FEMARA
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It is so amazing to read others posts and feel so connected with people you have never met. Honestly all these feelings we have in common..
about the prunes.. I had Costcos years ago and liked them and since eating them for my SE.. have only eaten Sam's or from the grocery.. yesterday I bought Costo's really don't like them as well.. don't know why maybe just not as sweet..
The high cholesterol thing.. Man this ticks me off.. I have worked my buns off to get mine lower and it will be tested again in January.. then they will be putting me on meds.. for it, PITA one more thing with leg cramps etc..
sometimes I just get tired of all this stuff....
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Hello Ladies,
I can't get involved in the prune conversation as IBS/ diarrhea has always been my issue.But if anyone has a good remedy for that besides Imodium I'll listen intently. My issues is whether I'm experiencing real SE's or just being a hypochondriac. I've been on Femara for almost a year now. I've experienced mostly hand pain since I started taking it. Yesterday I was out in the elements ( around 30's ) for about 4 hours at a football game. By the time we got home I ached so bad I thought I was going to pass out. My back, especially, hurt like hell. Is this what I can expect with Femara and cold weather or am I just looking for a good excuse to get out of snow removal for the next 4 years?
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PugMum
We are all so different in what we can tolerate and what kinds of SE's and tolerances we have. I am still sitting on the fence, reading checking posts, asking questions about Femara.
I have been chatting with another survivor on the ACS chat, and she swears by tonic water with dark cherry juice to alleviate the bone and joint pain associated with Femara.
I read on the tonic water bottle that it contains quinine, and that is also an ingredient in the "leg cramp OTC medication my aunt used to take, so why that would help on bone joint aches I am not sure, unless cramping is present as well and we just notice the aches and pains.
Regarding prunes, I already drink prune juice, (it's my laxative), not sure if eating prunes would be better, I started out with prunes years ago but found it more convenient to drink the juice on a daily basis.
I have not started Femara yet, have the pills, have a prescription for more, just can't seem to find the DAY to get started. I am 3 weeks post rads, and I am just beginning to feel human again, feeling better every day, energy returning etc. and with so many other health issues in my life I just don't want to start Femara as of yet.
I have osteoporosis, high BP (and a coronary stent implant), hypothyroidism, high cholesterol and arthritis, and feel the femara is gonna make everything sooooooooooooo much worse, I am going to at least wait until after the holidays to make a decision.
My oncology doctor sees no problems with my taking Femara, just tells me we will deal with them with medications if they come, I am so tired of taking prescription meds, and don't want to add any more. I stopped trying to have him see it from my point of view.
I am stocked up on prunes, tonic water, dark cherry juice and Femara however, so maybe New Years day ????
dsgirl
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Still eating prunes - but not sure if I'm noticing any difference yet. Going to keep going though - it is definitely worth a try to get rid of all my aches and pains.
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Still eating prunes - but not sure if I'm noticing any difference yet. Going to keep going though - it is definitely worth a try to get rid of all my aches and pains.
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Still eating prunes - but not sure if I'm noticing any difference yet. Going to keep going though - it is definitely worth a try to get rid of all my aches and pains.
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still eating my prunes here too but have to say I am about to toss the ones I bought at Costco.. really hate them.. Like Sam's or dole better.. even western family.. also not sure they are the same product as I am not feeling as good.. in my mind or that I am not eating as many as they really taste bleck..
DSGIRL.. I can honestly appreciate not wanting to take Femara.. but you should ask your onc what your % for possible re occurance is if you don't.. Femare took mine down to 10% from like 40% for me that was worth toughing it out! Certainly not happy about it but much better than the alternative..
hugs
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I have been on a femara for a year now.I have some joint pain and still have hot flashes but,not as often. I hope i can make another 4 yrs on it. I thank GOD for helping me through and the love and support of my family.
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Harley,
Yes you'r right about Tamoxifen being there longer, but since I thought my doctor would take me off Femara and swith me to Tamox my biggest worry was that I would not metabolize it.
I have some bone loss with Femara, (or caused by lack of exercise since diagnosed) and cannot take Zometa because I've had too much dental problems since chemo, jaw necrosis scares me as I had to get teeths pulled out twice and a root canal also lately. Cannot affort anymore root canal, and with Zometa dentists here won't pull a tooth out. Also the others biphos. would be to hard on my stomach (also jaw necrosis). So if they take me off Femara and I am not a good metabolizer I'm left with nothing. (here in Montreal they wont do the testing anyway).
As far as bone density I know you can increase it by doing more exercices, I'm not able right now to do a lot, but eventually will. This is why I started the prunes, they are supposed to help with bone loss. Cholesterol can also be helped I think with oatmeal, I know for now mine is just at the limit but I could also maybe control it with diet.
Good luck with your decision, the only thing I can say, is you could try Femara and if things get too hard switch back to Tamoxifen.
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Ladies,
I saw my onc. today, and came out with a script for Femara. He said that he's fine with me waiting til Jan. 1st. to take it. I still have almost 90 Tamoxifen pills left...
still scared about taking it, and will be getting a bone density test next week. I know I was supposed to get it soon, but what's the RUSH??
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I have been on Femara - and so far so good. No side effects to speak of, except for some hot flashes! I see the dentist next week to check if I can have zometa - my onc. would like to start that twice a year.
Harley - don't know what the rush is. Chemo put me into menopause and my onc. ordered the metabolizing test for tamox. which showed that I was not a great fit, so femara it is. My onc. seems to prefer it but I am not sure why.
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aprilgirl,
I have been taking Tamoxifen for 2 years now, and my onc's plan for me was to have me switch to an AI after two years on Tamoxifen.
Good luck with Femara! to both of us!!
Harley0 -
I took the jump today and started the femara pills. I am not sure why this is so hard after chemo, radiation and herceptin, you would think the pill would be "no sweat". I do worry about the side effects since i had just about every one with chemo and herceptin. i even had some they didn't know about
. After reading the posts I will be going to Sam's today to buy some prunes!Really glad this post is here, while I hate to see others in the same boat it's sure nice to have company!
Karen
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Hated it, hated it, hated it! I was on the stuff for two months and had absolutely no quality of life (constant hot flashes, joint pain, hair loss) while on it. But that's my exerience, I don't want to discourage anyone currently taking Femara or considering it.
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Harley, I know it was several years ago (aug 94) but after chemo for breast cancer, the dr. put me on tamoxifan. Took it for app 8-9 months and quit. It was killing me--I had every side effect possible. Cancer was discovered again under my left arm in March of this year and have been on femara since July. Side effects are not too bad; but, think I cracked a rib last week. I fell onto the side of the bathtub. Had my sister to wrap me with an ace bandage--this is basically what the ER would have done!!
I bought prunes today - Sunsweet. ..will give them a try. anything to prevent bone loss.
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gauleyeagle,
Oh, no! So sorry that you are fighting bc again. Sorry about your cracked rib, too... sounds painful!!
WOW... Now I am even MORE frightened!!
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Hi Ladies,
Well here I am again, tried Arimidex and decided the switch wasn't worth it. The pain thing was about the same but the constipation was getting beyond a joke, I could go a full week between you know what so I have switched back to Femara as for me the constipation wasn't an issue with that.
I did ask my onc about have a bone density scan when I go back to see them in February as it woudl be a year since I started taking the AIs but she said that it wasn't normal practice here in Canada unless they had identified bone density problems in the initial scan, before I started. Also everyone keeps mentioning about cholesterol levels but I haven't had any blood tests in months, they don't seem to check for that. Is there any symptons I should be looking for? I apologise if I sound a little unknowledgeable about these things but since I came bak to work last March I don't have a very much spare time to investigate things or keep up to speed on what's the latest trend out there. I rely on my onc to steer me through things maze but maybe I am missing out on important ways to manage side effects. What's the thing with prunes? I haven't taken prunes since I had a problem after my oopherectomy with my bowels shutting down, I was like to exorcist with projectile vomitting and that with prune juice is not a pretty sight let me tell you - for some reason I have been "off" prunes ever since.
Well time to go and get some work done. We are on the run up to Christmas and a week's vacation in the sun of the Domincan Republic, kind of a cancerversary - a year since I was done chemo, tomorrow is one year since I started radiation - lots of additional anniversaries to celebrate these days.
Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas & a Healthy and Prosperous New Year!!!
Gaynor
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Gaynor,
Hello. There really aren't any symptoms or signs of high cholesterol levels, and that is why we have to get them checked. It's just a simple blood test, a lipid profile, but you WILL have to fast before taking the test. I can't believe that your drs. don't order these tests as a rule of thumb.
Merry Christmas to you, too! Here's wishing everyone a very HAPPY, HEALTHY, and stressfree NEW YEAR!!
Harley
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Lillian1, as I read your comments I know that is why I am so hesitant on starting in January like I am suppose to. My hot flashes are so bad now I am afraid of what they will become when I began the medicine. Has anyone already have bad hot flashes then started the medicine? If so what happened with the flashes? Any input would be nice to hear.
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I had hot flashes before I started and they continue...usually 10-12 a day...a couple of which are during the night.
Edit to add - New SE - trigger finger right middle finger - yay!
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sunnyfornow - my onc. prescribed Gabapentin for my hot flashes, as they would wake me up often at night and really effect my sleep. It also helps minimize the hotflashes during the day, so I really only have a few in 24 hours. My sister is a pharmacist and said it is a common drug for bc patients and hot flashes. I always double check things with her!
As much as I HATE to take another prescription, I hope to stop taking this in the spring.
edited to add: My hot flashes started mid way thru chemo, and went away completely with the gabaoentin. I went of the gabapentin and they came back - right before I started femara.
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Gaynor,
I'm in Canada too, Quebec, I get yearly blood test from my PCP and he also prescribes (I asked for it) yearly bone density test to see the bone loss from AI's.I asked my onc about bone density test and he would also prescirbe them . Prune are suppose to help with bone loss. Hope this helps,
Welga
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Gaynor -- ditto to what Welga said. I'm in Ontario, as you are, and your GP should be ordering cholesterol tests and a bone density scan -- precisely because these are possible SE's and because there are medications to offset them. Take along the Femara insert; unfortunately some docs aren't as familiar with AI's as they should be.....I guess they think it's the oncologist's job??
Cheers, Linda
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Aprilgirl1 thank you for the info,I will be giving it a try. I had neve heard of this medicine so I am quite interesed in checking it out. I have tried exercising and drinking lots of water and everything I have heard of for self help. I really wanted to find something that might help before I started the meds. Along with everyone one else I will be trying the prune thing too. I like them so that won't be a hard thing to do.
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After taking a break from femara.When start taking it again does the s,e stay the same
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I was on Arimidex for 1.5 yrs and switched to Femara. In 4 months started serious hair thinning. Anyone else having serious hair thinning on Femara?
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Started Femara 3 weeks ago for a recurrence of BC with the tumor under my pectural muscle of the same breast that I originally had it in 14 years ago, getting another opinion on the 6th but also have an appt with the ono on wednesday to check the status of the medicine to see if side effects have kicked in yet, as of yet none so far but I see that others have them....
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If you have AFLAC(cancer policy), be sure to turn in your Femara receipt to them. It is considered oral chemotherapy--no wonder my hair is so thin!
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I am still very new to this group but I do want to add my experience, short as it was, with Femara. Before my rads I was told that I would be taking Tamox but when I saw my Onc afterwards she switched me to Femara. She went very quickly over a very short list of possible side effects and then added that the full cost was $300 per month!! I'm am with Kaiser through Medicare and the Part D drug benefits apply to me. Even though my copay would be $35 I would run out of benefits about 3/4 of the way through each year. She said she tries to get samples but I would still have had to pay for my other meds. I filled the prescription (3 months) without fully thinking this through and took it for 2 weeks before I had bunch of symptoms start all at once. I had muscle pain in my buttock(getting worse), left neck and trapezius, right shoulder, intestinal cramping(once every day like clockwork) and finally, increasing hissing(tinnitus) in my ears. (I already have arthritis in my fingers and that gets worse off and on) I finally started looking on the web for information and was so shocked at what I finally found. I quit at 16 days and informed my Onc that I would have absolutely nothing to do with this or the other AIs. It has been two months now and my symptoms have not let up at all. I have had my hearing tested (it's ok)but there is nothing to be done about the noise. Now I have to see a GI doctor about the abdominal pain. I just can't understand why these symptoms continue when I'm not taking the drug. I agreed to take the Tamox but am not going to start until my current symptoms have been treated. I am 66 and I don't want to spend what might be 1/4 of the rest of my life suffering from the effects of this drug. I took hormone replacement for 10 years and that is very likely what encouraged this cancer. I have been off that since March with the resulting hot flashes,of course, but they have diminished greatly except during the 16 days of Femara.
I feel very good about my long term chances even without AI therapy (but trying the Tamox.) Thanks for reading if you got this far in my story. I feel great sympathy for those of you who are brave enough to continue dealing with side effects. This is a great site and I will be continuing to read and learn from all your experiences.
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Ok, it's been a month on Femara for me. I do have some joint pain, but what I find most disturbing is increased short term memory problems and focus difficulties. Is anyone else experiencing this? I have read some research reports, but the memory/focus issues are not "widely accepted" or researched yet. We'll see what happens there. Happy New Year to you all! Jessica
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