FEMARA
Comments
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I just went through the liver enzymes being raised at my Oct. apt. Eight weeks later, retested, and they did not go down. I'm taking nothing new and when I asked the Dr. if it could be the Letrozol his reply was "no". I then had to have a CT scan of the abdomen which came out normal. So I never got an answer...although I think it's the AI. Few more month on the stuff and then I'll see for sure I guess. I googled many times and could not find anywhere, where it said yes Femara or Letrozol could be the cause.
If anyone finds anything written about this could you please post where you found it. Thanks.
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I didn't know about this. I'm going to try taking milk thistle to oprotect the liver.
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HLB.....please do some research about milk thistle and ask your doc first....I used to take it everyday but after getting BC and all my research, I read somewhere (can't remember
where or why....sorry) we shouldn't take it. Sorry I don't have more I info....memory has gone...lol. Please check first. Would be interested in your findings as I say, I used to take it all the time....my husband still does.0 -
Scottiee, I read the same thing about milk thistle. I have not taken it since.
My onc agreed to give me one month off Femara. It's been a few weeks and I have noticed my hot flashes have decreased SO much. Also, my deep fatigue has changed significantly and my mood has lifted. I thought the rash on my chest might go away - nope. Come February, my options will be to resume Femara for the next 4 yrs (plus a probable additional 5) or to swith to Aromasin. Given that my BC was lobular and stage 3, I think I'll stick with the Femara. It's been nice having a little break
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X-raygirl....thanks for that...I know I read it somewhere but can't remember....at least I know I'm not losing my mind completely....lol
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Hi Linda-Ranch, thanks for responding. That is great you do not have SE's from Letrozole and you have good blood test results. I had been taking multi-vitamins for years along with a few other vitamins and stopped soon after a diagnosis of Stage 4. That included a baby aspirin as well since one of my tests was delayed due to taking aspirin. I am still taking Vit. C, 1000 mil daily. I figure the multi-vit. didn't do their job in keeping back a Stage 4 diagnosis so what the h - - l, ya know. I am trying to follow a heathier diet, even healthier than before in getting my vitamins and minerals naturally, through food.
My cat scan did not show any problems with my liver at this time. Now I'm wondering if stopping multi vits along with taking Letrozole raised my liver enzeymes. I'm thinking it's the Letrozole as I read. I wonder how my oncol. is going to treat that. Inputs?
Chrisrenee,
Hmmm, interesting. I'm going in for more blood work in a month so we'll see as well. My oncol wants to see me monthly until further notice. My cancer antigen test numbers dropped and he was please in seeing that as well. Said we were headed in the right direction. My oncol. didn't mention MRI tho, but he did mention another cat scan in March depending on my blood work for Feb. I suppose and to see if the nodules in my lungs are shrinking. I do know my sternum tumor went down in size considerably. Oncol. was pleased to see that.
Others?
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Thanks for that info on milk thistle. Apparently it has to do with estrogen.
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Isn't it funny how many things we used to be able to eat or drink effects us so much now?! I am extremely happy that I was able to drink my first beer in 8 mos. Ok so I only had 1/2 of it but that was all i needed.
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I read several articles on milk thistle and they are conflicting. The estrogenic component is found in the flower and leaves which isn't used in supplements not in the root which is used. One article said that the study which said it was harmful used dosages much higher than would be used in hmans and another study said that milk thistle has been beneficial in breast cancer so I guess you just have to choose what you want to beleive and look at the sources.
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I tend to lean towards plant estogens being ok and the xenoestrogens to be the dangerous ones. I wish they would just find out instead of guessing at it or assuming that all estrogen is bad.
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I just started letrozole today, after a year of tamoxifen and an oopherectomy in November. Wish me luck!
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Oaktownmom here's wishing you all the luck you need. Hopefully you will have few SEs and it will work well for you.
Love n hugs. Chrissy0 -
I just started taking Femara on January 12 after nearly two years on tamoxifen. I was very fortunate in that I had relatively NO side effects on the tamoxifen - a few hot surges but that was about it.
Can I possibly be having side effects after less than a week on Femara? I had the strangest leg cramps last night and the joints in my fingers were "stuck" for lack of a better explaination. After opening and closing my hand a few times the joints moved just fine.
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Doctors will tell you that there's no way you could be having side-effects that soon - but what you're describing certainly sounds familiar....
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I got the foot pain almost immediately, in the first week. My doctor insisted I must be mistaken, because, he claimed, it takes 6-8 weeks for SEs to show up. Sure, sure!
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Thanks for sharing your experiences and information. My dr has taken me off letrozole and put me on aromasin. I guess I am off to find a new thread.
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Sue2010, I got joint aches after about days I recall--lasted for maybe a couple of days and then went away--it was very immediate but fortunately did not last. I had no SE with tamoxafin and I am finding hair thinning is the only one on letrozole (also had some UTI issues that went away)--but we are all different. Good luck with it.
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Thank you all for the quick replies.
Hopefully, the side effects will not be too intense. I have to admit, I most fear my hair thinning, but considering the options, it's a small price to pay.
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Sue, my husband says my hair has thinned some, but I haven't actually noticed it myself. My hair definitely did get more brittle, so I no longer have long hair. (I actually think my hair hasn't thinned, but that my husband misses my long hair....)
I've been really whining about side-effects on a different thread, so for those of you who don't visit that thread I'll tell my latest experience.
We spent 5 weeks in Hawaii, I had contemplated taking a letrozole "vacation" during that time, but after discussions with my oncologist chose to continue the medication. I am SO glad I did, as my experiences were eye-opening. After about the first 3 days I found that that I could walk MUCH more freely, morning pain was gone. While I was there I continued to improve. Hubby and I figure that about 75% of my aches and pains disappeared. Then I came home to Seattle. The first day or two I was pretty much OK. By day three I was starting to ache and on day four all I did was sit on the couch and cry I was in so much pain. I'm slowly adapting and am certain that within another week or so I won't remember what it was like to be without it (there are certain advantages to the lousy memory the drug induces....
)So, here's my thoughts on the situation:
Hawaii was WARM. Each day was in the mid-eighties. Here it's been in the twenties and thirties.
I got a LOT of sleep. I probably slept 11 hours a night. Here, not so much, as I'm back at work.
My eating was about the same, as we were in a condo and I did the cooking, just like at home...
Stress was less - after all it was vacation (though there were some familial issues that beat out work stress in some respects....)
I swam almost every day for at least an hour - and that felt GREAT.
I'm now attempting to get more sleep each night, and hubby is looking for a sauna to put in our basement. I'm also strongly thinking of retiring next fall so that I don't have to do another winter here.
All in all, I believe that the two biggest contributers to the reduced pain were the warmth and the sleep. This may not have any effect for others, but that was my experience, and I thought others of you might find it somewhat interesting....
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Gumby, sounds good except for the sauna. Saunas can trigger LE.
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Gumby, leaving today for ten days in caribbean I will see if my experiences mirror yours. I hate this wet WA cold.
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have a great time pt. I just got back 12-30-12 from 7 days in the Caribbean.
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Hi Gals! hope your all doing better and/or hanging in there. I've been following your posts for a long time as my Onc said he was putting me on Femara, but now has put me on Tamox instead... now I'm trying to wrap my head around that. I only had a TINY bit of estrogen (weakly positive) in my tumor, so haven't found a forum for Tamoxifen yet, not like this one, where its mainly about that drug. I'm not sure if I want to be on them or not. I had/have so many other SE's from other illness's/diseases & left over added fatigue, that my 1st pill left me almost incapacitated, and I just don't have time to deal with all the SE's right now, even if they're short lived. so will try to find a thread/forum about them. Thanks for being so awesome! I've enjoyed reading & sometimes posting. Blessings to you all!
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Cher I know there is a Tamoxifen thread (s) cause I was on 1 for awhile when I thought that was what I was going to be taking
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There used to be a tamoxifen thread for sure, as I was on it (tamoxifen) for six months and used to visit that thread (for ME the tamoxifen SE's were much worse than those I've had on letrozole...)
PT - have fun in the Caribbean!!! We're thinking of taking a trip there in April or May - or maybe go back to Hawaii again.
Momine - do you know why a sauna would trigger LE when just plain hot weather doesn't??? Where could I go to get more info?
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Gumby, even plain hot weather can also do it. My PT told me to wear my sleeve in hot weather (by "hot" I mean 35-40 celcius and up, 95-105 fahrenheit). I am not sure what the problem is exactly, i.e. how the mechanism works, but I was specifically told to avoid hot baths, hot tubs and saunas. Your surgeon's office ought to know or a PT with a specialty in lymphedema and cancer patients.
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Hi Ladies: just thought I would pop in here and say that I have been on Letrozole about ten months now, and apart from thinning hair, which is starting to come back now, I have no side effects. I am however, in that small minority of women who lose weight with Al's ,
but my anti-depressant gives me an appetite, so I'm able to control my weight.
Just thought it would be good to hear from someone who has had little to no SE with this
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Hi ladies. I scanned thread but didn't see this but may have missed it. Does anyone have itching with Femara? I take mine before bedtime and within 10 minutes or so my legs itch to the point of me scratching so hard I leave marks.
Like most of you, I have minor aches in the a.m., takes me a few minutes to get going. And suffer from leg cramps almost nightly. I won't even go into the night sweats!!
Have a great day.
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