Letrazole Users....Need help

Hi Wynne50.  There are lots of us taking Letrozole and there is a Femara (name brand)  thread if you want to join us.  There is no way that you can predict if you will have side effects or not, so don't assume you will have them.  I have been taking Femara for 8 months and I am doing just fine.  You will have to juggle when to take the medication as many women do better taking the medications at different times of day.  I started off taking at night and switched to morning...did much better.  I have had joint pain and stiffness which I manage with regular weight bearing exercise (walking).  I feel great and there are lots of us who do.

I know you want to hear from women who have no side effects and I am sure some will come along.  I just wanted to let you know that the side effects from anti-hormonals can be managed and you can have a good quality of life on this medication.  If you are ER/PR+ and you are not having chemo, this drug is extremely important to keep the cancer from recurring. 

MsP

Wynne50, here's that thread MsPharoah suggests, all about Femara (chemical name letrozole). You can also read more about Femara and the other Aromatase Inhibitors at the main Breastcancer.org site.

Best wishes,

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Wynne50 - 

I, too, was scared by all the horror stories I read on BCO about women on Aromatase Inhibitors. I made up my mind there was no way I would consciously do that to myself.

So I absolutely refused when my MO told me she wanted me on an AI. I told her that I was post-menopausal, post-hysterectomy, and that there was NO estrogen in my body. She kindly pointed out that estrogen is still produced in belly fat. At that point, I got myself into a weight-loss program just so I could prove to her that I STILL did not need this drug!

Well, her answer was yes, I did. So she prescribed Arimidex (anastrozole). As it turns out, I didn't do well on it. She gave me a little break, then prescribed letrozole (Femara).

Like Ms.Pharoah says, come on over to the Femara thread. There's a lot of good information there.

I found out that even though my risk of recurrence was very small, losing weight reduced that risk by 23%, and taking the letrozole reduces it by 50%. There are so many women who do not have that option available to them, I decided that the worst that could happen to me was to just do it and see what happened.

So far, I've been on letrozole for 7 months and the difference between this and anastrozole is like night and day. You do have to take responsibility for keeping some of the side effects at bay... like moving even though you might feel stiff, but this is nothing. I've also had great results from getting regular acupuncture treatments for joint issues.

There are lots of women who have no SEs at all. But you won't find them posting here. This is a support forum, where women are looking for answers to issues and challenges they are having. Those who aren't having any issues are just out living their lives.

Please don't let the horror stories keep you from trying a drug that could prevent a recurrence of cancer. All you can do is try, and if something develops, then you talk to your MO about it and make changes as needed. Hopefully, you will be one of those women who have few or no side effects! But you won't know until you try.

Wishing you the best!

Good decision on the letrozole, wynne! I just picked up my 3rd month's worth and am doing fine since changing over from tamoxifen. Still getting a warm flush once in a while, nothing too dramatic. I feel slightly more stiffness but do water exercise at least a couple times a week and try to make it to a Zumba class also which seems to help. Let us know how it goes for you.

hello Wynne, I have taken Femara for two years now and it is not the worst thing to have. I did a year on tamoxifen until a pulmonary embolism post DIEP meant that it was too risky to continue. I was swapped to Femara after it was certain that I was in menopause after chemo and haven't looked back. I did have aches and joint pain but simply losing weight and regular exercise reduced that to nothing! The occasional hot flush is not a bother now. Considering all this I am happy to reduce risk of any recurrence as I want to die if old age in my bed after a long naughty retirement!!  ((( hugs)))