FEMARA
Comments
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Thank all of you for your input on side effects while taking Femara. I have been on (and off of it taking a few weeks off here and there) for almost a year.
Has anybody had vision problems like vertigo while taking Femara?
Just recently, I had severe head pain on one side of my head causing my GP to order both an X-ray of my skull and an MRI of my head. Very scary, but no mets were found and no reason for the sudden pain. Now comes the vertigo. What causes this? Does anybody know?
Hugs,
Mimi80 -
Mimi, I did have this SE for a little while and it was very disturbing while it was present but thank goodness it only lasted for a few weeks and then disappeared as quickly as it came. I also had the severe headaches and like you had the head CT done just to make sure there was nothing there to cause the vertigo and headaches.
Vertigo is caused by an interruption of the tiny hairs within the inner ear such as an excess of fluid or not enough fluid. Once the balance has bed restored within the inner ear the sypmtom disappears. Femara is known to dry everything out and that may just include the balance portion of the inner ear.
Hope your comes good soon.
Love n hugs. Chrissy0 -
I haven't had vertigo with letrozole, but have had it in the past with ear infections. Not fun!! I did have the sudden stabbing headaches (if that's what you are talking about). But they didn't last long. I didn't bother the doc with them, as they started shortly after an appt and by the time my appt came round, they were long gone.
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sbab - can I offer advice? Make a decision to take your antibiotics, have x number of weeks without any meds then start femara. Start gently every other day if you prefer for 2 weeks then build up to every day, adn see if you get any side effects. You will get hot flashes but these you would get in menopause anyway. If side effects get too much stop taking it......and try another one.
Even if you took chocolate pills with your current beliefs about it your body would be on alert, so give yourself a chance.......and a break! OK?
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Hi Chrissyb,
Thank you for your reply. I am very happy to hear that your vertigo was found not to be caused by anything bad and that it went away.
After the tests done on me were found to be normal, the vertigo started up. It isn't painful at all just very strange. Maybe it isn't caused by the Femara at all since I was off of the AI for a few weeks to rule it out as a SE. It comes and goes. Your explanation of the inner ear hair drying out makes sense.
i'm hoping to have the same blessing of it just going away. Yesterday I found exercises for vertigo treatment online that I am trying. Today, I fell for the second time in a month just trying to do things that are "normal" for me. Lucky for me, I didn't break anything.
This is so hard because I just love to be active but the vertigo is really slowing me down so much that my life is just not worth living anymore. I just wish I knew where the vertigo was coming from and if it will go away. Forgive me for this little pity party.
Blessings,
Mimi0 -
Dear Gardengumby,
Thank you for the good advice! I'm trying to think positive here. My ENT is away on vacation but I will see him when he returns to check for a possible ear infection. My fingers are crossed!
Hugs,
Mimi0 -
you'll be fine. We (or at least I) have a tendency to jump to the worst possible conclusion about everything because of what's been going on. I felt just friggin' fine before I was diagnosed, so now when I feel somewhat off about something, some part of my brain jumps to the "Oh my GOD, this must be something terrible" conclusion, when really it's probably something I wouldn't have even paid any attention to pre-cancer diagnosis.
I'm trying to train myself to not do that, but it's slow going, as I start getting scared that maybe THIS time it is something...
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Milehighgirl....the side effects that went away were trigger finger in 2 fingers, and severe joint pain. I still have some aches on 1/2 a pill but nothing like before.
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Jacee, are you going to stop femara/letrozole at 5 years?
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As far as I know, I will be stopping then. I had a 13% decrease in bone density at the 2 year point. I am frightened at what it might be after 5 years, so really don't want to continue after that.
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Lily55 thanks for advice. When I finish antibiotics next week and see RO I will strongly consider trying letrozole starting out with 1/2 dose and increasing down the road. I love all the ladies here as everyone is so willing to offer or suggest strategy to solve concerns.
Chrissyb you are just the best with such a positive approach to everything. I don't post often but I read daily.
I am not usually so adamant about not taking meds when prescribed but this one has me spending way too much time thinking about it. There are so so many negatives clear across the internet on this one that it has thrown me for a loop. I keep measuring the positives vs negatives and darn the negs so outweigh the pos. I know the biggest pos is keeping this monster we have all shared at bay and the more I think about that the more I know what I have to do.
I think that I still have not accepted that I actually was diagnosed with BC and a touch of denial slips in and enforces my desire not to take letrozole. I do wish I had insisted on Onco dx but BS said no not necessary with early stage and most insurance does not pay. I was so shell shocked and just let her convince me. In hindsight I now know I should have insisted. Have a great weekend everyone.
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mimi8,
I too had terrible Vertigo for a good few weeks, especially when lying down. Everything spun. I was just about to make an appontment to see my GP and it entirely disappeared. I hope yours does too. It is truly horrible.
i don't think it was the Femera, but I guess it might have been.
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Wintersocks,
Thanks for your reply. I'm so glad your vertigo went away. I pray that this terrible vertigo goes away like yours did. In also going to see my GP to see if my ears might have some problem. I've had this for over a month.
Hugs,
Mimi0 -
I had vertigo for about 4 months on and off. Doc wanted to do a CT scan. My other doc said no, too much radiation. Then they wanted to do an MRI, but I decided to see an ENT. He gave me some exercises to do and within a week the vertigo went away. Everyone now and then I get a wave of it, but then do the exercises. I'm supposed to do them daily.
The vertigo has something to do with crystals in the ear which can become dislodged and then group together in one area. The exercises help to keep them where they are supposed to go.
I truly sympathize. My vertigo was so bad at times that I couldn't walk my dogs, was afraid to shower or drive my car.
But as I said, it did take a few months. Maybe if I had seen the ENT sooner it would have been cured earlier, but I hemmed and hawed; talking to my cardio who wanted the CT scan, my internist who wanted to do the MRI. I finally followed my gut instinct and went to the ENT.
So glad I did!
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Dogs, that is cool. What are the exercises like?
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Hi all. I'm new to this thread and I am so glad I found it. I've been getting a bit dizzy and almost lost my balance a few times lately and I think it may be the femara. I'm pretty lucky; other than hot flashes, I don't really have many side effects. The places where I have bone mets ache, but that's probably the mets, not the femara. I also am a bit stiff at times, but I have arthritis in my knee and foot and probably other joints as well.
The biggest thing for me right now is absolutely mind-numbing fatigue. I saw the post above about natural meds and am going to give it a try. I am still working and starting a new job in 3 weeks, so I need to get past this tiredness and get my energy back!
Best wishes to all,
Terre
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Terre, welcome again...saw you on another thread.
I have been having dizzy spells off an on for a couple of years. It started after beginning Tamoxefin. Had a ton of tests and it was blamed on stress. I was told relax and it will go away. And it did. I suspect it was the drugs and my body needed to get use to them. Now I am on Femera and it's back. I havn't heard to many women complain of this so I assumed it was the stress or one big ass tumor in my head. Since I have no other problems, head wise, I guess I can assume it's the meds...I'll still continue to monitor it. It's comforting to know I'm not the only one.
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I had the dizzy spells for a couple of months some time back but they did resolve themselves. I've been on Femara for almost three years. Doc did some scand and other tests but nothing showed up......he put it down as SE.
Hope your dizzy spells resolve quickly.
Love n hugs. Chrissy0 -
I think dizziness is a known SE of letrozole/femara, as "This may cause dizziness" is printed in big red letters and stuck on the side of my bottle each time I get the prescription.
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Jaycee, what is "trigger finger"? I haven't heard of it before....
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your finger(s) gets stiff and won't bend. It hasn't happened with my fingers, but does with my big toe.
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Yes. It's as if the joint just freezes up. Mine would actually get stuck at about the 90 degree point.
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has anyone tried arnica? I've been using the gel for my shoulder and hip and my husbands back, and it seems to work. So when I went to the health store yesterday I saw they had arnica pellets and I took them today. I swear, today was the least pain I've had since I'm not sure when. I'm going to not take 'em tomorrow and try to see if it's the arnica or something else. I'll let y'all know the results of my decidedly unscientific tests.
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Garden. Do you normally have arthritis? What are your aches and pains.
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I have arthritis in my right shoulder - have had bones spurs removed from it in the past, and possibly need it again - I have an appt with my GP on Saturday, and we'll take it from there. My aches and pains - oh my - since starting letrozole my thighs and forearms ache so bad that sometimes I just sit and cry. My knees are stiff - they don't really hurt, though - they just don't want to move. In addition my feet and hands hurt - of course my shoulder, and sometimes my lower back (I have a herniated disk L4-L5).
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Garden....my mother suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and took arnica cream for years.
She was also on medication but would massage the cream into her hands and feet, her worst areas. In Glasgow where I come from, we have a very famous homeopathic
hospital and my mother went there for years. She adhered to their very strict regime
for the first ten years and was pain free, but slowly she started back drinking coffee,
eating oranges and tomatoes and other things she was not supposed to. Her pains all came back but by then she was getting too old to follow their regime.
One of the things she was told to do was have an Epsom salt bath three times a week
and then go into a very hot bed (she had an electric blanket) and sweat it out.
PS....that's where she found out about the Arnica cream.0 -
Garden, Jacee, I do have the trigger finger problem but I thought it was arthritis....however, it did start after I started taking hormones so I am not sure if that's the reason or just old age :-)
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Thank you, Scottie
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I was on Femara for almost 2 years (NED !!!) until lastmonth... I took my pill at night and although I did have hot flashes,initial bone pain , etc... HOWEVER compared to side effects of other drugs i remained NED and had a great quality of life .. BUT my ONC upped my ZOLOFT prior to beginning treatment and that helped.
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Why only 2 years Rosie?
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