FEMARA
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I am waiting until after my cruise to start Femara because I don’t want to have muscle, bone, & joint pain on all those walking tours, nor do I want a slowed metabolism (or, conversely, nausea & heartburn) with all the pasta, paella and pizza (where it was invented) that will be presented to me. My MO said it’s ok to wait until after the holidays, but I’ve never been tempted by all those holiday sweets and carbs, so I’ll compromise and start right after I get home.
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My head is starting to hurt thinking about all this stuff. My GYN just put me on Fosamax even though my osteopenia is very mild. She left the decision on taking it up to me, but I was afraid NOT to take it. At the same, my MO agreed to change me from Tamoxifen to Femara in hopes of reducing my depression and mood swings. He had wanted me to stay on Tamoxifen because of the osteopenia. Then one night I lay awake worrying about the side effects of Fosamax. I don't want to take any more meds than absolutely necessary. So I emailed my PCP who is schooled in integrative medicine. She had already started me on a special calcium/other mineral supplement and strontium. I haven't heard back from her yet. Now, there's the issue of strontium and blood clots. I read where the type of strontium involved in the European studies (strontium ranelate) is not available in the US so I don't know if the risk applies to what I"m taking (strontium citrate). Sometimes I feel like, as Windingshores said, my goose is cooked, and I might as well just stop taking all of this crap and cast my fate to the wind. So much for living a healthy lifestyle! LOL!
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My MO has told me that studies show that although cholesterol levels may rise while on Femara, actual "events" i.e. heart attacks and strokes do not rise statistically. I have cut out butter, replaced with a plant sterol type margarine and am trying to eat fewer animal fats generally as I don't want to take a statin.
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2Tabbies, I would love to hear what your doctor says since I ordered a big bottle of strontium (citrate) before I heard about the clot thing. I just took the first one to try it out. So sorry you're feeling down, there are good days and bad in anything. How does your blood work look? If you are taking a lot of stuff and your blood work is good, that is something.
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Marijen, I actually didn't ask my PCP about the strontium issue. I only asked her whether she thought I really needed to be on Fosamax. I do plan to ask about the strontium in a follow up message once she gets back to me. My blood work is currently ok relatively speaking. I'm not having any tumor marker tests or anything for breast cancer. My MO says they aren't reliable so who knows if I've got some nasty little tumor cells somewhere. My RBCs are always a little low because of the lymphoma that I have. That also causes my IgM levels to be high. Really high. Like 9 times normal on the last test. But with this lymphoma, they don't "treat the numbers." They only treat it when you have symptoms that are problematic. So far I don't. Coincidentally, the chemo I had for bc also knocked the lymphoma back temporarily, or my IgM would be even higher now. I'll let you know when I hear from doc on Fosamax and/or strontium.
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On the statins and high cholesterol: I had familial high cholesterol and took statins for 15 years and then stopped because of joint pain. I lowered it naturally after that by eating a bowl of oatmeal/porridge every morning and cutting out most dairy products. I usually put an apple in the porridge, some walnuts or almonds and soy or almond milk. I take a calcium and vitamin D supplement and magnesium.
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Has anyone been to Ask A Patient? Medicines are rated by patients taking them.
Here is link for Femara
http://www.askapatient.com/viewrating.asp?drug=207...0 -
My PCP goes by the latest research that shows that for women with low Framingham scores (<10% chance of a CV event over the next 10 yrs), high cholesterol is not predictive of a CV event--and that overall, lowering cholesterol levels (whether by lifestyle or medications) has had no effect on population CV morbidity or mortality rates. My HDLs are freak-of-nature high, giving me a Framingham score of 3. So no statins for me. (DH, a cardiologist, thinks they should put statins in the drinking water. They’ll agree to disagree).
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My cholesterol increased and I started taking chlorella supplement which reduced it again. I also Eat alot of green veggies and fish.
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Marijen....i checked out the link. Yikes! Pretty depressing. So far I haven't had any bad SE's from Femara. Hoping I'm one of the lucky ones. How are you doing on it so far?
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so far I have considered myself lucky and have had no significant SEs...but I have a persistent cough, not a bad cough, but I can't shake it. My PCP has listened to my chest and says it sounds clear. I'm now wondering ifis as a SE, I read that a cough is on the 'list'. It's almost like I have to clear my throat all the time, not a chesty cough. Anyone else experienced anything like this?
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I'm ok with sides Nash54, but... I'm concerned about what's going on inside that I can't see. Estrogen is a needed hormone, affects the heart, the brain, the tissues, the bones. Estrogen in moderation should be the norm. I'm thinking all of my problems - osteoporosis, heart, and cancer could have been avoided with a simple estrogen test now and then. I asked my endocrinologist (for my osteoporosis) why aren't menopausal women getting their estrogen checked and his answer dodged the question and said that Femara would take care of it now. But but... why do they wait until we're diseased? And now like I said it's being cut off to every cell in the body, that can't be right. You look too young to be menopausal.
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Marijen...thanks! I'll be 61 this month. I actually went thru menopause at 43 and was on HRT for about 10 years.
I saw this book today....looks interesting.
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: ) Well you look Marvelous! : )
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I had a really bad cough lasting for about two weeks not that long after starting letrozole, it's completely gone now.
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That reminds me my throat was really dry in the beginning. One day I was talking to a neighbor and I started gagging. It was definitely the Femara
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Marijen, I had to stop reading those reviews of Femara. I haven't started taking it yet. I'm finishing off my Tamoxifen prescription first. I'm hoping for fewer side effects, specifically less depression. I won't be on Femara long if I get anywhere near the issues the women who wrote those reviews have. I can't believe they stay on it. There are other options.
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I know 2Tabbies. I suppose that is why the MOs downplay the side effects to start with. At least mine did. There are several others to choose from so that's always a possibility that one may agree with you better than another.
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Well, I hadn’t heard about cough or dry throat with Femara--and I’m a singer. (I switched from an ACE inhibitor to an AR blocker for that very reason). I certainly hope that’s not a SE of the other two AIs. (The ACE inhibitor cough is a function of the drug’s role in the bradykinin cycle involving the kidneys that regulates blood pressure--and I can’t imagine what estrogen or a lack thereof would have to do with that--plenty of senior women who’ve kept up with vocalizing still have strong voices and don’t cough onstage). If an AI means I can’t sing any more I’m going to have to find another way to suppress that estrogen.
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I had a dry irritating constant little cough for weeks and was parched for water every night. Drank gallons of it.
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Chisandy it was just one of those first of symptoms that went away in two months. Mine was from dryness of the mouth and throat.
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I have a dry throat too, especially at night. I've been on Letrozole since August but the cough didn't start until late Oct/early Nov and seemed to coincide with the heating season starting, so I'm still not completely sure what's causing it. I hopefully it goes away soon.
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I have not posted here for a while. I hope every one is doing well! I feel with this letrozole, I am on a downward spiral. I am able to deal with the trigger finger, numb (at times) fingers and creakiness of my entire body when I get up from sitting or lying down. I am also forgetful, and I am so glad to hear others are having that problem, because I was beginning to fear it was more than just a lack of estrogen. If the letrozole is doing its job, then I am glad to stay on it. But I am now wondering at what cost. Last weekend, my right arm started the achiness from the elbow to the wrist, making the trigger finger worse. I have been googling my symptoms and I keep coming up with arthritis. So, I am wondering, can letrozole cause arthritis, and is it permanent? I am afraid the weight gain is bad for my joints, and it is now hard to keep that under control, as well. I hate to complain about all this because I am so grateful there are drugs like letrozole around for us; my grandmother who died of BC never had the benefit of these drugs.
On another note, a friend told me that her MO suggested that calcium alone does not prevent the bone loss. You need enough vitamin D3. I take 6000 mg per day.
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smrvlr...I have been on letrozole since February 26. For the first few months I experienced no symptoms. Then I started with pain upon getting up after laying down for a while which subsided after walking a little while. Now I've developed trigger finger and my thumb and I'm worried about that is that caused by the letrozole or is that something we need to worry about coming from somewhere else? In August I was diagnosed border or the start of osteoporosis in my spine all other areas are osteopenia. I started
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Havetrigger finger both hands from lettozole
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I have had trigger finger from way before Letrozole. Just figured it's osteoarthritis which I also have in my knees. Read somewhere thumbs and knees are the most common starting sites in women. Ugh
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I've been on Femara for a month now. So far, no big side effects other than hot flashes. I feel like I should KNOCK ON WOOD! Lol. I've had hot flash issues ever since chemo. I'm 10 weeks out, so not sure if it's still from that or the Femara or what...
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Chloesmom and CatsRus..what if anything do you do for the trigger finger?
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I haven't done anything for mine, I just thought it was something I have to live with... be nice to find out there is something that helps.
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I think there are only two things to do, one is Tylenol or something. The other is moving the fingers. Maybe heat. A little Ben Gay or that other one ICE? I think someone said gloves to bed. It's worse first thing in the morning, so maybe a Tylenol at middle of the night pee break. I stay away from Ibuprofen and Aleve, because of water retention which is notgood for the kidneys. Niacin makes the body flush which helps with circulation but.... I don't really know about taking niacin.
I think I'll take my own advice, maybe 1/2 a Tylenol about 4am. A little goes a long way.
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