FEMARA
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Moominmama
Yes exactly the same here, I used to have very thick hair. it makes me feel depressed
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I've just gotten a large hat collection. Not as hot as wigs although I do wear them for special occasions.
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ChaCha57, I had lesions on my palms. Switching to name brand Femara from generic letrozole almost completely eliminated the problem.
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Doing Well on AIs thread:
https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/78/topics/854403?page=40#idx_1189
I was on Arimidex for about 14 months. It was causing previously resolved plantar fasciitis to flare, so I switched to Femara a few months ago. Minor joint achiness and some hot flashes, but SEs are manageable.
I take Effexor ER 75 mg and melatonin. Naproxen as needed.
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wintersocks I hear you. I have developed an obsession with other people's hair and how beautiful it is! Theres a tv commercial with a guy who is the same way about his hair loss - I find it very funny because I completely understand!. There are women who go bald - shave it all off - but I cant go there yet. Hats are a good idea. I am going to look at a better wig too as I cant imagine my hair will improve. I tell myself at least I am here even if my hair is not!!!
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I have concerns that some with grade 3 tumors are deciding if they should go on the AI. Grade 3 is nothing to fool around with, take the AI!
It doesn't matter how many take it without issues or how many have issues.
If you have grade 3 and/or positive node(s) take it! Your doctor can help with side effects.
I feel I am taking a chance by not taking it because I am grade 2! I made the choice based on other medical issues and beingnode negative.
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Hair is definitely an issue but I am developing a large hat collection. Always hit the thrift stores. I did think I looked pretty good bald but I haven't shaved it off yet although I threaten, especially right after I shampoo.
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I will be receiving my last radiation treatment in 3 days, and my MO wants me to start on letrozole the next day. According to my biopsy results, my tumor was only 7% estrogen driven. I'm very concerned about side effects and I just wanted to join this forum to learn more about them. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks everyone!
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Hi Abbidoodle. Congrats on almost completing radiation! I started on anastrazole and switched to letrozole, then to name-brand Femara (letrozole). I am tolerating it well. When I was on letrozole, I developed bumps on my palms -- almost none of that on Femara. Both the generic and name-brand were better for me in general than anastrazole. Keep an open mind about the drug -- you may have little or no side effects.
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Thank you, Miranda 2050. I'm glad you're doing well
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HI Abbidoodle Ive been on letrozole for 5 years...I'll find out in Jan if I am to continue. I think the first couple of months there was some adjustment but overall have not had any major problems. I try to stay active...yoga mostly Best of luck!
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Good Afternoon,
Wanted to reach out and see if anyone has been put on Metformin for high glucose and noticed joint pain better. I'm on femera and my glucose it high and I have heard it helps.
Any feed back helps!
Thanks
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I started metformin after about 8 months on AI's. Primary said there was evidence for joint relief and I was on the border line for high glucose. His comment, "I know you don't want to take another pill so it's up to you." Hard for me to evaluate how much it's relieved joint pain as mine were in pretty bad shape and I have had a knee replacement since BC. I have been able to lose a few pounds when everyone seems to be having trouble holding the weight down with these fun drugs so that's a plus for me regardless of joint pain change.
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I've been following and have learned a lot. Can someone explain trigger finger or in my case, it's my thumb. It locks up during the night and feels like it 'pops' back in place with I move it with the other hand. So sore and today swollen. What is the treatment? Also, what are you using for insomnia?
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For insomnia, I take 5mg of melatonin before bed. My MO just prescribed low dose Gabapentin for my hot flashes, which I also take before bed since sleepiness is a SE.
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Thanks for your input, Nash54. Happy holidays to you and yours and all my fellow breast cancer ladies@
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Has anyone else had skin lesions caused by letrozole/Femara?
I had them a year ago, mostly on my hands, and asked my MO to switch me to brand-name Femara. It worked fine until just recently, when I got the WORST outbreak of itchy bumps, large and small, all over my hands (palms, especially fingers, backs of hands, wrists, all over), groin, torso, buttocks, legs). Mad itching that woke me in furious misery at night.
I stopped taking the Femara and had a Zoom consult with my primary care doc. In the absence of other symptoms, and because I had them before, he agreed it was the letrozole, and recommended Benadryl and ibuprofen, which I'm taking. He said letrozole's the drug's half-life is at least 10 days, so could take time.
Not sure where my AI journey will take me next. The angry red bumps/welts on my hands are unbelievably hideous. They are a bumpy mess. I hope they clear up soon.
I sent my MO this paper about this particular side effect. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4129361/
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Hey, folks, I'm wondering if any of you had muscle/bone pain severe enough to warrant discontinuing the letrozole. I've been on it about 2 years, without much in the way of side effects at all. But about 3 months ago I started having increasingly severe pain that is widespread, including in my lower back, hips, knees, elbows, hands and even the muscles on each side of my neck. It's gotten bad enough that I'm having marked pain at only 1/4th of my normal mile walk, and by the 1/2-way point, I thought I might not be able to make it back to the house. I finally decided to try a week off of it, and after only 3 days off, I can tell that this pain is much better. I guess I should tell my oncologist, but honestly, what's the point, because I know I need to take it for 5 years. I'm worried about breaking a hip, since my osteoporosis is pretty significant, so it scares me when my hips hurt that much when I'm walking. I know exercise is supposed to help, so I'm reluctant to stop walking. Is there any recommendation your doctors have made that really helped with this or is it pointless to talk with them about it? I'm 63, so this seems to be the drug of choice. Thanks!
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I'm 69+ years old I've been on Letrozole (Femara) for over 2 years now and count myself among the fortunate as I have not had any discernable side effects. At one point last year, I developed a lot of hip pain in one hip. My first visit at that point was to my oncologist because I knew he would be able to help me figure out if this was Letrozole pain or something else. (It turned out to be something else in my case.)
My advice would be to talk to your Medical Oncologist. There IS a point in doing so because there are OTHER Aromatase Inhibitors which might not cause the same pain side effects (if your pain is, in fact, due to the Femara). My oncologist had told me early on that we'd start with Letrozole and if I had negative reactions or side effects, we'd try another AI.
As far as osteoporosis goes: I have osteoporosis and so when I went on Letrozole, my oncologist did a couple of things. He increased the amount of calcium I need to take each day. He also increased the amount of Vitamin D3 I need to take. He agreed that lots of weight bearing and resistance exercise is a necessity. And finally, he ordered twice yearly Prolia shots to reduce the bone loss caused by Letrozole. (Sometimes Prolia even reverses bone loss.) My yearly bone scans have either held steady or IMPROVED each year.
In short - I urge you to talk to your oncologist. He or she is your go-to-cancer guru.
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Fairchild, this is just an idea, you might check to see if the manufacturer is different on your latest script especially since you have tolerated the med for 2 years. Might be a slight difference between additives?? Hope you and your oncologist can figure out what is going on.
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I am fortunate so far I have no joint pain with Letrozole. I have been on it only 2 months but have horrible hot flashes. My MO increased my lexapro but did not help. I know effexor can help but I do not want to change antidepressants. Does anyone know of any natural methods to decrease hot flashes? I guess I should tell my MO. I wonder if the other AL's have less SE's of hot flashes. I know hot flashes seem minimal but last night i didn;t get to sleep until 4 am. Fortunately i am retired and dont have to get up to work. The extremely warm weather here and wearing face masks don't help the situation
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Fairchild, I start having muscle+ligaments+bone pain on my right side of the body in 6 months after starting letrozole. My MO recommended me to start Zometa for 2 reasons: 1. to protect bones in case cancer decides to go here, 2. several independent research, especially in Europe have shown to slightly reduce the recurrence. Took me a while to make up my mind and I did it last week. After a day of flu like symptoms, the rest of the days have been great! My joint+body pains are gone. I don't know why. I started letrozole with normal bone density. I assume lots of crap has happened since then. I'm showing my experience in case you want to ask your MO if Zometa would work for your osteoporosis and it may reduce the pains.
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Fairchild and LilyWasHere,
I just finished my last Zometa infusion last week - I had them twice a year for 3 years, starting when I started Letrozole. My MO also said the evidence showed Zometa likely helped fight recurrence and protected against bone loss that the first few years of Letrozole can cause. I’ll have a bone scan in 6 months to see if there has been any loss. I had almost no side effects from Zometa, felt a little slow on day 2 but otherwise no problems.
Lanne
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Hello all - Started Letrozole a month ago. The first few days were OK, but I did have a bit of nausea and headaches, and nose bleeds. Weird. Then I had my final reconstruction surgery from BMX and it almost didn't happen because my blood pressure was incredibly high. Turns-out all my side effects were due to the Letrozole causing high blood pressure. Went off the Letrozole for a month and then started again - After only two days my blood pressure was through the roof! Leg and hip pain/spasms also bad. And nose started bleeding again. Mind you, my PCP had put me on a BP med. It seems the BP med is no match against the effects of Letrozole. Now my side effects are leg muscle cramps/pain, hip pain, neck stiffness, red eyes, and mega high blood pressure. Anyone have any advice on what tomdo
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Wheatscapes, there are 3 types of AI, one of them is letrozole. Can your MO prescrible another one for you to use instead of letrozole?
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I was wondering if anyone here has developed tinnitus? The high pitched sound is driving me crazy. I've never had anything like this before and found some threads on different sites that some have developed this. If you have, has anything helped?
Annie
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I have had tinitus for 4-5 years for no known reason. So the letrozole did not cause mine. My biggest complaint is hot flashes but those seem a little less. Might be to the decrease in temperature outside. I was diagnozed with osteopenia last spring and my biggest concern is bone loss. My MO doesn't seem overly concerned but I as an Occupational Therapist know how disabling it can be. I take suppliments and exercise but am not scheduled for another dexa for 18 months. From reading this thread it looks like many of you take prescription drugs/injections for osteopenia. Any thoughts?
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Quinne, my MO recommended zometa shots every 6 months, not for bones as much as for reducing recurrance even by a small %. I have a question for you: did you have any surgery or only radiation and letrozole?
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I am happy to report that i am in my seventh year of taking letrozole and am still tolerating it well. I also had my bone density scan in September and have no bone loss whatsoever. Considering my age, I feel very blessed.
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