FEMARA
Comments
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I switched to nights after 3 months-best thing I could've done I think
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Eph, did it improve your sleep?
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yes. While I taking it in the AM, I was so tired by afternoon I was having to nap @ lunch during work to make it through the day. Fatigue was terrible. I take my Femara & 1 over the counter sleep pill-just 1-& I'm good!
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I have the opposite problem. Switched to taking at night and feel real wiry and agitated. Can't sleep. Haven't been able to find relief for the joint pain. Taking naproxen and tramadol...they seem to keep me up as well...sigh, taking a self imposed break from letrozole, two weeks now with no decrease in pain:(
My greatest concern with this drug is the changes in my dexa scan. After 2 years, I have a 13.2 percent decrease in bone density. Readings are still within normal but that is a huge loss in my opinion. LDL is also elevated...another known s/e of this drug. I can only hope it is doing the job on cancer!!
Hang in there, ladies!0 -
On a positive note, I haven't had any hair thinning or loss!! In fact my hair stylist said my hair is way thicker than it was prior to chemo
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Are any of you limiting meat and eggs to minimize the cholesterol problem associated with the letrozole? Have any of your docs talked about this?
Also, the sex thing. Some of you report having sex. I didn't think that was possible on letrozole, due to dryness and risk of UTIs, so I haven't dared try.0 -
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(((Jacee))))
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Momine - there is no way I could go without sex for 5 years - and even if I could, I wouldn't ask my husband to do so. We have sex at least once a week, sometimes more. Use lubrication, and I'm not particular worried about UTI's. If I should get one, I'll deal with it - probably by drinking a lot of straight cranberry juice - it's really sour, but it does work quite well.
Also, I'm not doing anything about cholesterol yet. Mine has been a little bit high but nothing I (or my docs) are concerned about yet. I'm basically eating the way I have for years.
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oy .... cancer or no cancer, my DH would not be very happy to hear we couldn't do "it" for 5 years because of a pill... There are solutions to all problems. There are great things that counter dryness and UTI's? I've had them even before Femera. Cranberry juice is the best and when that doesn't work, there is always antibiotics. I don't think it's fair to ask anyone's DH to go 5 years! 6 months maybe but 5 years? Since things can be done to make it better, it's kinda selfish I think...
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Well girls the shoe is on the other foot here. I have gone fifteen years without that closeness with my DH.........his problem not mine. Yes I miss it at times less now than earlier but I wouldn't dream of finding others to relieve that itch. I signed on the dotted line at my wedding and promised through thick and thin.........well I think for the both of us we have had both. We are still happily wedded 43 years later with or without sex....... fair or not....... It is a commitment.
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Momine - yes if you want to have sex, go for it girl. If you are dry, there are wonderful lubricants available without prescription. I never heard that you would be more prone to UTI's while on Femara.
For me, Femara has totally robbed me of any desire to have sex. I was diagnosed 2 1/2 years ago at age 57 and my husband was 77 and up until then we enjoyed an active sex life. When we tried after I was on Femara, that part of me felt dead, my body and mind - no zip, no go, no enjoyment. I used to think and look forward to having sex - now that's gone. My husband and I have had talks - it's upsetting for both of us. Now that he is 79 and I have 2 1/2 years to go on Femara I can't just say to him - wait - it will get better. It makes me sad, and I cry. It makes him sad and he kindly says it doesn't matter - all that matters is I'm happy and healthy. I'm healthy, except for the inability to sleep at night and the aches and pains in my bones and joints and the calcium leeching from my body and it makes me unhappy that I have 'lost that lovely feeling'.
Like chrissy, we have been together for 33 years and married 29, through good and bad times, so we can get through this too.
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Thanks everyone, but I thought the vagina actually atrophied and didn't work anymore. If you have no natural lubrication, how can the vagina clean itself even if you add lubrication? How do you buy lubricants and how do you know what to buy?
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Don't give up on sex, Momine!
Here are excerpts from
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/06/persistence-is-key-to-treating-vaginal-pain/
Dr. Coady urges women with sexual pain not to give up, no matter how old they are or how many doctors may have told them that nothing can be done to relieve their discomfort. It is important not to delay treatment: The longer sexual pain persists, the more likely it is to result in nerve pain and dysfunction of the pelvic floor, making the problem still harder to treat.
Patience is also important. It can take weeks or even months to achieve the full benefits of effective treatment, which may involve several complementary approaches.
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Whether vaginal discomfort is mild or severe, regular use of an over-the-counter lubricant like K-Y Jelly (by both partners) or a vaginal moisturizer like Replens can help to make sex more pleasurable. Dr. Coady has found that applying a coating of natural oils like vitamin E or safflower, coconut or olive oil three or four times a day for a month or two can hydrate the vulvar skin, strengthen it and even heal fissures.
These oils are even more effective when combined with small amounts of pharmacy-compounded estriol and testosterone, she said.
Physical therapy can also be an important component of treatment. Sexual pain often involves changes below the surface: shortened connective tissues and weakened muscles that contribute to sexual discomfort. Dr. Coady said use of a dilator or vibrator can increase blood flow to the vaginal area, and a soft doughnut ring at the vaginal opening can elongate the vaginal canal.
In addition, exercises like yoga, Pilates, qigong and others that strengthen the pelvic floor and increase flexibility can be very helpful, Dr. Coady said.
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I was prescribed some estriol once but did not want to take the chance. The oils mentioned will do the cleaning job, too! Marigold oil (calendula) was suggested by my ob-gyn. I was on Femara 4.5 years. Now I'm on Tamoxifen and I finally feel some moisture again. But I'll still try some of the suggestions above.
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Heidi, thanks for the info, but what about the atrophy? I thought that meant that it didn't work anymore. Also, I had my uterus out, so I can't quite understand how sex would work without a uterus.
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Momine sex works the same with or without a uterus. It is the muscles and nerves in the vaginal walls and the clitoris that make us feel the pleasure.
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Chrissy, not only. An orgasm involves contraction of the uterus. Without that, it seems a bit pointless.
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Momine yes I know the usterus contracts with orgasm but orgasm can still be achieved without it. There are thousands of women who have had hysterectomies who still enjoy a full and fullfilling life style including sex no matter what their age.
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Chrissy, thanks, but I remain sceptical, lol. Still don't understand how it can work, especially with the added problem of the femara.
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Momine, without getting too personal, I can tell you for an absolute fact, it works lol..... I had a hysterectomy in 2000. The gyno told me sometimes doctors accidentally cut certain nerves and that's a problem and the end of orgasms. Well, he was very careful about that and I never had a problem. That was in 2000. It worked after that. Yes, it was slightly differently. The contractions were not there anymore but it hardly mattered. The feeling was the same, mjust minus the contractions. Now, I don't know what effect the Femera will have (I've only been on it about 6 weeks), but lack of a uterus, no problem....
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Ihopeg....I know how you feel about loosing your security blanket so to speak. It's a scary thing and I"m coming up to the 5 year mark and my Onco told me that's it for the pill.In a way I'm happy because it has taken the spark out of intimacy, definitely. For me that is a shock because I never had a problem till 'this pill'. Gotta go with the flow...no choice.
Please keep us posted as to how you are doing and if your pain lessens as well. Wouldn't it be great if everything went back to normal? Who am I kidding. I'll be 64 by then.
Like a friend of mine said " Now it takes all night...to do what we used to do all night." Ha, I think that is a priceless quote.
Keep in touch.
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Bevg, thanks, that is really good to know.
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I had a total hysterecteomy last December and have been on Femara since January and it still works for me too! I must admit that I don't have the desire like I used to; but believe me, it still works for me too.
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LovesChristma, thanks for the info. Then why do all the lists of SEs say that you get vaginal atrophy and dryness from femara. I thought that meant that the vagina did not work anymore.
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Momine you do get vaginal dryness from the Femara but you can use different things as was listed earlier to give the moisture needed for sexual interaction. There is no need to deny that part of your life.
Love n hugs. Chrissy0 -
Thanks Chrissy, I will have to ponder. So what is the vaginal atrophy all about? Anyone know?
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The vaginal atrophy is the dryness which causes you to not have sex because of pain which leads to the atrophy. Well that's my way of understanding it. If you don't use it you lose it.
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Oh great! It isn't all that easy to figure this stuff out.
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ok, this is kind on topic, but is quite personal, but heck... dont' we talk alot of personal stuff?
many years ago.. lol about 10, I hadnt' had sex for 7.5 yrs.. yes.. exactly..lol.. I had also had a recto/cysto seal(wrong spelling) repair, which made me even smaller, & was told I couldn't ever have intercourse again. ya right.. I was in my early 40's & single. eventually I fell in love & yep you guessed it. ripped so bad had to go to ER.. well, very embarrassing, ER doc said...no more sex (also found i was allergic to latex).. my GP, said HOGWASH, he said to use k-y gel & different size candles (now this is for those that are or maybe in the situation I was in). practice practice he said, well, I was in love, so nuff said. I did use a progesterone cream (well, we can't use that now) to help bring the elasticity back, but I'm sure... if you can keep trying, you won't loose it.. but ChrissyB is so so very right.. take if from me! lol now you can have a wee giggle.
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ok, this is kind on topic, but is quite personal, but heck... dont' we talk alot of personal stuff?
many years ago.. lol about 10, I hadnt' had sex for 7.5 yrs.. yes.. exactly..lol.. I had also had a recto/cysto seal(wrong spelling) repair, which made me even smaller, & was told I couldn't ever have intercourse again. ya right.. I was in my early 40's & single. eventually I fell in love & yep you guessed it. ripped so bad had to go to ER.. well, very embarrassing, ER doc said...no more sex (also found i was allergic to latex).. my GP, said HOGWASH, he said to use k-y gel & different size candles (now this is for those that are or maybe in the situation I was in). practice practice he said, well, I was in love, so nuff said. I did use a progesterone cream (well, we can't use that now) to help bring the elasticity back, but I'm sure... if you can keep trying, you won't loose it.. but ChrissyB is so so very right.. take if from me! lol now you can have a wee giggle.
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