Thinking Positive - Congrats on finishing chemo. I hope you're starting to feel more like yourself again.

Experiences vary widely with all of the AIs, so yours may be very different from mine:

I've been on it since mid-October. So far I've had no real side effects - some maybes, but nothing definite. I had a few weeks of some breast tenderness that my PA said could have been related to Femara. She said that usually is transitory - and that's been my experience. I have had none of the stiffness or sore joints some women talk about but it is demonstrated that exercise helps reduce those effects, and I'm very consistent in my fitness program. My hair seemed a lot drier at first but I'd also been traveling a lot AND the weather was very cold and dry, so I won't chalk that up entirely to the drug.

I think the first month or so you could see some adjustments - maybe feeling down a bit more than expected, feeling a bit out of synch with your body as it adjusts to the changes. I know many women though who do great on Femara, as I have, and for whom it's pretty much a non-issue.

I take it just before bed so that if there are any issues with wooziness or tiredness they won't cause problems; once I'm in bed tiredness is welcome. It's also easy for me to remember at that time of the day.

I hope you adapt to it easily and are very responsive to it. If it works for you it can be a really great tool in preventing recurrence as well as dealing with anything that might have survived chemo.

Feel free to ask if you have any other questions.

I am now taking letrizole after taking Armidex for a year or so. My doctor said to start letrizole 2 months after stopping Armidex. About three weeks of no AI.s, my backache went away. I tried taking letrizole at night but it reacted with my ambiem and my sleepless nights returned. I am taking letrizole when I get up and it does tire me but the backache did come back but it is better than before. When Spring arrives, it will be better for me as SAD gets bad in Feb. I do get the prollia shot to strengthen bones every 6 months. I just dislike the fact that all of the issues BC has given all of us. We just have to stay strong! My husband has been my main support but he is having heart-health problems now. I feel helpless because my trust in doctors are questionable and I have to support hubby in his decisions. Take care everyone!! Kat

I have been on Femara then letrozole for 5+ yrs with no issues (will be on it 'forever'). When I started, Femara was not available as the generic form letrozole. As soon as it was available in generic form, I went to letrozole. Have been on several different manufacturer, can't say I've seen any difference in them.

I started Femara a week after starting Rads. I started Rads a week after last Taxol.

Thinkingpositive: Radiation was just part of the whole treatment plan to search and destroy any funky cells. I had it twice. First in Canada on my left side(2006) for 15 days. The right side was stage 3 ILC so the standard procedure in Michigan is for 5-6 weeks. I questioned this as 15 days was very easy to do. But the team here said 33 days and I only had 28 days due to tissue expanders being removed so there were no markers for the boost. Looking back on on it now, I wish I just said enough at 15 or 20 days because my skin totally burned from the inside out 3 days after I finished. From reading it looks like the short-term is being considered more even if it is stage 3. I was told that I could not have radiation anymore.

Kicks: I always have a very bright living room with all of the lights on all day. In the summer, I get more sun in the living room so I don't use the lights until the trees stop the sun coming in. I also take seroquel every night as I have bi-polar. I can feel the SAD mostly in February. I have just learned to cope with the moods. It has been challenging this year due to the fact my daughter and her two boys(4 and 2) moved in our bungalow in August. The noise levels get way too high at time.

HI there, just thought I would add that here in NZ I only had 15 radiation therapy treatments and 5 boosts (20 treatments all together). I also had mepitel film used so had no burns what so ever. My skin remained just as it was before radiotherapy. I have just come off Femara after over 6 months. I started off really well on Femara and could put up with side effects. However my blood pressure started going up really high (193/90 was the highest), and I have also been having terrible palpitations, vaginal bleeding and been feeling so unwell so my Oncologist has taken me off it for 2 months. I am probably going onto another one once they figure out what is going on with me.

Kat-ski and Kicks -- does SAD have to do with sun deprivation?