FEMARA
Comments
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I'm having a terrible time w/ Femara. I've only been on it for 5 months. I was fine the first 2 months. Now, I have frozen shoulder syndrom and 24/7 pain in my left upper arm with no flexibility. I'm thinking of stopping the Lupron shots & Femara and going on tamoxafin instead. Will see what the Onc says.
Terri
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The nurse told me to take Benedryl and continue the Femara unless the itching gets worse/turns into an allergic reaction. The onc said this is a common symptom that usually goes away fairly soon when the body adjusts to the drug, but to call them back if there is no change by next week. There's no way I'm messing up my whole weekend by being half asleep with Benedryl -- I'd rather be itchy, but will take it at night and see if I can get a little more sleep.
Harley -- I hope the itching and red sores are gone now that you have gone back to using ALL for your laundry. Trigger finger seems fairly common with these drugs, so you should probably mention it to your doc.
ibcmets -- Have you tried Arimidex or Aromasin yet? Maybe one of them would be a better fit for you.
-bonnie
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Thanks, Bonnie
My onc. wouldn't care. I guess IF it gets worse, I'll call him. But it's not too bad right now. I know, famous LAST WORDS...
Hope your itching gets better. I don't think MY itching was related to the Femara, since it didn't start til I was on Femara for 5 months or so. I've been on Femara 5 1/2 months... UGH... Not sure if I can do it for 2 1/2 more years!
Good luck to you!
Harley
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I have the trigger fingers too, three on my left hand and one on my right. I live in Australia and its so interesting to see how you Americans are faring with Femara. I have been on it for nearly 2 years and am just having a break for 3 months. (supposed to have a knee replacement in the meantime) But my knee pain has improved so much and also all the fibromyalgia symptoms which have plagued me, and the nausea but not the hand swelling pain and little nodules on my palms where the fingers join the palm.
Does anyone else have these they feel like toothpain when you touch them. Have decided to skip the knee replacement now and have my second breast removed and maybe a reconstruction instead. Then its back to AI's but onc says he might try Tamoxifen. What is the go do you ladies think?All the best
Paulien
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I have been on it since December 2009, was fine in the beginning then the aches and pains started then the nausea then nothing it all went away. I am having problems with my left arm, seems to have no control of it sometimes..I am a 1/2 empty person so of course I don't think that it is working cause of the twinges where the tumor is on the right side. Have to go to the onco. Tuesday but no scan for 4 -6 months he said and the last one was March....who knows..
Sandy
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I have been on the Tamoxifen for about a month now and I seem to be tolerating it much better than I did the Femara or Arimidex. I still have the trigger finger and problem with my left arm and the neuropathy in my feet, but it is better.
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Hi Ladies,
I haven't been on in a while. My left shoulder is killing me, I finally started taking ibuprofen and it seems to help but not for long. I also get the different aches in different places all the time. I don't think anybody tells us about the severity of the side effects because then nobody would take the darn yellow pill! The Dr.'s do blow you off whenever you complain, so it really isn't worth it any more. Not sure how long I'll take this but I started in November 09 and hate it!
Kelley
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Jane, glad to hear you are somewhat better. We all gotta do what we gotta do!!!
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My .onc wants me get zometa treatment every 6 month She said that taking zometa also helps 25% less chance of breast cancer returning. I have some bone loss since last bone scan
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I had my first cholesterol test since I started Femara last June and it has gone up 30 points. My doctor hasn't called yet but I do expect him to. I've lost 13 pounds and 30 inches so I would say the increase is due to Femara. Not quite sure what else I can do since I already tried statins and had a bad liver reaction to them. Any suggestions?
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Is anybody's hair falling out?
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I've just started taking Femara like 3 days ago and when my onc started me on it he told me that if I had any issuses with it to let him know and we would try a different drug. I see him every six wks. so I just have to wait and see.
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blondiex46: I'm not having any hair loss issues from Femara, but I remember a couple ladies posting on previous pages about that as a SE they were suffering.
Laurie_R : Good luck with the yellow pill. Hope you are one of the lucky ones with minimal to no SE
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Blondie
Yes my hair line deteiorated rapidly until I used Regain(ANA Rogain or Hair Back) I was told that I would have had it when I went into menopouse chemo and then Femara just speeded thing up.
Take care
HH
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no hair loss issues for me after 9 months on Femara.
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Ive been on femara since the end of January 2009 and have not experienced hair loss. My stylist says it is thicker than before it all fell out (and it was really thick before).
kristy
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Hmmm...I really envy those of you whose hair is nice and thick after chemo and during femara. My hair returned ever so slowly and it is very thin on the crown (whereas it was beautiful and thick prior to this horror story!). I started femara a month after chemo (did not have rads) and so femara's SE of thinning hair managed to take hold. Haven't shaved underarms in 2 years (yay!!) and leg hair is very hard to find. As for eyebrows - well, I did find a good pencil by Revlon, and am now using a gel called ecrinal to try to encourage my eyelashes to become more visible!
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I have been on Femara since february 2009. I have the hot flashes and muscle pain but all in all has been mostly manageable. However the pain intensified the past two weeks and for the last week or so it has been my left leg. - I cannot walk without limping.Today something gave out in my left knee (almost like a crunching) - the worst pain and I can no longer put any weight at all on my left leg. Went to ER- they x-rayed and found nothing. I am bandaged , immobilized, have crutches and pain pills and am to see an ortho MD Thursday. My onc says it is not due to femara (I went on a "Femara vacation" beginning this past Friday ) because it is not symmetrical (in both legs) ! What else can it be? I have no broken bones, I have not fallen or had trauma to the leg>...
I just believe it is the Femara - has this happened to anyone else?
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I would like to thank all the girls who posted about taking the Femara at bedtime. I tried that for 2 weeks...found that I was having a hard time getting up in the morning. (I am one of those who hit the floor running!)....so I moved it back to after dinner....7ish. Works so much better! I am back to getting up before the alarm and doing much better during that day. I am a BIG fan of an afternoon 20 minute nap and still try to do that everyday. I learn so much from all of you on BCO. Thanks for making my life one step closer to sane again.
Hugs!
Robin
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I am going off of Femara..
(we;ll see how the next drug serves me).Mary 5454 - I would suspect Femara... i have had many new arthritic issues during my year of Femara. .. particularly when a joint is used more than often. hopefully rest an immobilization will fix it for you.
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Has anyone lost weight while taking femara and lowered their cholesterol?
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Nanna-that's a big "NO" for me (started Femara Nov '09). Haven't changed eating or exercising habits (in fact probably do better on both those fronts) but have gained about 7 lbs.
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Hi Nanna,
My onc also wants me to start Zometa 6 momthly infusions however my husband's insurance company will not cover the cost as they say it is not yet considered "standard care" in Ontario so it looks like that will not be going ahead at least for now. I have come to the conclusion that certain things happen for a reason and that if I was meant to take it then everything would have gone through smoothly.
I haven't posted for a while as I had to have emergency surgery at the beginning of June for a twisted bowel which turned out to be as a result of the oopherectomy surgery I had in Feb 2009. My husband and I were told that I wouldn't be able to make our vacation to the UK and Europe but luckily for me I made a remarkable recovery and I was able to go. We had a brilliant time with family and friends and I'm sure the vacation did us both the world of good.
I have started taking Femara at night and I am finding that I sleep much better now, although that could also be due to the jet lag, we only got back to Canada on Monday evening this week.
I also believe that the aches and pains are much improved due to the lowering of my stress levels. I really do notice a dramtic difference both with the aches and also the hot flashes dependent upon how stressful my life is at any given time.
I do worry about being told I have early stage osteopenia and not being able to have the Zometa, I have a family friend who has osteoporosis I see how much she suffers but may be things here will change or we'll find another solution to the problem. I have considered stopping taking Femara to see if that slows down the progress of the osteopenia but I'm still in the thinking stages. It sometimes feels like a double edged sword we walk everyday.
Love to all, take care and keep on offering the help and support, it is greatly accepted.
Gaynor
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Okay, well an update.....I was on femara for 5 months. I started having pretty bad swelling in my lower leg and feet as well as numbness in my fingers to the middle of my palms. And SEVERE joint pain all over. I decided to stop taking it on my own on May 21....so I have been off for a little over 5 weeks. The numbness in my palms has gone away, but not my fingers. I still ache about the same....I see my onc on Jul 12. I know he's not going to be happy and will want to try me on another AI. I really can't see doing that unless my current symptoms go away. I would think starting another would only make the symptoms worse. I know they are different, but don't they all cause bone loss and bone pain? Any thoughts appreciated....
Joni
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Hi
Nanna I lost 10 pounds It can be done with strict diet.
Gaynor ask for Vosamax it is a weekly pill prescribed for osteopenia may not be as good as Zometa but it should help the BMD
HH
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Joni, I hear where you are coming from, it's hard for many of us to take one of the ALS.
I tried Femara and did quit, the oncologist wants me to try Tamoxifen, and said it does not cause bone loss, a big plus for me since I already have osteoporosis. The joint pain could happen, and I think there are a few other SE's - why don't you read up on Tamoxifen and ask the Oncologist about it ?
Best of luck to you
dsgirl
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Hi Girls....I always read your posts, because my Radiologist AND my Oncologist wanted me to try Femara.....I have taken Tamoxifen for 6 months, with very few SE's....But from reading all I could, & researching it, I was really afraid to try something "new".....I know that Tamoxifen is better for your bones, whereas the ALs cause bone thinning. At MY age, I don't want to lose anymore of my bones than I have to!
I'm almost 73, but to read about the "severe" problems with Femara, I am asking my Oncologist to just keep me on Tamoxifen. In fact, the Onco just called & wants me to get the Cyp2d6 test, to see if I am metabolizing the Tamoxifen....I guess that would be the decision maker... So I'm going the 19th. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can stay on the T pill! 0 -
OK-here's my ignorance shining through. I was under the impression that Tamoxifen was to be used by pre-menopausal women. Is that not the case? Well obviously not if Chevyboy is taking Tamox, unless you have the fountain of youth accessed & are indeed pre-menopausal! If that's the case, where can I attach my hose to that fountain?
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I've posted before on this thread. Been on femara since April 2009 and had the aches and pains. It got real bad in March of this year. I'm now seeing a rheumatologist for it. I also found I was Vitamin D deficient. I've been spending more time in the sun here in Florida this year and taking a supplement. I have to say for the last 3 weeks, I have not had to take any ibuprophen for my knees where I was taking three, three times a day. Not sure if it will come back. My doc thinks I have pseudo gout in my knee.
Also, I've not had any problems with my hair. It is about like it was before chemo.
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Not ignorance Eph, just that darn confusing. My second onc. wanted to take me off Femara, and put me on Tamoxifen. I didn't answer her, because, being post-menopausal, I didn't really WANT to. She said to think about it, because of my bones (osteopenia) and fewer se's. She also said that it would have the same effect, that some older women do really well on it. I stayed on Femara.
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