FEMARA
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I take them all at night. 20 of them. yuck. lol I am suppose to take calcium and extra vitamin d in the morning but I rarely get that in. don't fuss. I have a very hard time swallowing the calcium. Wish I didn't. Thinking about trying the Carmel chew ones. Didn't like the chocolate ones.
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Thanks for letting me know, never know what to do it helps drs. are not good at telling you how to take .I am not very good at asking when I am in the office seems like I am spaced out or forgetful I asked nurse about being so forgetful and she laughed and said chemo brain and I asked the dr. about it and he just looked at me like duh. I have gained 30 lbs. since cancer but not saying its all from the femera because I quit smoking to. You can get scared smokeless. And I thought I had tried everything !0
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jrnld28-FYI, until you hit 50 posts, you can only post on various threads 5 times in one day (or so I've been told) you can private message as much as you want. click on the person you want to "talk" and there will be a place to click that says something like "send private message" and then it's just like you are e-mailing that person.
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Thank you.
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EPH - 3
Thanks for the good thoughts. Today is second day. I changed patch this morning. Was able to even blow dry hair, still some pain. This better work, Femara has not affected me in any other way.
Hugs,
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I'm brand new. Am taking Femara to try to shrink my tumor before surgery. Been on it for one week. I'm wondering if anyone know if it's allowed to use Vaginal cream for dryness that includes estrogen. I'm guessing not, but it seems like Drs. used to say it doesn't get in your bloodstream like HRT. Thanks for any advice.
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no hormonal products is best, from what I've been told. A good high quality vitamin E oil can help with dryness and pose no risk.
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Thanks, I forgot about vitamin E.
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I use Vagifem, a vaginal suppository. It has recently been reformulated so that there is even less estrogen in it. I had my blood tested for estrogen levels before taking the heavy, initial "loading dose" of vagifem. Then I had my blood tested again, and my estrogen levels had gone down.
In fact, there was a gynecologist on Dr. Oz recently talking about the safety of this for breast cancer patients:
http://www.doctoroz.com/blog/lauren-streicher-md/vaginal-estrogen-women-breast-cancer
She said (in part): One study which was published in a medical journal (Climacteric 2003; 6:45-52) followed 1,472 breast cancer patients who routinely used vaginal estrogen and were found to have a LOWER recurrence rate than women who did not use vaginal estrogen.
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Thanks, Texas. That is a very helpful and hopeful article. I have printed it and will show it to my oncologist and see what he says. Thanks again for your help.
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Yes, thanks so much for posting that article. I will be showing my onc, too. I am so tired of being so dry down there. Sometimes it even hurts when I am just walking normally! I don't know if it is my underwear rubbing against dry spots, or if it is skin rubbing against skin ( lol--this is probably TMI!) but all I know is that it hurts!
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thanks for the info on Vagifem. I tried it a year ago and was too nervous to stay on it. Now I am so uncomfortable that it's time to try it again -- or try something to combat the dryness, discomfort and recurring UTI's. Anyone else on Femara with recurring UTI's? What a pain (literally) to get these about every 2-3 months.
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I have to add that I also have frequent UTI's now. I never had one in my life till the Femara, so know for sure that's whats causing it.
I will be bringing the article to my next visit with my Onc. We will have lots to talk about.
I do have a question, have anyone of you had neck pain and trouble chewing? These SE's have been rather bad this past week.
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I have started taking Femara at night, it's been three days. For those of you taking it at night, how do you feel during the day?
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Saw my onc today. Was talking to her about aches and pains and she told me to take 2 week break from femara. To see if it was my problem. I told her i have had fibromylagia. She said when i came back in 2 weeks if staying off femara helped she would change to another medication but what i have read they all the same so why change Anyone had any luck changing and not getting aches and pains. Then she said she put me on cymbalta for fibro. So guess wait and see
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That's part of why I really don't say much to my oncologist about aches, pains or other concerns. Their answer is usually to prescribe another medication, and I'm always concerned about each medication having its own side effects. That's just me, and I understand that some of Femara's side effects can be horrendous,making a second medication entirely necessary. I just hope I don't get to that point.
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mjb-I take Femara @ night-I feel so much better during than day than when I took it in the AM-When I took it in the AM-I had to take power naps pretty much daily to get through my work week. I hurt like crazy in my joints. Taking it at night has lessened the fatigue by major leaps & bounds, joint pain is somewhat better & it helps me sleep at night (sort of)
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I have been on Femara now for three months and think I am tolerating it pretty well. I have always taken it at night and think it helps me sleep also. My aches and pains seem to develop later in the day, mostly stiff leg joints. We live in a house that is a virtual stair master so evenings can be a little difficult. We recently spent some time visiting friends in Arizona who live in a typical Arizona ranch house. After a couple days, I started thinking, WOW, no stiff joints! Recently say my ONC and I told him I was willing to tolerate these achey joints without any further drugs for now. Trying to stay active as much as possible and have started swimming again. I think that helps alot.
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Hello all,
Not many people mention my second worst reaction to femara which was nausea. (Mental fog is the worst!) But several have mentioned antidepressants. I was so sick to my stomach for the first five months of femara, I thought I would not be able to continue. Then I started taking a little cocktail of low-dose antidepressants including wellbutrin, prozac and elavil. I mean really low doses. The lowest they make. And I am feeling much better. I think it makes sense because nausea is a central nervous system problem and these drugs go to the CNS. It's been three months now and I have almost forgotten about the "morning sickness" feeling. I think these meds may help the bone/joint problems a little too. I haven't gotten smarter though.
Thanks for all the information.
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Has anyone onc changed from one medication to another and not get same aches and pains. I am taking femara and she wants change to another for aches and pains. From what i have read they all have same effects?
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Hi Everyone,
Just went to my Onc last Friday. I mentioned before how much bone pain I was experiencing since taking Femara over a year ago. Last Oct., it progressively got worse and my fingers were curled in the morning with pain and stiffness. So....he took me off the Femara until April, then I will try taking it every other day. If that doesn't work, he said we will try the Generic Arimedex. He said, it is all about finding that right balance that works for you. I also have to up my Vit D. Maybe, if you are having the pain level I was experiencing, you can ask your Onc about taking it every other day. I did ask about the Natural Estrogen Blocker, Myomin and he said there is not enough studies on it and he would not take it. Good luck in finding what makes this drug work for you. Be incharge and try anything to make your quality of life manageable during this part of your journey.
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Hi Nana, I was starting to suffer greatly with the Arimadex and was changed to Femara almost 4 months ago. Since the change, I have had little or no side effects so a change just may help you to. The way my onc explained the differences was that even though they all do basically the same thing, they are put together differently and so have different effects for different people.
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Well my onc said she wanted to change me from femara to arimadex( ANASTROZOLE) Just found out that i can get this one for 90 days $10.00. Where as i was getting femara for $1435.78 for 90 days. So needless to say the cheap one I will get . I
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I have been on femara for about 9 months now, and I noticed all of a sudden, my hot flashes are more intensified again, much like they were at the beginning. They had never gone away completely, but had lessened in the number and intensity of them. Why are they back? Did this happen to anyone else?
That reminds me, nanna, that I need to put in my refill request for my femara. My onc told me that the pharmacy would probably be calling to switch my prescription to the generic arimidex for this next refill. I'm not sure if I like the idea of having to switch, but I guess I'll wait to see what happens when I put in the request. The cost is not an issue to me--I just pay a $5 co-pay, but I know the insurance will care.
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Hi Ladies,
I took into consideration your helpful comments and decided to change to taking my meds at nighttime. I am not feeling the exhaustion till later in the day, say around 1 - 2pm rather than 10 or 11am, an improvement although work is still affected. However I have also noticed that the hot flashes are more intensified and the aches and pains more noticeable, but I think this may be because these are happening earlier in the day now instead of when I am sleeping. Seems we are all stuck between a rock and a hard stone trying to figure out which SEs we can deal with and which we prefer not to.
I will talk to my onc when I have my next check late March. I am glad I will only have to take these orange pills for another 3 years, I have more or less decided not to take them past the 5 years as they have already affected my bone density adversely. My next bone desnity scan is early in March, last year I was early stage osteopenia, if it has declined further I am not sure what I will decide to do. My Mom took alendronic acid (bi-phosphonate for bone degenration) and had bad experiences taking this stuff orally so I am not sure I want to go that way, we did discuss Zometa last year but that is not covered by OHIP here in Ontario and is expensive, it is also not covered by our health insurance as it is not considered "standard of care" of Stage 3B here. I do not wish for the C to return however I am concerned that having osteoporosis is not a place I want to go either. I guess only I can decide whether the chance of recurrence is something I can deal with.
Well thanks for listening. Hope everyone has a great weekend.
Gaynor
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Hi,
I started taking my Femara at night (thank you all for your advice) and it definitely helped the s/e for awhile until I started taking Actonel. The bone and joint pain is as bad as ever - sorry to say.
Does anyone know the actual risk of not taking ht versus taking ht? For example, am I 25% more likely to have a recurrance, or is it more like 2.5% if I stop taking Femara? I am early stage and had a double mastectomy. I had vascular invasion but no positive lymph nodes. Also had very narrow margins. My doc said most women like the aches and pains of Femara because then they know it is working. Well, I know it is working 24/7. Rolling over in bed wakes me up. I can't wear shoes and I can't wear my snow boots (originally very comfortable). I can only be in a store for 10 minutes or so before I have to get off my feet. I fall in and out of my car....and I still work, although mostly from home now.
I am kind of thinking that exercise and diet play a huge role in the prevention of bc recurrance, but maybe I am just looking for a reason to stop this drug. Although none of you know me, I have never been a complainer and I have a very high pain threshhold.
Thanks for listening. I think this website is the best place ever.
Sheila
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Hi Sheila
Wow your side effects sound just like me! I also am not a complainer and have a high tolerance for pain. I have been on Femara for 17 mo. After a year the pain got worse and my fingers were curled in the morning with pain. I would have to take Vicodin at night for the pain and Ambein to sleep. Then it got so bad I started to take Vicodin during the day. By Dec I said forget this and I went off everything until Jan. I felt like my old self within 5days and it got better each day being off it. It was difficult to start back in Jan but I figured I would gut it up until my Onc appt in Feb. I went last Fri and he took me off unit April then I will start again but....only one pill every other day. He said it should eliminate the majority of the bone pain. He also told me to up my Vit D to 2000mg. This will help too. So I am willing to try anything at this point but I was not about to live with this level of pain for the next 4 years. Ask your Onc to try something different like maybe every other day or 1/2 pill each day so it is not so strong. Who would have thought these little yellow/orange pills would cause so much grief. I am loving being pill free right now. Do you have an Onco Score? That is a huge factor in reoccurrence . Mine is 18....right on the border of low to intermediate. Please let me know how you are doing. This is a great website with amazing women to vent to and help get through this time. Hugs to you!0 -
Morning gals...I'm new to your thread, but I know my Oncologist is going to prescribe Femara next month for me. I've been on Tamoxifen for 14 months, & everything was going great, except I lost my hearing. I KNOW I'm older...like 73, but it just happened 3 months ago, & kept getting worse. My last pill was last Sunday.
I'm going tomorrow to Costco for another hearing test, & hopefully hearing aids. I found 4 different web-sites talking about Deafness & Tamoxifen... One mentions 72% of women over 60 taking Tamoxifen, will have hearing loss. But it is sooooooo hard to get the Docs to believe this! Even reading the reports, isn't enough for them to buy it!
They said I have "nerve" damage, & it is irreversible ....But I just wish I could prove them wrong... and that my ears, would magically "open up."
So I guess I'm asking, at my age, what can I expect on Femara...I'm already taking lots of vitamins...It is easier on you if you take it at night? I'm used to the SE's of Tamoxifen, & found you GET them, but they don't hang around long... except for the hearing problem.
Thanks for any suggestions....
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Chevyboy: sorry to see you hear...hearing loss-Gemine Criminey Crickets!!!! I take Femara at night-helps me best. Have joint pain, but so far livable. I'm almost 57 so I'm not sure what you may be facing, but hopefully it will be ok.
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Oh Thank you Eph3....I saw your picture on another thread, & I'm so glad you answered! I was thinking about calling the Oncologist tomorrow to ask about taking 1/2 the Tamoxifen....instead of the whole pill...It's just hard trying to convince any Doc that this happened, even with seeing the 4 papers on Deafness & Tamoxifen. But I'll find out...
Yes, I read that on your other thread, that most women take it at night! Is it very expensive? I know my Insurance won't cover it like it does the Tamoxifen, because it is not generic....Thanks!
Edited to say...it was THIS thread where I saw your picture... Also, are all you guys post-menopausal?
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