Letrozole: will side effects get better?

PurpleCat · May 2020

I've been on Letrozole for about 3 weeks. Joints are popping and cracking like crazy, and everything hurts, not all the time but portions of every day. I'm also absolutely exhausted at the end of every day, needing naps, going to bed early. The situation may be aggravated because I'm in the middle of a move and have been lifting and carrying a lot of heavy things up and down stairs, so I'm hoping a little recovery time will bring some relief from those symptoms, but I don't really know. Will this get better? As much as I hate being on this stuff, I also don't want a recurrence, so I do want to keep taking it, just don't want to spend the next ten years feeling like this.

Spookiesmom · May 2020

It should. I’ve been on it almost a year. Compared to the aramidex and tamoxifen I’ve done, this is the easiest for me. The foot pain I had from the other 2 was BAD, feet hurt, but not as bad. Now gone completely.

Could be your moving house is aggravating spots you don’t normally use. Give it more time to settle. If doesn’t, talk to MO.

ThreeTree · May 2020

I've been taking letrozole every other day since mid January and I don't think any of my side effects have changed all that much. I initially got real bad back aches and those do seem to be better in both frequency and intensity now. Everything else is the same: achy joints, muscles, some "warm spells", sweating, much tiredness and fatigue. My feet can hurt a lot - especially after walking and then sitting down for awhile. I am stiff as a board when I wake up and it takes being up for a couple of hours for things to start loosening up. All of these side effects occur sporadically and erratically and at different intensity levels at different times.

You mentioned "popping" and "cracking" though, and I have to say I have not experienced anything that matches that description. I too had to move during treatment; only mine was during radiation last fall. I surprised myself and moved a lot of boxes upstairs and down, but I do not think I could do it now with the letrozole; just too tired, weak, and achy, and my chest muscles go crazy after bending and lifting (I think that is from the radiation tightness).

One reason my aches might not be as bad as what you have described is that all along, throughout chemo, surgery, radiation, and now letrozole, I have taken SAM-E, turmeric, and frankincense/boswellia. All three of those are anti-inflammatories and might be the reason my aches and pains aren't quite as bad as some have indicated theirs are - not to say that I do not have serious and debilitating aches and pains in joints. I was already taking the SAM-E for arthritis (it's a bit of a mood enhancer too), and added the turmeric and frankincense/boswellia capsules when I started treatments.

If you aren't already, you might consider taking some sort of anti-inflammatory product(s). I think they do help many with this. Oh, and I also recently added Claritin, and I think that helps a little bit too.

OnTarget · May 2020

I initially had a lot of trouble sleeping from hot flashes and then knee pain. My knees still hurt all the time but I'm sleeping much better.

I started hormone therapy last summer.

windingshores · May 2020

I don't think you can judge side effects while moving.

I was on letrozole for 5 years and had some hot flashes, mainly in the beginning, some pain (exercise for more than 40 minutes helped) and some fatigue.

I have been off for months and guess what? I have all the same problems. In fact, I truly think I felt better on the letrozole.

I think there are people who have severe side effects, people who have none, and everything in between. But I do wonder how much I blamed on the med that wasn't actually related to it at all.

Flnative · May 2020

Hi there!

I’ve been on Letrozole for a year after taking Arimidex (please pardon the spelling). I switched because the joint pain was so bad with the first. Still have it with the Letrozole but it does seem better and has slowly gotten better with time.
I also found, was helpful for me and would highly suggest talking to your physician before initiating this, but Turmic with ginger has helped me. It took a while to work its magic but when I ran out of it and had a lapse in the regimen I could tell.
Another bit of advice, motion is lotion (for your joints), try to keep moving.

PurpleCat · June 2020

Thank you, everyone. One month in and I'm definitely not just adjusting to the stuff, but I"m going to see what a combination of turmeric and exercise might do for me before giving up entirely. So wish I didn't have to take it at all, or anything else, but so far it's still preferable to a recurrence.

Anonymous · June 2020

How much water are you drinking per day? Just this month I started pushing a LOT more water, and more frequently, through the day and my joints and general fatigue have improved immeasurably over prior months when I was forgetting to drink. When I get up in the morning while waiting for coffee to do its thing I have two large glasses of filtered water with a squirt of lemon. Then at lunch another glass or two and then water with dinner. If you are WFH I've noticed its really easy to get lost in the day and lose track of time, so the water thing gives me a time marker.

The different brands of letrozole also have different fillers, although I can't say I've noticed a whole lot of difference. I do wonder why one brand needs to color their pill like atomic yellow - surely if we are taking this stuff for cancer it would be a good idea that we don't add additional junk when not necessary!

Letrozole: will side effects get better?

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