FEMARA

FWIW, and of course every woman has a different experience, but the side effects, for me, were MUCH worse on Aromasin than on Femara, particularly the joint/muscle/bone pain, which was extreme.

Can't remember and I can't find now who mentioned taking Gabapentin for neuropathy, but I'm wondering if it worked for you? I have mild neuropathy in my feet, especially left foot. I'm taking acupuncture treatments that have pretty much resolved my right foot, but left is still pretty pronounced and I think no longer responding. Thanks, Barbara

I took gabapentin, the lowest dose, for back pain. It caused about 8 side effects that were bad, and didn't help the pain. Say no to gaapentin,look up the sides.

Has anyone experienced depression or apathy while taking Femara? I have been taking it now for about 2 years and I have noticed myself sliding. My family has noticed that I've become increasingly moody and snappy. I have noticed within myself that I have to talk myself out of anxiety each morning in order to get out of bed. Most days, I fake it on the outside but on the inside I either feel neutral or an on the verge of tears.

After I had my daughter 15 years ago, I definitely had some PPD issues, but I knew that it was hormonally driven and once my hormones evened out, I would be okay. It was horrible though for about 2 months. I cried constantly and just wanted to feel like me again. This time, I know that my hormones are out of whack because I am in chemopause and taking Femara - so - almost no estrogen floating around in my system. I feel like there is little hope that I will kick this on my own, but I don't want to take more meds.

Are there any natural supplements that may help me or do I need anti-depressants? I am just tired of not feeling like me.

I see my MO tomorrow so I want to talk with him about this.

Thank you.

I too had PPD, but after having my son. I was fine for the first 6 weeks, and then it was like a curtain descending (not far off from Sylvia Plath’s description of it as a “bell jar” in her book of the same name). It happens more often after birthing sons—hormones cross the placenta both ways, and when carrying a boy, you have more circulating testosterone. About 6 wks later, it’s out of your system—and if you have a genetic predisposition to depression, you can descend into PPD. I had it for nearly two years, though the first year was the worst, including some “brain fog.” I still take an antidepressant (back then, Desyrel; now, Wellbutrin) for maintenance and to keep me from buying everything in the bakery aisle and ice cream freezer—and worse, eating it. Tamoxifen is out of the question for me—it occupies the same enzymatic pathway as Wellbutrin, I had adenomyosis before menopause (fibroids growing inwards), and there is cardiovascular disease in my family, so the risks of clots are too high.

All aromatase inhibitors do the same thing: they prevent the liver-secreted enzyme aromatase from being the catalyst in the process by which androgens produced by fat cells and adrenal glands are converted to estrogens. Two accomplish that pretty much the same way: anastrozole (Arimidex) and letrozole (Femara). They do so in a nonsteroidal fashion (a biochemical process that is way above my pay grade to try to explain). However, exemestane (Aromasin) is a steroidal AI, is less commonly manufactured and therefore, since there’s less competition among its various generic mfrs,, those manufacturers charge what the traffic will bear. Far more companies make generic anastrozole & letrozole, so there’s more competition and therefore lower prices.

Thank you Sandy and Nancy. I saw my MO today and was very sympathetic to what I am feeling. He said we could try three things: counseling, taking a month break from Femara and then possibly going on Aromasin, or antidepressants. I don't want to jump right into an antidepressant so we went with the month break and then I see him again. If at that point, I notice a change, we sill try Aromasin. He also ran a thyroid panel on me because he said hypothyroidism is linked to depression, fatigue, and weight gain. We'll see what comes of that.

I will keep you posted.

I just want to get back to me.

I've been on letrosole since mid-April. I had hair loss initially, but that has lessened. I also had an increase in migraines for about two weeks. I have had fibromyalgia for years and maybe have a slight increase in pain. I read initially that it could cause drowsiness, so take it at bedtime. Overall I would say that I have had minimal side effects. Just dry skin, nails & hair.

For those that are concerned about taking it due to the side effects that they read about on these boards, remember that many people don't post if they are doing fine. I almost didn't.

Artista: I found the same thing. Stopped taking the Femara and almost immediately my hip pain stopped, and within a day or two, I was sleeping again, which may have been because my hip pain wasn't waking me up multiple times a night too.

Four months into femara, I still feel great. My only SE is a trigger finger in one finger - got an injection for that on Thursday and waiting to see if it will help. Other than that, I feel totally fine.

I am now taking medication for hypertension, having been on letrozole nearly two years. My MO seemed quite defensive about this not being a SE of letrozole. Really? I find that hard to believe. Have various other side effects too, hair loss being quite distressing if it gets worse.

My MO had my thyroid tested too because I was complaining of extreme fatigue, but alas, it's normal albeit on the low side. I feel better now and I guess because I'm sleeping better and longer.

Nancy, I use the Doterra brand essential oils because my friend sells them, but some can be pricey. I've used lavender, frankincense and rosemary on my feet, but the frankincense seems to work the best. Like everything else I've tried for sleep though, it eventually stops working, so I alternate them. I do swear by the rosemary though for minor joint aches and pains because it has really helped my knees and seems to calm the neuropathy in my feet.

As I posted several months ago...my MO told me that my hand pain was not a symptom of Femara and that I should go see an orthopedic surgeon. So, I went to see a different MO instead. My new MO agreed, took me off Femara for a month (to see if the hand pain goes away) and yesterday I started on Aromasin. Unfortunately, my hand pain was so severe that a month off did not get rid of the pain. My new MO explained to me that although Aromasin has the same side effects, about 50% of the women who switch from one drug to the other do not have the same SEs. So, fingers crossed that my hands will start to improve soon. I've been living in pain since November. Shame on me for letting it go so long....but you feel that they should know what they are talking about. OH....last, but certainly not least, I had my first mammogram since my diagnosis last year and it came back clean!!! Super excited about that as I was dreading this mammogram like you wouldn't believe.

Hi all, can femara cause acne? I have bad acne now when I am on Tamoxifen and lupron. I will switch to femara next month.

Marijen, that table is presented rather confusingly and involves some complex statistical concepts. First, it is not a study of the use of letrazole versus placebo for initial treatment of BC. That table begins after completion of five years of *tamoxifen*. They started the study with 5100 women split into treatment with letrazole versus placebo. When they did their mid-point analysis to see how the results were shaking out, the result between the two groups was very dramatic with a decrease in cancer recurrence of 42%. That is so dramatic that they interrupted and unblinded the study to offer all women in the placebo arm the option to switch to letrazole: it would be unethical to continue the study and not offer those women an effective treatment. 1550 (about 60%) of the placebo group chose to switch to letrazole. In a weird thing that scientists do with statistics, when someone switches groups after initially being placed in a different group, they are not moved to the new group for statistical analysis. It is called "intention to treat" analysis. That means that there are 1550 women who received letrazole who are being counted in the placebo group at the end of the study, though not at the midpoint analysis. The outcome of the study is that women who complete five years of tamoxifen benefit from switching to letrazole rather than just stopping the tamoxifen. There is also disease reduction in continuing tamox to ten years - I don't have that study in front of me right now, but remember seeing it.

About reducing cancer recurrence by 42%: if your chance of cancer recurrence is low to begin with, reduction by 42% may not be worth it. If you are like me (relatively young, stage III, grade 3, multiple positive nodes) with a fairly high recurrence potential, 42% reduction is pretty awesome. That is why I switched from tamoxifen to letrazole as soon as I was confirmed to be in menopause.