Does joint stiffness/aching go away after Femara (Letrozole)?

Hi Ched - I did exactly 5 years and not a day more.  At my last annual appt with my onc in July, we had a long talk about whether to extend past 5 years.  She
said that the studies are still ongoing, and there have been no interim
reports issues showing any reason to go with 10 years of AIs as of now.

I asked her
about the studies that show a benefit to staying on tamox for 10 years,
and why that wouldn't likely be true for AIs as well. She said not
necessarily. Her take on the matter was that tamox and AIs are both
strong effective meds, but AIs are stronger than tamox. She said given
that, it's not surprising that women who are on the weaker drug would
see a reduced recurrence rate if they stayed on it longer, but that
might not necessarily hold true for women who were on the stronger drug all along. 

I'm hoping that if the recommendation changes to stay on AIs for 10 years, by that time I'll be 10 years out and doing fine, so it won't apply to me anyway!  I really hated being on letrozole.  

I actually have my biannual DEXA next week.  I always had plus T values until AIs, but now I have osteopenia.  I'm really interested to see if my values have been improved since I've been off of it for over a year.  I do a lot of exercise - running, weight training, yoga, hiking, etc., plus I take my Vit D and calcium, so hopefully the scan will show some increase in bone density, or at least that I've held steady.   

I am currently taking Femara and experience all of these pains.  Specifically in fingers and hands and hips... I take Vitamin D and Osteo Nutrient Pro which was prescribed by the cancer treatment center of America in Tulsa.  I have a DEXA scan on this Friday and am very worried about this... After receiving Stage IV mets to right breast and adrenal gland in Jan 14 to a clean PET in May I wonder about the effects of the Femara and whether the cancer will come back and attack my bones.  I live every day with fear but hope at the same time.  This test scares me so because other than the clear PET in May every test I have had since this all began in Dec 2012 has had a negative result.  I guess that I am confused about what the DEXA scan will show.. Will it only show bone density or osteoporosis or will it show whether or not cancer has metastasized to my bones.? If any one could help I would greatly appreciate it.  I feel so much anxiety and have had no appetite for the past couple of months. Ive lost about 10 pound in the last 6 weeks.  I have no energy at all and my self esteem has suffered so greatly.  I really want to stop worrying about cancer but have come to the realization that I wont be able to stop anytime soon. God bless you all.

TG - the dexa shows only bone density, and usually measures just a couple of points on the body. (Although it's possible to do a full-body dexa, that's not generally done for bone density.) 

It would require a bone scan to show any metastasis in the bones - that's a completely different procedure. Even then, it's not definitive, as it shows areas of bone activity, so arthritis, any fractures that are still healing, etc., may light up. (Mine lit up where I'd had a fracture 4+ years previously, for example) 

I'm sorry you're going through so much with this but don't worry too much about the dexa. It's quick, easy, painless and simply provides information on the state of your bone density. You and your team can use that to address any issues with density. Frankly, I'm rather surprised you weren't scheduled for one as a baseline prior to starting Femara.

Just reporting back on my DEXA results - believe it or not, my density is now back to NORMAL!!  No more osteopenia!  I was totally stunned when I got the results - so much better than I could have ever hoped!  It's nice to know that all my exercise, Vit D and calcium actually helped reverse the bone damage from letrozole.  Woohoo!!!