FEMARA
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2Fun -do you already take anything for acid reflux?
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I take mine in the morning and have had no problems. (I had a bigger handful of pills to take at night). I took nexium throughout chemo and it helped with the stomach rumblings. I have done well with femora but didn't with arimedex, mainly headaches. MO says she can't predict why one of us does well on one and not another but she has worked with me to find the right fit. Hope your MO will too.
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Thank you all for your replies. I may try taking the letrozole before bed but I'm not sure if that will help. Lots of mornings I already wake up feeling nauseous so that may make it worse. I guess I'll just have to experiment.
In a funny coincidence, in of the many newsletters I get in my inbox, it mentioned a remedy for nausea is smelling isopropyl alcohol. Apparently they use it after surgery in lots of cases. Don't overdo it but try smelling it for a few seconds a few times. I've tried but the jury is still out.
Faith
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peppermint essential oil also helps with nausea - just sniff
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the only time I had reflux was when I was pregnant years ago.
A really great anti nausea remedy is ginger/ginger candy. Also, look into acupuncture or acupressure. I do not use reflux meds due to some possible negative health effects
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2Fun- you could try some gaviscon for the reflux. It's an acid neutralizer that also forms a foam barrier at the top of your stomach to help prevent the acid from going back up your esophagus. That way any acid that does possibly get through is at least neutralized so it doesn’t burn or do damage.
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I try not to take any more meds than I need to. I now take my AI at noon, so I have more time upright, so hopefully it will not become a program.
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I started Femara a month ago - also taking it at night for the dizziness- didn't want to risk that during the day. Other than mild hot flashes I think so far so good. I worry about bone loss and weight gain the most. I had not seen anything about vision issues so I'll certainly watching for that as well.
My MO - who is awesome - told me it is all about risk management. If my quality of life is impacted then I need to speak up and find something else or understand the risk of stopping - which he said is always a choice and doesn't guarantee cancer would come back. Everything about cancer treatment is about the risk and how much we are willing to live with. I do know that if I had serious impacts with the hormone therapy I would seriously consider ending it knowing I have had the cancer removed and the radiation treatment and with frequent imaging would hopefully see anything very early and just deal with it. Easier said than done no doubt and hopefully I never have to make that decision but my quality of life is incredibly important - I think terrible SE would seem to cause me to wonder if I was doing the right thing.
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Vampeyes, no side effects, THANK GOD! Maybe "cold flashes" but I may change that when spring finally arrives.
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anyone ever had numbness and tingling from it?
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Hi, Femara Ladies!
I was diagnosed in 2011 and have not visited these boards in some time, but I wanted to provide feedback that might help some of you wrestling with this drug. I was on Tamoxifen for approximately 10 months, before I was switched to Femara (letrozole) due to being in complete menopause. Initially, I had joint pain in my knees and had difficulty squatting or kneeling, but eventually that completely went away. My Dr. said it could have been related to age, menopause, or meds or all of the above. I never had the lingering joint pain that some of my friends continued to have after several months of taking the drug. Some things I noticed while on Letrozole were weight gain, increased blood pressure (always normal prior), increased cholesterol and triglyceride levels (always normal prior). However, after discussing these particulars with my MO and my primary physician, I can not say for sure that this was not part of the normal aging process. I had just turned 50 at diagnosis, entered menopause and noticed a whole lot of physical changes in my skin, my face, my joints, my energy levels, etc. I did a lot of research on menopause alone, without all the breast cancer related SE's and med SE's and it seemed as though this was par for the course. So I can not say that all of these changes were related to Letrozole, although I am sure some of them were related and potentially exacerbated by the med. The benefits of taking this drug far outweighed any of the SE's I was experiencing. I completed my five year assignment, and after discussing with my MO, I decided to continue taking the drug for an additional 5 years. I only recently had a change of heart when I was finding it even more difficult to lose weight than ever before. I stopped taking the drug 4 months ago, having completed a cycle of 6 3/4 years on Letrozole. Since I have discontinued it, nothing has really changed, except my BP is a little lower and closer to normal than it has been for the last 3 - 4 years. My weight really has not budged, in spite of dieting and exercise, which tells me menopause is the real bi**h here. I will retest my cholesterol and triglycerides in July, so the jury is still out on the effects on those line items. Hope this helps many of you with questions about the future with this drug. Remember we are all different, react differently to medicines, and age differently. I have many friends who went through menopause and are still skinny as a stick and have no other side effects, so obviously my genes work differently than theirs.
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Hi ladies,
I saw my MO who is willing to work with me on what is best for me, including stopping all AIs if that's what I want. I took letrozole for about 3 weeks before I bailed because I wasn't sleeping and was an emotional mess. I took anastrozole for 6 months until I couldn't take the constant pain. Was on aromasin for 4 months. The pain wasn't quite as bad, but the dryness and fatigue, lack of desire to do anything, and cost drove me to ask the MO for advice.
Between the two of us, we decided I'd try the letrozole again. He says he sees the fewest side effects on it and always suggests it first. I only gave it 3 weeks the first time and the problems I had may have just been due to being totally new to me. I had some sleep issues on the other AIs as well, and am now taking hydroxyzine at bedtime, which really helps.
I know exercise is going to help...I just have to talk myself into it. When you're already feeling exhausted and achy, it's not something you want to do. I'm about to go take a walk. I think Spring has finally arrived!
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Hi Nancy,
I've never heard of hydroxyzine. It's an anti-hystamine? Does it require a doctor's prescription?
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Hi marijen,
Yes, it's an antihistamine that is usually prescribed for itching. However, it is also used for insomnia. I don't have the next day "drugged" feeling that Benadryl gives me. This article is a bit wordy and scientific, but you can get the general idea of why it is used successfully. https://www.mdedge.com/psychiatry/article/64228/sl...
Yes, it requires a prescription.
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Hi everyone...be careful with using Benadryl for sleep. It makes me really hyper and I know of other people that have the same reaction!
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I have that problem too dtad. We all don’t react the same to drugs.
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Just an FYI for those that are sensitive to Benadryl...the active sleep aid ingredient in the Tylenol & Advil PMs is Benadryl/diphenhydramine and many OTC sleep aids.
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so question for all you totally knowledgeable Divas out there. LOL I'm on an aromatase inhibitor and I'm just a bit confused. if an aromatase inhibitor keeps your body from changing androgens (which would include progesterone I assumed ) nto estrogen that would obviously lead to an increased level of progesterone then in your body because some of it wasn't being converted to estrogen. So wouldn't that lead to a higher level of progesterone? How would that affect a breast cancer that was estrogen and progesterone positive? No one's really been able to answer that question for me and I'm just wondering why or how this increased progesterone might affect things. Your thoughts?
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gkbuser- i agree. Docs tend to just focus on explaining why it’s important to block/stop producing estrogen in ER+ BC but never really address what the PR+ status means leaving us patients to think the cancer can still be fueled by PR since that’s what a ER+ result means. In reality that’s not quite the case; here’s a link to an article that explains it in plain terms. Hope it helps!
https://thetruthaboutcancer.com/progesterone-and-breast-cancer/
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Lula73...great post! IMO MOs just do not know enough about female hormones. I've said many times that I think an endocrinologist should be part of the BC team. I researched Elyn Jacobs and actually might go see her. She's in NYC. She believes as I do that not all estrogens are bad for BC. This is the theory behind DIM. I know this is a thread on Femera so I won't say anymore except very interesting!
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On the subject of hormones, a good book to read is “What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Breast Cancer”.
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dtad, what is DIM
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DIM is a group of cruciferous vegetables that is suppose to lower the bad estrogen that causes breast cancer but not the good estrogen that we need for every other part of our bodies. You would have to do some research on the subject. Ive been taking it in leu of an anti hormone from the start. I'm NED for 3 years now. I'm not advocating it for anyone else. It was just the right decision for me. Good luck to all navigating this complicated disease...
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dtad, but didn't you just start up on the blockers again? I thought I remembered that you were going to give it another go. What DIM dosage are you taking?
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Lula, thanks for the informative link.
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I have been on Letrozole for three weeks now.
Periodically, I get uncontrollable itching - sometimes I scratch it so much I bleed.
It doesn't happen every day but when it does I want to crawl out of my skin. Have tried moisturizing but doesn't seem to help. I get the itching on my arms, legs and head. Anyone else have this SE
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Simbody, Yes. I get that SE when I get hot and start to sweat. I find that if I get the slightest feeling of being hot...it starts. Itchy, prickly feeling on arms and legs.
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simbobby- I got that on tamoxifen. Mine started on my back and spread to shoulders, neck, upper chest. Felt like a yeast infection does down below-itch so bad you scratch til bleeding but doesn’t help and you just want to crawl out of your skin and fast. Taking a Zyrtec/Claritin/xyxal/Allegra a day helped but not completely. I still get it occasionally even today about a year after stopping tamoxifen.
Do you remember Lanacane cream for itch? They don’t distribute it in the US anymore but Vagisil has the same active ingredients in the same amount: Benzocaine 20%. It works in seconds to relieve the itch. It actually numbs it so you can’t feel it. I would not put it near your eyes though.
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NotBrokenJustbent...no I never took an anti hormone and don't intend to at this point. I take Breast Defend which has DIM in it. I follow the instructions on the bottle. Hope this help. Good luck to all.
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Simbobby...so sorry you are suffering. Did the itching only start when you began the Letrozole? Itthe anti hormone. ching, especially without a rash can be a symptom of neuropathy. Maybe from chemo or the anti hormone. Maybe you could try some of the neuropathy drugs like Neurontin. Good luck and keep us posted.
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