FEMARA

ThinkingPositive Zoladex is for ovarian suppression. I haven't been offered Zoladex, but I do get a Lupron injection each month as well taking Letrozole.

I am definitely feeling the joint pain, especially in my shoulder, behind my shoulder blade and up my neck on the cancer side. This may be from surgery and radiation, and Letrozole just aggravating it, I don't know. Headed to PT on Friday. My hands, feet and knees are feeling it too. I can't tell if it's post-chemo pain that will normalize after a bit of time or if it's going to be like this for 5 years. I do get out to walk/run, but I can't seem to exercise like I used to, at least not yet.

I have shoulder pain too....I know it's rads. I use biofreeze alot and ask dh for massages be cat it feels tight all the time. I have aches and pains ever where and it is truly exhausting. I saw my back doctor yesterday and he again told me I have severe arthritis in my back. He said this is causing the pain in my hip, leg, and knee. He added Lodine to my meds.....he said if this doesn't help he'd send me to pain management. I'm very sluggish too, not sure if it's the pain causing that or just a SE. I'm tired of it though. I finally broke down and bought myself some Replens for the vaginal dryness. I just feel so old bleh

You might ask about Celebrex, which is a form of NSAID called a COX-2 inhibitor, which is far easier on the gullet & gut. (There is a slightly higher risk of cardiovascular disease, but if you feel truly miserable it's worth rolling those particular dice). I take one 200mg capsule every morning, and at night I take my letrozole along with two 650mg caplets of time-release “arthritis formula" acetaminophen. Those drugs and their timing have gone a long way towards lessening my pain SEs (though they do nothing about my metabolism, bones, or “thermostat").

If estrogen were made only in our ovaries, Zoladex alone would suffice. But our fat cells and adrenal glands make an androgen, and our liver makes aromatase—an enzyme that converts that androgen to estrogen. (Yeah—no matter how long ago you went through menopause, without an AI you still make enough estrogen to feed a hormone-positive tumor). Aromatase inhibitors drastically reduce bodily estrogen, while SERMs like tamoxifen and raloxifene (originally sold as the bone drug Evista) block the tumor cell receptors' access to it. Try this analogy: think of AIs as removing the fattening food from your fridge and throwing it in the garbage, Zoladex as a fire that guts the fattening-food factory, and tamoxifen as a padlock & chain around the fridge and through the door handle.

Trisha-Anne, what company makes the Curcumin you take?

Amy, I'm in Australia, so the brand and company may not be available to you in the USA. I'm not at home at the moment, so can't check the label, will do that when I get home. I buy it from a health food shop locally, and they don't appear to operate outside Australia. Will post more later today

Thanks so much Trisha-Anne and lala. Right now my joint pain is manageable, but I'm worried about things getting worse now that I'm on the Letrozole. I will check out the Gaia brand.

Amy my curcumin is an Australian made one, so you may have more joy with the other brand. Just so you get an idea of what's in it though - it's 631.6mg of curcumin with 131.5mg of black pepper. You don't need to wait till you get pain - you can start taking them now

Vanmama..like you I had no radiation. Did they ever send you for any scans because of it. Mine is more discomfort than pain. I can't explain it. I never mentioned to my MO as I just figured it's the Letrozole and the actonel. As far as zoladex I was never offered I guess since I am post menopausal. Plus I had my ovaries removed last sept due to a cyst. Wasn't going to wait for that to happen!! Is there any way of knowing what our estogen levels are to know if the drugs are working

I have a lot of pain in the cooler months, but summer was good. First year so that was interesting. Now it's getting cold again...

I do Tai Chi several times a week and when it is cold out, walk in the mall. I told my oncologist that the first 20 minutes are agony but then it gets better, and overall that is the only approach that works for me. But if you exercise, keep going through the pain, get over the hump and for the last 30 minutes of an hour or so you will experience some improvement overall.

Swimming is supposed to help as well. A heated pool preferably.

Doing the happy dance: my letrozole refill turned out to be the Roxane version—the one that’s always treated me more gently.

l have been taking 2.5 mg of letrozole for almost a year i don't have bone pain. I do take Neurontin for another issue and it is supposed to help that pain. It is worth checking out.

Hi ladies. I'm new to this thread but not to Femara. Started in February 2015 after finishing chemo. I had a left hip replacement in February 2016, not related to the Femara but to radiation through the hip area from treatment for anal cancer in 2008. That cancer has not reoccured thank God. The hip replacement helped tremendously with pain. I still have knee, right hip and thumb pain and a lot of stiffness plus fatigue, brain fog and emotional issues. I am 73 so on the 10yr plan will be taking it into my eightys if I'm still alive. I did switch to aromasin briefly last year but no difference so I just deal with it one day at a time. I try to walk daily between 1-2 miles to protect my bones and take calcium, D3 and magnesium. Aleve takes the edge off. Sitting in one position for over an hour and nights are the worst. I can walk without pain but tire easily. I'm planning to join a gym soon that has a pool to see if it will help. Love, Jean

momline....naturopathic docs test hormones via saliva and believe they are very accurate. Good luck to all fighting this disease

momine....don't mean to argue but which docs? Most MOs know very little about female hormones. It's just not part of their training. Naturopathic docs have had much success testing hormone levels and adjusting them a accordingly. It just does not make sense to me that MOs are playing around with our hormones blindly. We all have to decide which medical professionals are best for us individually. Good luck to all

Well, I understand why "insomnia" is listed as a SE for both the meds I'm on... It's because you CAN'T sleep with the excruciating back and hip pain, debilitating shoulder pain, and night sweats (throwing covers off only to be freezing minutes later). I am always very stiff and extremely tired in the AM because I'm not getting enough rest and my body is feeling it! My head hurts continually and I feel as if I'm 100 yrs old. I have NO energy and quite frankly, I'm sick of of it! My MO took me off Femara a week ago and said she would try me on something else in a week. I'm scheduled for another Zoladex injection November 30th. I've only been on these meds for a month and I have already made the decision that I am not going to continue taking them. No meds of any kind. My Dr wanted me to be on these meds for 15 years. Well, there's no way in HELL that I'm going to live with this quality of life. I'm going to live out the rest of my years being able to have energy to spend with my kids. I'm going to allow my body to enter menopause naturally; not have it forced upon me. I'm going to lower my estrogen in a healthy / natural way, and I'm going to live the rest of my life to its fullest. Whether I live another 5 years or 25 years... I'm going to enjoy what is left and leave the specifics up to the one who created me! If there is anyone else out there who is rejecting the hormone therapy, I'd love to have a friend to talk to as I go through the rest of my journey. :-)