FEMARA
Comments
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Oh, one question....has anyone been experiencing shoulder and collar bone pain with
Letrozole....of course, I am thinking the worst.0 -
oooh, yuk Scottie! man.. this hair loss business with BC is crazy! I'm gathering a 'list' of what to get at health store. I guess i should start taking Femara now, but leaning to the pessimistic side of things.. thinking I don't wanna be sick or in more pain when I go up to Penticton to have a wee R&R & be with my bff up there. Am hoping to do a road trip with my Dad down to Redding Calif.. but, will see (october) I'm in south-west BC
heres hoping no more hair loss for ya.. and no or low SE's.
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Hi Cher56: my hair loss could be caused by so many things.....not just Letrozole...
After my diagnosis, Inwent vegetarian over night, no dairy, went quite anal actually....
Lots of anxiety and fear, loss of appetite, in other words, the works. I am now on an
Anti-anxiety med plus my old anti-depressant (Zoloft) I was on the first time I went through menopause. Was also told I have a zinc deficiency......so, who knows......could be any of these things causing my hair loss.0 -
Regarding the hair loss, I'm on Femara for about 6 weeks now. I took a shower yesterday and when I came out there were many hairs on my stomach!! not to mention the drain. I used to have thick curly hair, had been losing some due to other meds I'm on for different stuff but now, I suspect it will get to be too much. I have to ask about the biotin. I have a special shampoo but it doesn't really work.... I am also getting aches and pains, in my foot especially. I don't know if it's psychological, caused by something else or the Femara..... and I only just started...ugghh..... I'll have to just wait and see.
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Hi bevg49.......My MO says that L causes thinning....many women here take large doses of Biotin...up to 800......I was taking 600 and my Dermatologist told me to stop as the body cannot absorb that amount. She has me taking 100 three times a day plus watching my zinc as the blood work came back say if I was low. Perhaps other ladies will come on to give you their opinion. Good luck with it as I know it's frustrating....I have been wearing a straw hat all summer as you can see right through to my scalp.
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Thanks scottie! I hear ya..when I first got FM my hair thinned right out. What's the stats on hair being restored after drug is stopped?
Bev..grrrr sorry to hear your gettig SEs so quickly! I've read here many supplements help.
Am wondering, is it (stupid) unwise for me to hold off on starting the AI? Its already been 10wks since surgery.thx0 -
That's my question too. I wish some ladies would post to answer that question, but they probably have all moved on by now. I will try to do some research and see what I come up with.
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Girls the hair thinning thing has more to do with the lack of estrogen than anything else. As the Femara and menopause is the cause of that then I guess you could say its a SE. Once you stop the drug a certain amount of estrogen will probably return even if you are in menopause as the body does make estrogen from the adrenals and from body fat. For this reason there is a possibility that the hair may thicken once more.
Love n hugs. Chrissy0 -
High chrissyb.....thanks for the response....it seems unfair because I am 65 and have gone through menopause before and lost a lot of hair then and here I go once more.
May have to spend the rest of my life wearing hats😱0 -
Scottiee1 - about the biotin, are you talking micrograms or milligrams?
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I asked my Rad Onc about biotin & he said he did not want me to start anything new until I was finished rad treatments.
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Micrograms
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Yeah Isabelle, I was told the same .
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I did not actually start the AI until about 8 months after my diagnosis and after my oopharectomy. My onc seemed fine with that timeline. I have had hair thinning but I do think it is from lack of estrogen.
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Ginger - they started me on tamoxifen about 2 months after my mastectomy. I took it for about 6 months, but the SE's were far too much for me, so they moved me to letrozole - which I started about a year after my diagnosis. I've been on it for 10 months now. My worst SE is that I need a lot of sleep - instead of the 8 hours a night I used to require, I do best with about 11 - then I actually have some energy for the 13 hours I'm awake...
At first my MO said she was going to include the 6 mos of tamoxifen in figuring my 5 years of hormone therapy AND she was going to let me take a month "vacation" each year from the therapy, but she's changed her tune now. Apparently there was a study done of men with prostrate cancer that showed markedly better results for the men who did not take therapy "vacations", so I guess I'll be on the letrozole for another 4 years and 2 mos with no break.
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Saw my MO yesterday for my regular checkup. He said my extreme foot pain is most definitely from the letrozole and that movement will help (duh...knew that!).
Have a great day everybody!
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I was prescribed Femara 3 weeks ago. Within 2 weeks both my hair texture and volume changed. It felt like straw. It has definitely thinned out in the last 3 weeks. I stopped taking Femera this past Sunday and saw my oncologist on Wednesday. Since stopping femara the texture of my hair has definitely improved. My Oncologist says that the Femara would not have done this this quickly and must be something else going on. I have gone back to Tamoxifen for the next six months. Has anyone else experienced the change in their hair that quickly after starting Femara?
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You are talking to someone with lots of experience with hair loss and Letrozole. It happened very quickly and my hair feels like straw. I saw a Dermatologist who wasn't convinced it was the L. Had blood work done and it came back to say I was low in Zinc
which can cause hair loss. My GP didn't agree and I don't either. I blame L totally because it happened very quickly after I started and after 6 months of being on it my hair is still ending up on my pillow, lots of it. I just keep,it very short and have an amazing hairdresser who does wonder with it (what's left of it) However, it's just hair and when I think of the alternative, I intend to just live with it. Grrrrrr0 -
Thanks Scottiee1, I hear you with regards to hair loss and what the alternative is. The logical part of me says it is only hair but it is the emotional part that jumps in. My onc feels that for the time being continuing on the tamoxifen will be okay and we will revist the Femara in 6 months.
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Another thing I learned on here from the ladies was taking large doses of Biotin seems to help. I started taking 600mcg but my dermatologist told me the body could not absorb that much. She has me taking 100 three times a day. Worth looking in to.
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Friday was my last Femara, after 5 years, the onc said to discontinue, I feel happy and also very scared of a recurrence. I am wondering if my hair will start to grow in thicker and I wont have so much foot pain. Atleast since I had side effects, I knew Femara was working. Do I now have to limit my estrogen since I am no longer on Femara? I had an ooph 5 years ago. I am so scared that now I have no defense!!!
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Your fears are normal, and although it seems we all count the days, months , years till
We can stop this pill that gives us so many SE, we do all think.....so what now?...
I'm not really the one to be giving you advice since I have only been on Letrozole for
6 months, but my fears would be the same. I think now you just have to keep up with
your check-ups, listen to your body and "try" to move on.....I know, easier said than done.
I have lost a tremendous amount of hair thanks to L and would be curious myself as to whether it will return. Perhaps you could post later as I think many women are wondering
The same thing.
PS...not sure what you mean about limiting your estrogen?0 -
ihopeg-I get the fear, but YIPEE GIRL! NO MORE PILL! I've got 2 years, 1 month & 11 days!!
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I'm having a lot of trouble sleeping since starting femara. I've been taking it in the morning, but now think I should switch to taking it right before I go to bed.
Has anyone had this issue, and did it get better over time? I've only been taking femara for 3 days.
Thanks!
Susannah0 -
Susannah,
I take my letrozole in the evening along with my sleeping pill, amitriptyline, since I had trouble sleeping when I took it in the am. I think I switched from am to pm after I had been taking it about a month.
I've been on it since January 20 and I do get some minor aches and pains but it's all good.
Hope it gets better for you,
LaDonna
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Thanks LaDonna, I will try switching to evening too. Other than that, only minor side effects.
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I also take it in the evening with no sleep issues.
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Thanks Scottie, night seems to be the way to go. btw, I'm from Tain, Scotland.
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OMG I'm for. Glasgow but my Father's oldest brother lived most of his life running a sheep farm in Inverness (Lairg). I used to spend all my summers up there as a child.
We should PM each other, we have similar dx and perhaps get to know each other better.0 -
That would be wonderful!
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