FEMARA

gkbuser....will be interested to see if it works for you. Keep us posted

Patsy, I am 13 years past menopause and have been taking Letrozole for two months with no real problems. I take it in the morning to prevent sleep disturbance and have had a few minor headaches, which could be from neck joint pain or something else entirely. In a way, I don't mind some side fx so that it know it is working 🙂.

I've heard that if you sailed through menopause you can sail through Letrozole. So far so good for me.

Good luck to you!

taco, what am I missing here? Are hot flashes a sign of breast cancer? I had hot flashes and night sweats for like 5 years before my BC diagnosis even though I was on hormones! Yikes

Has anyone out there been on Femara for a while? Do the side effects get better over time??

Thank you Lanne2389. I really hope it doesn’t get any worse! I have an appointment with my MO in July; I’m debating whether or not to ask about trying another AI.

gkbuser, I have hip pain and shoulder pain too. Occasional night sweats and dizziness that lasts seconds. Ankles hurt too. I started taking glucosamine for my joints. I really want to stay on the femara! I'm taking a yoga class tomorrow, praying it helps. Thanks forsharing your experience.

yoga felt great. I was on femara for 6 months. Bone and joint pain and fatigue wow. I could sleep all weekend. I just saw bs and she has found a chest wall lession and now am schedule for an ultrasound with biopsy. I have pain on both sides of my ribs and up the right arm into the armpit and no appetite. Although we can all lose a few pounds! I don't want tamoxifen. I have been menopausal since 14 years. I am worried about recurrence..but this is 6 months! I am looking for warriors with chest wall experience. Hard to imagine there is much benign stuff sitting in chest walls

gkbuser tomorrow at 1 pm. They just took me off femara since my b.s. found this tumor. The mo suggested tamoxifen. I doubt I would even try it. I am so disappointed in all of this. My father was a great gp. I worked with him for 10 years before medical billing. I married a pharmacist. My sister is a bio genetist professor. My sweet sister was a chemical engineer with a double math degree that developed chemicals for cathers. She died at 51 after 2 years of bile duct ca. any one of us or people I know would go the extra mile for a fellow human. My point is that I have resources and knowledge and I feel this way. What is happening to the poor women and men who blindly follow doctor's who pretend to care or do the right thing? My heart breaks for them👿

lisa,hang in there. Yes, I feel the same way. Doesn't make this disease any easier to deal with! Hugs!

Lisa, thanks for the udate. Sorry you find yourself waiting once again.

Hi all - I’m wondering if any of you are taking a multiple vitamin/mineral supplement and if so, what kind.

Lisa, waiting and praying for you too.

My lumpectony resection went to the chest wall. That was 14 months ago and I still have some pain and hardness in the area. MO said it's more due to radiation and can last months or several years.

I'm 67 and about 16 years post menopause... I don't remember when I stopped anymore! But I never stopped having hot flashes. They weren't frequent, but I had them. The hot flashes I have now are much stronger and worse when the weather is hot and humid. They are unpredictable though. Some days I have lots and days like today only one.

I'm taking 800 mg turmeric. I'm still stiff and I get aches and shooting pains in my thighs and hips mostly at night. I do yoga once a week and I notice my hips are more flexible. At first I couldn't sit cross legged, but now I can.

Going on vacation tomorrow. Had considered stopping the Femara, but I haven't felt too bad lately. Other than a new trigger pinkie! I've been on Femara for 2 months.

I had a trigger thumb for quite a while and then it just went away on its own.

My current pinkie one I think is due to the way I hold my phone. So I'm conscious of keeping it straight instead of curling it under. I also looked for exercises on the internet and they've really helped.

I had a trigger thumb too and bought a splint at Walmart. It lasted about six months and then went away. Also had to get a electric can opener and a manual bottle top opener. Of course my MO didn’t think it was letrozole related.

Femara is a Selective nonsteroidal inhibitor of the aromatase enzyme system; it inhibits the conversion of androgens to estrogens.it is an orally active nonsteroidal compound that reversibly inhibits aromatization all over the body, as well as that within the breast cancer cells, resulting in nearly total estrogen deprivation.

Like any other medicines femara has some good effects and some harmful effects.

Most common side effects associated with the use of femara (letrozole) includes; Nausea, Vomiting, Hot flushes, dyspepsia, dizziness, headache, diarrhea, constipation, anorexia, depression, hypercholesteremia, raised sweating, alopecia, increased craving, peripheral oedema, skin rashes, bone fracture, osteoporosis etc
Less common side effects include tachycardia, high blood pressure, palpitation, cough, dyspnea, anxiety, insomnia, memory impairment, taste distrurbance, urticaria, pruritis, dry skin, urinary frequency, abdominal pain, thrombophelbitis, urinary tract infection, viginal discharge, vigina bleeding, pyrexia, breast pain, cataract, blurred vision, eye irritation, leucopenia, carpal tunnel syndrome, arthritis, tumor pain, and general oedema.
Very rare side effect includes: arterial thrombosis, cerebrovascular infarction, and embolism.