FEMARA

Found at www.cancertreatment.net -

While there is a vaccine on the market for shingles, it is not given to elderly patients who are underoing anti-cancer treatment because of their weakened immune systems, a problem that could lead to other problems.

More information on antineoplastic here:

https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/a...

And how do we know if we’re immune compromised

KB870, I have autoimmune hypothyroid. I had shingles in my 40s, thought I would die. Luckily I got to the doctor quick. He gave me pills that started working immediately and said I would never get it again? I can’t remember the name of the pills for sure, butI think there was an X or a Z, or both. Getting the vaccine truly scares me so I haven’t asked for it.

Finally I got hold of my oncologist and a pharmacist at BCCA (B.C. Cancer Clinic) where I received my treatments. Both have confirmed that it's ok to receive the " Shingles Vaccine". As a result I have decided to get the vaccine and I have received the flu shot yesterday.

I'm including the information that I have received from the pharmacist.

Here is the data re: Letrozole and Zoster vaccine

1.Letrozole drug monograph: https://pdf.hres.ca/dpd_pm/00024971.PDF - no mention of contraindication with zoster vaccine in the drug monograph

2.Both pharmacy drug interaction references Lexicomp and Micromedex do NOT document an interaction between Letrozole and Zostavax (shingles vaccine) (see attachments) – if there was a contraindication with shingles vaccine, it would have been flagged by the references. I also did a medline search in OVID and did not find any documentation of shingles vaccine being problematic in pts on letrozole – there was no case reports re: pts on letrozole who received shingles after the shingle shot.

3.According to BC Center for disease control: https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/healthlinkbc-files/shingles-vaccine:

Who should not get the shingles vaccine?

Speak with a health care provider if you:

• have had a life-threatening reaction to any component of the vaccine including gelatin or neomycin;

• have an immune system weakened by disease or medical treatment;

• have active, untreated tuberculosis; or

• are pregnant or planning to become pregnant. Women should avoid becoming pregnant for 1 month after getting the shingles vaccine.

• If you are ill and have a fever greater than 38.5°C (101.3°F) you should wait until you have recovered before getting the shingles vaccine.

4.So the question is: is Letrozole an immunosuppressant? Letrozole is not on the immunosuppressant list from Lexicomp (See attachment). As a rule it does not cause bone marrow suppression (so blood monitoring is not done as a rule) although there are some rare cases of low blood counts. So if you have concerns about this, you could get your GP to order some blood work – though really not necessary.

HapB you can check the inactive ingredients from any mfr at
https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/

Some of them have very similar ingredients. I always wonder about the talc and the polyethelene glycol (I think that's right)

Corrected link

I don't think Letrozole would be considered an immunosuppresent because it suppresses the aromatase enzyme not the immune system, to my knowledge. My Letrozole is manufactured by TEVA, and so far, I've done pretty well on it. I started out with Anastrozole and had a very hard time. I forget who the manufacturer was, but I never tried the TEVA brand. I didn't realize about the fillers at the time, so I may have done better with TEVA, instead MO switched me off it.

Here's the correct link, so sorry, I relied on my femara brain memory
https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/

They must be pressured to deny, deny, deny. HapB, which ingredients are the carcinogenic ones, pls? I'm so glad I quit. Three months now, starting to feel better. My hands still stiffen up at night, my feet still hurt but not as much. And it takes a while to get started in the morning

I was taken off Letrozole by my MO in the first year when I was experiencing severe dizziness and nausea; he first referred me to an ENT who ruled out sinus/inner ear as the source of dizziness. When that was ruled out, he told me to stay off Letrozole for 2-4 weeks to see if that relieved it. It did, and I remember that it wasn't until around the 4th week that I started to feel like my former self. I imagine the longer you are on the drug it may take longer for the SE's to subside. But in some cases, like the arthritis I've developed in the last 5 years, those things will never go away.

My oncologist said that although the drug (exemestane at that time) would be out of my system in 2-4 weeks, he said that I might still have side effects if it was the lack of estrogen causing them, rather than the med, since he didn't know how fast my body was making new estrogen. He said he suspected my problems were a combination of side effects from the drug, and effects on body systems caused by lack of estrogen.

Found at Stage IV. It includes AIs. Click the link. Important game changer in process. I hope Heidihill doesn’t mind...

17 hours ago Heidihill wrote:

HLB, I don't know about abemaciclib but the problem with tamox is that it does not work well for about a third of ER+ women, mostly because it is not metabolized by the liver into endoxifen which is 100 times more potent than tamox itself. I am an ultrarapid metabolizer and have had my endoxifen levels tested and they are good at just the low dosage of tamox I take.

https://www.cancer.gov/news-events/cancer-currents-blog/2017/endoxifen-breast-cancer-NCI-support

There are clinical trials for endoxifen and in one of the Phase I trials, the results were encouraging with anti-tumor activity in women whose tumors had progressed on tamoxifen, aromatase inhibitors, and fulvestrant (Faslodex®).

HapB, Definitely call the companies. Many offer discounts or low or no co-pays if you ask. $13,000 is still a lot of money

My NP checked my hormones this week and both estradiol and progesterone and DHEA are very low. But how do I interpret that in terms of treatment. Seems like this is one area in which the ball has been dropped totally. My onc will still say I need AIs. How does she know that? I agree that a gym. Endocrinologist should be involved

Susan and Eren

Agree with your comments, I have had no issues with Letrozole and was really scared to take it just from reading all the comments on it and as for the chemo I was terrified almost to the point of not taking the treatment . While I did have issues they were all manageable. My biggest issues during chemo were the Steroids that I was given. I would get so high on them and crash so hard when I came off ., but again that was all managed by lowering my dose .

While I understand some people have bad SE, most do not and to not take a medicine that could save your life due to fear is simply unacceptable.

Tdad

I Never said it was unacceptable to not take them, I said it was unacceptable to let fear rule your life. If you are not taking them due to fear and not reading or educating yourself or giving them a chance, trusting your Dr.......Then that is fear ruling your life and that is unacceptable..

If you are gong to quote me then please make sure you get it correct .

With that I would say have a great day ladies