest.  25 years later my heart started developing problems.  The RO says it's "late effect radiation".  So I've had a biventricular pacemaker for 5 years that has an ICD.  I made sure there was a rep there at surgery from Medtronics (the pacemaker company) as they would have to pace me from the outside.  Now after what you said justagirl, I'm wondering if this has nothing to do with Femara and everything to do with how I was paced.  I'll see what the report says and then maybe get my cardiologist in on this.  In the meantime I'm off Femara until Oct 25.  Will let you know if any of this gets linked to Femara in any way.  

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  • artsee
    artsee Member Posts: 1,576
    edited September 2012

    Reading about "Itchy" in the posts past...I'm going to tell you of my experience with 'itchy'.

    For a long time before discovering my lump....I had an itchy spot that I could itch till it almost bled on my breast. In fact it was a little darker that skin tone. Who knew...that in the end my tumor was in the same spot as the itchy spot.

    After the fact I researched on the web, and it told me that a sign of BC was itchiness on your breast. Very strange but beware.............

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  • LovesChristmas-Barb
    LovesChristmas-Barb Member Posts: 706
    edited October 2012

    Has anyone had shin cramps on femara? I've been on it for six months now and have the usual joint and muscle pains but tonight when I was sitting on the couch reading, I suddenly had a bad cramp on the front of my right leg (my shin). I've had cramps in my calves before but never in my shin so it was a bit unnerving. It also caused my right foot to twitch and feel weak. Fortunately, the pain only lasted five minutes or so...

    I hope everyone had a peaceful weekend!

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  • chrissyb
    chrissyb Member Posts: 16,818
    edited October 2012

    LovesChristmas I've had cramps particularly when I first started the Femara but none ever in the shin. Have you tried upping your intake of magnesium?



    Love n hugs. Chrissy

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  • Lumpynme
    Lumpynme Member Posts: 747
    edited October 2012

    hello, all !

    i'm finishing up RADs and will be starting femara with true mixed emotions . i had gastric bypass surgery in 2004 so i don't absorb calcium and other things like "normal" stomachs do - so i am afraid of bone loss...

    ihad two rounds of chemo so i am still waiting for hair to regrow...gosh i am tired of all of this- and the rads fatigue...whoa!

    however, i want to know that i am doing "all that i can"...

    anyhow- just wanted to say hi.....i have started at page one and am reading in incremenets-got through page three this morning!!!!!

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  • justagirl
    justagirl Member Posts: 730
    edited October 2012

    Rosie,  yep, sounds to me like they paced your heart rate too slow and the fluid backed up in your lungs.  By the time they realized their goof, the fluid was in your lungs, a lobe partially collapsed from the fluid.  I am assuming being on a ventilator, with a diuretic like Lasix and your heart rate turned back to an acceptable level for you got you partially fixed.  Also, the anesthetist should of been watching your fluid intake every 15 minutes and comparing it to the output from your urinary catheter.  Darn, that fluid has to go somewhere, and the majority of it just can't stay in your body, even with losing some blood from the surgery and them trying to keep your veins and arteries full....but then what do I know, I'm only a nurse.

    Stacie, IPL is intense pulsed light treatments. With a wand, a technician will hold it on my face for just a second and I can smell the hair on my face burning off.  It also decreases the regrowth but does not 100% keep the wispy long fine white hairs off my face as I keep on taking the Femara which causes them...but like I said my need to have it done is less and less frequent.  IPL can also be used to decrease skin pigmentation spots on your body.  I have it done on my face as I swear since taking Femara I have more dark pigmentation spots and every morning I put on 30 sunblock and if outside wear a wide brimmed hat....or it's just old age.  Oh, this wand is attached to a 100 pound machine which generates some kind of infra light.  It is nothing like lying in a sunbed and is medically deemed perfectly safe if administered by a knowledgeable person.  It works on facial hair better if the hair is dark and for pigmentation works better the lighter the tone of your facial skin is. Having lived in Hawaii or Australia for over 30 years, I've been very careful about protecting my skin from the sun...... My son may refer to me now as a Senior Citizen as I turned 60 two weeks ago, but I am still going to do what I do that makes me feel good about how I look.

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  • auntienance
    auntienance Member Posts: 4,216
    edited October 2012

    Barb, I get cramps in many odd places such as my ankle, toes and arch of my foot in addition to my calf and thigh. Magnesium supplements have helped with them tremendously. I can't say for sure it's the femara, as I am diabetic which in itself can make me prone to them.

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  • auntienance
    auntienance Member Posts: 4,216
    edited October 2012

    Barb, I get cramps in many odd places such as my ankle, toes and arch of my foot in addition to my calf and thigh. Magnesium supplements have helped with them tremendously. I can't say for sure it's the femara, as I am diabetic which in itself can make me prone to them.

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  • ptdreamers
    ptdreamers Member Posts: 1,080
    edited October 2012

    lumpnme, if you have an issue with bone density your onc can consider a injection like Prolia every six months and your can of course help keep your bone density up with weight bearing exercise and calcium rich foods that you can tolerate.

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  • LovesChristmas-Barb
    LovesChristmas-Barb Member Posts: 706
    edited October 2012

    Thank you for the feedback! I will try upping my magnesium.

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  • Lumpynme
    Lumpynme Member Posts: 747
    edited October 2012

    ptdreamers-see-the problem since the gastric bypass is that i do NOT absorb the calcium as well as others do from the calcium rich foods! my body cannot do it - i don't have my complete stomach so i will have to look at some type of shot or pill i guess to supplement--as it is i  have to have calcium citrate if i take a plain ol supplement...and then too- i had my bypass to avert diabetes and high cholesterol- and cholesterol is an issue with the femara...

    i'll get through this- i made it through everything else i am just not happy about it!

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  • gmb731
    gmb731 Member Posts: 2
    edited October 2012

    my blood pressure has gone up. and im feeling some depresson and im on medicine for depresson. Just feel really yucky. Lower back really hurts and legs

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  • Momine
    Momine Member Posts: 7,859
    edited October 2012

    Lumpy, I was concerned about the cholesterol issue with femara, but apparently not everyone has this SE, although it is a common one. Right now, I am keeping my cholesterol intake under 200 just to be safe. I will have blood tests in a few days, so we will see.

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  • Rosie24355
    Rosie24355 Member Posts: 71
    edited October 2012

    justagirl, only a nurse?  LOL!  Most of the time they know as much (sometimes more?) than the dr!!  All of my dr's are men (think 1 track mind).  The nurses (who are usually ladies) have a multitask brain and look at these things from different angles.  Dr's should be women!!! 

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  • gardengumby
    gardengumby Member Posts: 7,305
    edited October 2012

    Both my breast surgeon and my oncologist are women....  :)

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  • auntienance
    auntienance Member Posts: 4,216
    edited October 2012

    All of my docs with the exception of my mo are women. I really feel that women docs "get" women better than men. At least that's been my experience. Having said that, I will note that one of the worst docs I ever had was a woman, and one of the best a man.

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  • Momine
    Momine Member Posts: 7,859
    edited October 2012

    In theory I agree on women as docs, except that my male surgeon's evil assistant (I call her the mountain troll) is both stupid, unpleasant and entirely incapable of multi-tasking. I bumped into her as I was checking in to the hospital for my hyster and she asked why I was there. I told her. Then she looked all befuddled and said "but why? you are ER-" Uhmmm, no, I am actually ER+. It is cool if she doesn't remember, but then she should really keep her trap shut.

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  • SuperFoob
    SuperFoob Member Posts: 505
    edited October 2012

    I don't think genitalia is a determining factor for me. My Onc is a wonderful and brilliant "personal Einstein" that has taken complete care of me. My BS also did a great job and my PS too.

    Comfortability, compassion, learning and attentiveness comes in both male and female form.

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