FEMARA
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I have been on Femara for about one month now and have had no problems with it. My RO did suggest that I take Co Q10, stay on my Aleve, Calcium, Glucosamine, Vitamin D and Fish Oil and so far, so good. I remember seeing a thread for taking metformin as well. I take that for my diabetes. My husband says I am a walking pharmacy. Who isn't after BC?
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Nomatterwhat, I already take all those pills as well, so hopefully I will do well. Thanks
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I've been on Femara then letrozole for a bit over 5 yrs with no 'nasty' SEs from it. When I started Femara, it was not available as a generic so was on the original for a bit over a year. In the yrs since, I've been on several different manufacturers of letrozole with no issues.
We are each so unique.
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I've been on Femara since mid-summer. So far, so good (knock wood). I had a lot of joint pain on Arimidex, to the point that I had trouble on stairs and I really could not exercise. I am now doing jazzercise with a little stiffness. The difference for me, is night and day.,Good luck! I hope it works for you..
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Anyone have a strange taste in their mouth from Femara? Thanks,
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I've been on Femara for several months with no odd taste in my mouth. If you have a problem one day after starting it you might want to talk w/your pharmacist. I could be a bad batch. Possibly letrozole produced by another company would suit you better.0
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Anyone know if we can take Viviscal, hair supplement, with L
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Morning Scottie! Hope all is well. My oncologist told me absolutely no herbal products when taking Letrozole. I always check with my pharmacist before I take anything. So give it a try as the product may not contain any ingredients that will interfere with the drug.
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Called the drug manufacturer and told them about taste in mouth. They said there was a 5% report from a trial group that reported funny taste. At least I am not crazy!
So far so good otherwise. I had such horrible arthritis pain from Arimidex and Aromosin that I had to stop them. Hoping this will suit me long enough to stay on it 5 years.
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I have been on letrozole for 35 months now. Yesterday, I accidentally discovered that I have, over the course of this time, probably missed about 40 doses of this medicine. When I reached for the medicine bottle to take my daily dose, i noticed the bottle was from February 1, 2015, and I had just received my refill for March. So I counted the pills in each bottle and I have 60 pills!! 2 months worth! I don't know how this happened, because I am very diligent about taking my medicines, but it appears, maybe my memory serves me badly. Regardless of how it happened, my new "terror" is : By missing these doses, what damage has been done to my risk of recurrence? Has anyone been advised by their oncologist on the possible risks of breaking the routine of daily doses? Have I inadvertently put myself in a bad situation?
I have put call into my MO, but she is off for the next few days. I spoke with the nurse at her office as well as my pharmacist, but both defer to my MO. So in the meantime, I would appreciate your knowledgeable responses. Thank you.
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I have missed a few, which made me get a pill box that I check carefully now. My breast cancer was 100% estrogen positive (you didn't say if you are) which makes it pretty important if I am going to make this medicine help me. That being said, being at my current weight is also not very good in the estrogen realm, since I was told that fat tissue can house a weak form of estrogen called estradiol. So I am kinda more obsessed with that for right now....
I am sure your MO will call you soon and will just share with you when I told my oncologist I miss an occasional dose he told me to set a system in place to decrease chances of doing that and that it is NOT remedied by doubling up or anything so NOT to take a make up dose.
Best wishes to you and hoping you continue to stay well and healthy, this is a nutty disease no matter what we do and we are all doing the best we can and that is all we can do along with enjoying life and not letting it dominate our thoughts every moment.
Boy that can be hard sometimes.0 -
That is just about a pill per month. I wouldn't worry about it. I have been on a break for a month, and talked with onc yesterday, and he is allowing me another 4-6 weeks vacation. I know these drugs are life savers, but my body just doesn't agree with them. severe pain. He has given me at lest a month break from each of them I have tried, arimidex, tamoxifen and now letrazole. And you can see how scary mine was, and i was also almost 100% estrogen receptor positive...
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Read that Femara good for ILC but MO says she starts with Arimidex which Iwas put on by BS before BMX to try to shrink tumor. MO says no reason to change yet. Thoughts
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I've just come off Femara and my Onc said I could have a break for 2 months without too much worry. She said a lot of women come off them that long due to surgery and there are no problems?
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Have you called the pharmacy to be sure there was not a mistake in how many were sent actually Feb 1? I get my letrozole every 3 mths so perhaps your script was read wrong and you got more than you were expecting. I have been told not to worry IF I missed one occasional but to miss 40 since Feb 1 - I'd be trying to figure out what happened. It's not necessarily that you 'goofed'.
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I have no side effects from Femara, for which I am very grateful. I am also a walking pharmacy but when you get medical conditions, they have to be treated. I have friends my age who take absolutely nothing. I am so envious, but we don't get to choose our genes.
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Honeybair - not sure your age but I am 68+ and definately not a 'walking pharmacy'. I take letrozole for ER+. I had upper back arthritis (from many yrs of sport injuries) long before IBC. I keep it under control most of the time with my Chiropractor but I do have Vicodan as a back up/just in case. I do take generic Fosamax for osteoporosis but I have a large family history of it and was osteopenia long before Chemo. That's basically all I take other than Vit D, Super B, and K (potassium).
Is it always our 'genes' or do we also have 'something' sometimes to do with our health issues? I don't know - I am a very active 'outdoor' woman and even with having fought IBC, I am a lot 'healthier' than many who are a lot younger. I have a SIL who is 10 yrs than me that has been a 'couch potato' and smoked 'like a chimmney' who is very advanced COPD.
Just some thoughts - mine.
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It took me 3 AIs and 2 MO to get to Femara. I too have ILC and heard the same thing. Horrible arthritic pain in wrists and thumbs from Arimidex and Aromosin. Still with me, may never go away. 😞 So far no more of it from Femara but it is early.
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Robinblessed. What was the big deal? For me MO's point was it wouldn't work better and if the Arimidex had no SE yet why mess with it. She said there were some butweren't enough studies to say Femara was better with ILC but if I find them I will bring to her attention
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Robinblessed. What was the big deal? For me MO's point was it wouldn't work better and if the Arimidex had no SE yet why mess with it. She felt there weren't enough studies to say it would be better for ILC but if I find them I will bring to her attention
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enjoyeverymoment, Tomboy, Kicks and fizzdon52: Thank you for your replies. I was looking to confirm that some oncologists do approve "breaks" from taking these meds without causing major harm to our overall treatment. When I posted my inquiry this morning, I was in total shock after the discovery of my pill surplus . . . it really threw me for a loop. But after taking some time to really think this situation through, I think I have stepped back from the "crazy" ledge!
Being post-menopausal and suffering the effects of these very meds, my memory has been challenging me lately. But as I sifted through my records and my memory bank today, I began to piece it together.
I know that I have not missed 40 doses since Feb. 1st. I pulled my prescription history and studied it thoroughly today. I think I have an idea as to what might have happened. As Tomboy states, the missed doses probably occurred about one/month here and there.
So why have I ended up with such an accumulation of pills at this point? Well, I receive automatic refills, and sometimes the refills are being filled earlier and earlier with each passing month. I know at certain times, they were refilling my rx and I still had anywhere from 10-14 pills from the previous refill left to take. With the occasional missed dose here and there, I guess I built up a lag. Plus I travelled last month and accidentally left my meds at home. Subsequently, I had to get a small refill (just 7) to take while travelling. That right there gave me extra pills.
I almost made myself sick this morning with worry and needless ruminating, until "my other self" had to slap some sense into me. What ever the reason for my "surplus", the bottom line is this: I need to go back to being more diligent about putting my meds in the pill box, which I do use periodically.Kicks: When I spoke with the pharmacist, she suggested that it is possible they miscounted and I received 60 pills instead of the usual 30. They have miscounted before but only by a small margin, not by double the amount. I'm not sure I am buying that, because I think I would have noticed such a large refill.
Again, thanks for the responses!
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Chloesmom, I think the studies on femara were to compare it to tamoxifen. In other words, it works better than tamoxifen. Arimidex is the same type of drug as femara, so your MO is most likely correct on this.
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Having your pills in a pill box helps to show which pills have been taken. I find that it helps me know what day of the week it is too.
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Oh I agree that if you don't have SE from Arimidex then by all means keep taking it! No need to mess with success! I just couldn't tolerate it. We are all so different that is why there are more than one choice. 😃 hope you keep doing well! Better than the alternative.
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I was on Arimidex for 14 years with very little side effects other than a hot flash about 11:00am everyda.. Because I am 67, it is hard to determine if my aches and pains are from oral chemo or just due to age. I use the treadmill five days a week for about a half hour and also use hand movements and the workout seems to help my overall physical well being. Both middle fingers can get frozen in a closed position at any time and it is work to bend them out straight again. I have been having strong pains in my hips for the last couple of months. Again, not sure if age or Femara.
In April 2014 I had heart valve replacement and my CA15-3 count went up. My Onc said that some clone cells were probably set free because of the valve surgery. He took me off of Arimidex which had worked very well all those years and put me on Femara. My count is now down to 31 and had always been at 29. I am steadily losing my hair and can't find anything that seems to work and help. I am trying a new hair product that is supposed to help. Time will tell. I asked my Onc if I could reduce the dosage or take every other day and he said no. If anyone has any tips on reducing the hair loss, I would appreciate hearing about them.
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doublegam,
I notice taking Biotin really does seem to help, yeah, my hair is thinner one year after starting Femara, not sure it was the Femara, menopausal component or the stress or what other factors also, but hang in there, I think in the big picture hair loss and weight gain for me are still hard to deal with, I looked pretty dang good prior to having cancer (not that I appreciated it at the time) but I also am so grateful to be here and trying to focus on the positive like all of us. I do think the stress of surgery can thin hair, also I am trying really hard to keep my life in balance and not let annoying situations rob me of my joy (walk away and let people be ignorant who do not know better lol). Hang in there gam gam. Cindy
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Hi- I have been on Arimidex since June 2014 and my cholesterol has elevated and we are waiting for second round of tests and if still high, I may be switching to another AI--am wondering if those who had minimal issues with Arimidex cholesterol being==a silent enemy) how did you feel with the femara? Did you have bone aches, etc.?0 -
Redheaded1- I didn't have hardly any SE from Femara but a slow steady weight gain, have been fighting tooth and nail to lose it with slow success, but it can be done. Yikes. Also, I did not have any thinning hair or joint aches or a mild cholesterol bump (previously normal cholesterol) until just recently, and I have been on it a year. I am still feeling blessed to take it overall but would love if I could just take one pill one time and never get cancer again..... Until that is invented I will be on Femara for my ten years I suspect. Good luck in your search.
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Redheaded - I've been on it for 5 months without any real issues. I do have to watch my weight - it's low but I find it easier to put on weight since starting Femara. My cholesterol has recently jumped up but since HDL and triglycerides are really, really good I'm not sure what my MD's going to suggest. I am not losing any sleep over it, since some of that is also hereditary.
I did have a bit of breast tenderness at one point that was probably due to femara but that's settled down. I had some hair shedding (such as usually happens in the fall) and dryness but that's also passed and could well have been seasonal as well.
I'm fortunate in that I KNOW my body's responding very positively to Femara so I am happy to put up with minor issues. Like Enjoyeverymomoment, I would LOVE to take one pill and call it good for the rest of my life but until then, I am fine with femara. If only every treatment for this were so easy to take!
I hope you have a good experience, too.
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kicks, I do agree that lifestyle is important in trying to keep ourselves healthy, but in my case, every condition that I have except cancer are all genetic. Still, I am grateful that medications are helping me to live a healthier and hopefully longer life. Just never dreamed I would need so many different types of meds at this point in my life. I don't have the awful illnesses such as arthritis, MS, Parkinson's, early onset Alzheimers, heart disease, lupus and many other terrible diseases and I am so grateful.
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