FEMARA
Comments
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Linda-Ranch - I so agree with you. I pretty much decided my own treatment except for the type of chemo I had.
It was very scary but also very empowering
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Hi ...has anyone experience an elevation of liver enzymes from an accumulative effect from Letrozole or Femara?
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Artsee yes. My Onc says it happens with being on femara. It my liver enzymes are still up in 6 wks I get to go in for a wonderful liver MRI. just what I wanted to do. Lol it also causes fatty liver and non alcoholic cirrhosis too.
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Great! Anyone have some idea how common fatty liver and/or cirrhosis is with femara use?
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Here's what it says on drugs.com about liver side effects:
Hepatic side effects including abnormal liver chemistries (3% in patients where it was not associated with a documented metastases) have been reported.
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Day and CF, thanks for the info. I looked for it, but couldn't find it.
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I love this thread...It's always amazing when a subject comes up, how many people chime in. I always think I'm the only one stuff happens to. Can some of you fine ladies tell me what your 'numbers' were? Also is it good to stay on the drug if it irritates the liver? I'm so glad I have 5 month to go on the drug. Has any ones Dr. admitted to this happening from one of the drugs they are prescribing for you?
Day...how did you get the levels back to normal? Also why are you going off of Femara....without doing the 5 years.
Have some of you 'not' have them go down, after a retest?
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ILC stage1 grade 2 with some isolated cells in sentinel nodes. I go for my "sim" tomorrow but will start rads. the day after Christmas. My onoctype score was low (9%) but that is with the taking the hormone blockers. My onco tells me that the risk of recurrence doubles if I don't but I am very hesitant to do so after reading about side effects. Is Arimidex better that Femara? How bad are the side effects? With an 82% shot of no recurrence without them and a 91% chance with them, I'm now leaning toward going with the blockers but they worry me.
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Bookworm - I've been on generic Femara since June. Few aches/pains but nothing dramatic. I am 60 so expect a certain amount. No hot flashes/ never had during menopause. Feel I am tolerating it well. Don't plan on changing anytime soon. I do wish there was a lab test to tell you its working. I do feel skin drier/more wrinkled and age spots on hands worsening. I expect I'm really 80 inside. Need to get lab tests done 2 weeks ago at MO, check cholesterol. He said he'd call with any changes, I said I'd pick up a copy. Unfortunately it's 45 min. drive and not doing it if not necessary. Guess I could see if they would email. had bone density done in Feb. Don't know when next one to be done. Gyn. said every 2 years but that was b4 BC. Osteopenia but I declined Fosamax/Prolia for now. Need to get butt out of this chair and do housework or walk. I have hand weights and know weight bearing is best for bone building.
I must admit I don't "know" my numbers. I think I have a chart he drew at my 1st appt. Know he thought it was pretty low that's why he agreed I could skip the Oncotype.
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Bookworm, I have been on femara for 9 months. The SEs were worse in the beginning, now they seem to have calmed down some. For me they have been achy feet and hot flashes.
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Bookworm when it comes to these drugs everyone is different and react differently. If say
Arimidex causes one person really bad SE's the next person will have few or none.
The only way to find out for yourself is to try them always keeping in mind that there are three AI's so if one is causing too much trouble you have the option af asking to change to another. The main thing to remember is that always in the beginning you will have some SE's that will go once your body has adjusted. If you think about it, the SE's that come with most of these drugs is you body adjusting to having no estrogen and learning how to function without it.
Good luck!
Love n hugs. Chrissy0 -
Oh, and bookworm, there was just a new study out which strongly suggests that femara (as opposed to tamoxifen) is especially useful in ILC. My cancer was far more advanced than yours, so it was really not a debate in my case. But I am very much hoping that the femara can keep me free of cancer till they come up with some newe treatments of some kind.
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Hello everyone, I have switched from tamoxifen to femara about three months ago due to a lung blood clot post DIEP. I had no issues with the tamoxifen only hot flushes. The femara has really knocked me over with joint pains especially in my hands and feet and debilitating fatigue . I feel like I am 70 and I am only 48. Chemo made me menopausal so AIs are a good choice, but the side effects are tough. I take glucosamine for the joint pain- I can't take antiinflammatories or fish oil so would welcome any other suggestions to help ease side effects-I eat healthily, am active but easily fatigued and excercise as I can. Only hoping that the SEs will settle in time. Any suggestions for natural supplements would be welcome!
Cheers Robyn0 -
Robyn, I have trouble with anti inflamatories so I take Boswellia and Curcumin. Both are natural anti inflamatories and work very well. If you are having major problems with Femara please don't be afraid to ask your doc about a change to one of the others.
Love n hugs. Chrissy0 -
I've been on femara for a year now, and have also had debilitating fatigue. Not sure if it's the femara or post-chemo side effects. I have recently started taking 3 supplements that seem to be helping: ginseng (2g/day), d-ribose (1g/day) and coenzyme Q10 (100mg/day). I have been taking the ginseng after reading about studies published this year saying that it is effective for cancer-related fatigue. The other two were recommended to me by a physician at the Duke Integrative Medicine center. Prior to taking these, even exercise exhausted me, and as you know that is recommended as the best thing to help fatigue. Now I am hiking in the hills for over an hour almost every day!
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Robyn, walking helps, whenever you can, take a 10-minute stroll, even around your living room if necessary.
Anti-inflammatory foods help: greens, onions, sardines, chilis.
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Hi everyone,
Well, it has been 14 days since my first dosage of Letrozole. I thought all will be well as I hadn't experienced any side effects til yesterday. I began with dry mouth, some nausea, and some diarrhea. Wondering how long this will continue, and what I can do for dry mouth. Suggestions, thoughts? I'm getting somewhat apprehensive here.
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Day 7 and so far so good. Well, the fatigue is the same as the other but nothing's perfect. Hoping for good results on this one!
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Naturegirl a good product for dry mouth is Biotene. They do mouthwash and toothpaste that contain the natural enzymes that are found in the mouth and so help to stop that dry feeling. Over there I believe it's a available in most pharmacies and Walmart.
Hope it works for you.
Love n hugs. Chrissy0 -
Naturegirl2.....Inhave been on Letrozole for 9 months now and still get the occasional
Diarrhea and nausea.....gravol takes care of the nausea and the diarrhea I just put up with. Also still dealing with fatigue...grrrrrr0 -
naturegirl- I don't think I ever experienced the dry mouth and I have been on it for 6 mos now. Nausea comes and goes, diarrhea also comes and goes. My main issue is the joint pain, but I have that under control now. I take Glucosemine twice a day and 2 advil every 12 hrs also for the inflammation. Hope yours gets better.
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Momine, what s dexa?
Thank you for the question suggestion I will definetly ask because it's a great question!
Thank you!
Michelle0 -
Mich a DEXA is a bone scan to see if your bones are deteriorating due to osteopenia or osteoporosis. The AI's are known to deplete the bones of calcium and a DEXA can tell your doc if he needs to give you bone strengthening drugs.
Love n hugs. Chrissy0 -
Thanks everyone for the supplement suggestions! I will try some one at a time and hopefully get some relief from the aches and pains! I know the glucosamine helps as I have been on it a few weeks and the joint pain definitely increases without it. If I have another five years of femara I would rather find out earlier than later what helps to ease the SEs! I will try anything within reason!
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Chrissy already answered about the dexa. Most things I have checked say that you should have a dexa when startin and AI (as a baseline).
For those of you with digestive issues: pro-biotics, ladies!
I had a bit of trouble when I started femara, so I started taking acidophilus again. No problems since. I take one capsule a day with my breakfast. Works a charm.
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Looks like I have a tear in my meniscus in my knee and surgery will be on the 31st. I hurt myself doing Zumba. Go figure! I was wondering if anyone thinks that the lack of estrogen might have contributed to the tear. What do you think? I forgot to ask the surgeon.
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I am TN but with my local recurrence this past spring I was 1% ER+. Any + is a + I guess, so they put me on Letrazole. I've been bad about taking it, but this past month I've really been forcing myself to take it daily.
So far, I'm OK - I notice a slight reduction in hot flashes, which were brutal before. But - joint aches. Ow. Ow. Ow. The thing is, they are in odd, assymetrical places. My left thumb, the first joint. My right knee. My left shoulder. Is this normal SE joint pain, or could this be something else?
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Hi minxie sound an awful lot like normal SE's to me. If you read back a few posts you will see a whole lot of suppliment that have been suggested by others to help with those aching joints.
Love n hugs. Chrissy0 -
Hey Chrissy, what form of curcumin do you take? I hear it has excellent anticancer properties. I have the tumeric spice but don't really like it.
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