FEMARA
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Omaz,
How are you doing on it? I know we started pretty much the same day...lol
I can already tell a difference. The hot flashes, which I mentioned before, are more intense and frequent.
Weird thing about the joints. On Tamox, my left knee and elbow were constantly sore. On 1-10 pain scale I'd say they stayed at 5-6 until I used them then 7-8. I couldn't reach out and pick up a cup of coffee with my left arm from a seated position when the elbow joint takes the weight..without serious sharp pain. And my left is "runners knee" from the thousands of miles I logged over the decades. If I run or walk too much on an incline, the next day my knee is killing...
Onc said I may have MORE joint issues on Femara. So, just within 4 days of taking it..my left elbow isn't as sore. But I've noticed all the other high use joints, knees, elbows, FINGERS are stiffer. Haven't decided which I prefer yet. Stiffness isn't pain....but I feel OLD when I get up off the couch...lol
How bout you? Anything?
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I'm on Femara almost three weeks after switching from Arimidex. My hot flashes and depression have decreased but my joint and muscle pain have increased, especially my legs, hips, knees, hands, shoulders, and upper arms. I feel old when I get up off the couch too....I laugh because for a few minutes I waddle like my poor grandmother used to do all the time.
I did get a wrist splint for my right hand that I wear to bed at night and it does seem to be helping the numbness and tingling a bit. I think back to a year ago when I was first being diagnosed and never dreamed that I woud have all of these issues a year later. I had no clue then what all the BC women went through on these meds.
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Hi TonLee - I have been having hot flashes like crazy since chemo so the change that I do notice is that they seem a little more intense, ie more red face going on. My favorite is at work, I am talking to one of the guys and boom, suddenly my race is red and covered in sweat. I have to mop it. Sheesh! I don't think i had much estrogen left after chemopause, my two measurements were 5 and 11. I don't know about the joint thing yet. My right elbow and left knee hurt as well as my feet. I am thinking they will get better, hanging on to hope, really really....... We went to a 90th birthday part recently and I was watching how she moved - yep, I move like that sometimes now.0
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LovesChrist,
That makes two of us. I didn't know ANYTHING about BC. Nadda. It's a whole new world....lol
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Hi
I've been on femara for three and a half years now. Yes I have the fuzzy brain and I did have painful joints in the early days, but it beats the alternative.
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Dkerler, glad to hear everything turned out well for you, and fingers crossed it is the same for me...Thank you for sharing your experience and helping to ease my mind.
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I just had a dex scan and have been told I should start taking Fosamax. I have read a lot about it and have talked with another doctor also. She agreed that I should take it. I already take vitamins, 1200 mg. calcium, 800 mg. Vitami D along with the femara. Has anyone else been taking Fosamax?
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you can find a coupon on the femara online sight(or Novartis sight) and it will pay around $800.00 for a year toward your prescription.
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Re the cost the Femara. It is approximately $500.00 for a 30 day supply, Letrozole is it in generic form and it's $15.00 for a 30 day supply. If you have insurance drug coverage unless your doctor specifies "do not substitute" on your prescription you will get the generic. I found this out when the Letrozole became available as I was used to getting Femara and the pharmacy told me once a drug becomes generic everyone gets switched unless they have that "do not substitute" on the prescription. I was started out on the mustard colored one but now I'm getting the pink one (Mylan is the manufacturer) and I do much better on that one.
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Here are the ingrediants for the Mylan pink letrozole tablets: Each tablet contains the following inactive ingredients: colloidal silicon dioxide, D&C Red No. 27 Aluminum Lake, FD&C Blue No. 2 Aluminum Lake, FD&C Red No. 40 Aluminum Lake, hypromellose, lactose anhydrous, magnesium stearate, microcrystalline cellulose, polydextrose, polyethylene glycol, pregelatinized starch, sodium lauryl sulfate, sodium starch glycolate, titanium dioxide and triacetin.
source: http://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?id=42129I am not real happy about all the coloring in these tablets.
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Insomnia, anyone?
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Insomnia? YES!!!!!!
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Hi Maltomin,
I have been on Femara for 2 1/2 yrs. How are your dex scans. They want me to take Fosomax but I am nervous about it after reading all the side effects. Have you had any problems with loss of calcium in your bones.
Thanks
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termite, when did your bone loss begin? I've been on letrozole for 6 months and just had my first dexa. When compared with one I had 5 years ago, I've got zero bone loss, but I don't know when it begins....
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Ok, so I admit to being a complete nerd but here is a table of the ingredients for the different brands of letrozole. The ingredients run along the left and the company runs along the top. If there is a 1 in the cell where they intersect then that company includes that ingredient in their pill. The key for the company abbreviations is below the table.
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Note: If the text is too small on your computer hold down the ctrl key and press the + key (ctrl - will make it smaller again)
All the information comes from here:
http://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/search.cfm?startswith=letrozole&x=0&y=0
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Omaz, thanks for the posting - I am so computer illerate I couldn't figure out how to do it. Oh do I miss my 18 year old son who is away at university!
I really think the different fillers can affect some of you. Then there is the havoc played by the active ingredient!
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justagirl - I put together the table for myself and just wanted to share it. I am not liking the mylan pill, it makes my stomach upset so I am going to talk to the pharmacy and see if they can try another one. Plus it has all those dyes in it which doesn't seem great either.0
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Omaz,
I am on the mustard one made by Stason Pharm ....doesn't seem to be causing me any issues at this point
I don't see it on the list...will have to check the bottle again.0 -
There appears to be a bunch more companies making it....I don't see Stason Pharm but it might be new. I'll have to see what my pharm says today.
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I thought mine was by cara - but I dont see that one on the list either. I get it at Costco.... (used to take the one by mylan)
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garden - I guess letrozole must be easy to make - LOL! Did you notice any difference between the mylan and the cara?0
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I had more aches with the mylan, but they went away, then when Costco changed brands and I started taking the Cara version, my aches started over. Then they went away, but about a month later they came back again. I have no idea if the same would have happened with the Mylan version, as I wasn't on it as long.
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It's Qualitest pharmacy that distributes mine....
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That might be a good one TonLee since it doesn't have all those dyes in it.0
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Hi Gardengumby,
I had a dex scan in 2010 when diagnosed and it was okay from the one 2 years before that. I have been on femara for about 2 1/2 years and this last scan in March showed a loss of calcium in my spin but my hips and arms and legs are okay. I will probably go on the Fosomax that they want me to take considering I went to another doctor and she agrees with my oncologist. Hope everything goes well for you.
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TonLee - The pharmacist can order Accord for me so I am going to try that.0
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Good luck termite. These medications we have to take SUCK!!! But, I keep telling myself that they beat the alternative.
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Omaz,
Let me know how that works for you.
On another note: have you noticed any side effects with Femara? Another reason I'm sure the Tamox was not working for me....my mind, which I brought up yesterday...and went out and bought L-Carn.....but something else, something that is freaking me out. ...Something is seriously going on with my emotions....I feel dead inside, but at the same time I can hear that still small voice inside me weeping, wailing. WT?
Is this menopause? If so, will this craziness pass? I have to be silent and keep my mouth shut because I don't know what might come out of my mouth....I am so disturbed I drove to the gym today and didn't get out of the car! I just turned around and left! THAT IS NOT ME.
Please tell me this is "normal" and will go away soon??
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I am much more emotional on one level - I cry easily and am more needy in general than I've ever been. On the other hand, my anger level has dropped through the floor. I always had a fairly easily triggered temper but it just seems to be - gone.
I'm post menopausal, and didn't experience anything like this during menopause - in fact during menopause things were more or less reversed from what I just described.
I'm certainly no expert on this drug as I've only been on it for 6 months, but have heard from others the same description of "dead inside". I am hoping against hope that it doesn't happen with me. Good luck TonLee.
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