FEMARA
Comments
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dkerler----what kind of pt exercises do you do at home for your shoulders? I am not even a year in yet so I have quite a ways to go. 5 years seems like forever!
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I went to PT for a while for my back. My phys therapist gave me some exercises which do help to loosen up my low back when I first get up in the morning. I am now 4 weeks off Femara (taking a break with OK from my onc). I got up this morning & actually noticed that I feel better, except for some low back pain. I get a 2-month break -- so I am now asking myself, what am I going to do when 2 months end? Go back on the stuff? If I continue to feel better, it will be so hard to start taking the stuff again!!
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I am not taking any more Femara (or the generic). I'm 57 and feel like I'm 87. All my joints ache, my fingers have never hurt before in my life and my lower back is so painful I can barely walk. But meanwhile I'm trying to exercise and eat healthy but it's kind of hard to exercise when it's painful. The hot flashes are even worse. I go from being chilled one second to dripping sweat the next.
I said eff this and quit taking it. My onc won't be happy with me but he's not the one dealing with the SE's on top of the fibromyalgia pain I already have.
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My massage therapist does this slow arm and leg pull. I had to tell her never to do that on my cancer side. It took a while before it didn't hurt anymore after surgery. Also I remember when I stretched to reach for something on a shelf it pulled too. I too am waiting for the time to go off Letrozole...next year in May. But then I think how will I feel knowing my blanket of protection is gone?
I think it's called " being between a rock and a hard place". Sigh.
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I guess the good thing emegram, is that if you go back on it, at least you know that when you are finished taking it that you will start feeling better. I have wondered how quickly the se's will go away. Its something to look forward to.
Artsee, everytime I am in my kitchen I experience the pulling when I reach for things on the shelves. I am a shortie and I have always hated having to drag a chair around to reach things but now its hard to reach even the shelves I used to have no trouble with. Very frustrating, but my doc told me that I am high risk so I will persevere. The shoulder thing was really bothering me because I was having a fear that it might mean something else.
Chiluvr----I wish you the best. We all have our own pain threshold, sounds like you have reached the end of yours. Hang in there. How long have you been taking femara?
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Jacee - I never took the brand name Femara, but have taken both the pink and beige letrozole (mylan and cara are the makers, I believe). Anyway, I took the pink for a month and now the beige for 3 months. I'm not experiencing a ton of SE's. I have dry skin - use more lotion
. Some joint aches, and don't sleep as well as I used to. But - for me - I find it very doable at this point. I don't, though, feel I have a choice, as I had no rads or chemo. (I will also say that my hubby says I'm much more edgy than I used to be.)
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gardengumby- thanks for the input. Heaven help me if I get any more edgy
chiluvr- I understand exactly how you feel. Have you ever considered taking only 1/2 a tablet? I had to switch to that after only about 3 months on a whole tablet. I had trigger finger in 2 fingers, and could barely step up a stair, or on a curb. And getting myself out of the bathtub was next to impossible. My onc isn't thrilled with my switch, but I had to consider quality of life. With 1.25 mg, I still get more than double the .5 mg dose that Novartis said you get estrogen suppression with. It would be worth a try. I have very little joint pain anymore and the trigger finger went away almost immediately. I do have terrible vaginal dryness, though.
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What is trigger finger?
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Ginger-
Definition
Tendons connect bones to muscles in the body. Flexor tendons of the thumb and
fingers pull the fingers into a fist. The tendons are enclosed in a
synovial sheath. When this sheath becomes inflammed it is called trigger
finger.Usually, tendons slide easily through the
sheath as the finger moves. In the case of trigger finger, the synovial
sheath is swollen. The tendon cannot move easily. This causes the finger
to remain in a flexed (bent) position. In mild cases, the finger may be
straightened with a pop. In severe cases, the finger becomes stuck in
the bent position. Usually this condition can easily be treated.0 -
Jacee. Thanks for the definition; I have seen it mentioned quite a bit and figured it was something like that. Is there a way to try and prevent trigger finger?
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Ginger, since mine resolved itself after decreasing my dose, I never had to pursue a remedy. I know some have surgery to correct it, but I'm not sure about prevention. Surely, some others with more knowledge about it will chime in soon.
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Went to onc todayThis was a different onc. Everything looked good till i ask her for refill on my tramadol. She said that i would have get my regular dr. write it for me. They only write for a month or two.but the reason i have the pain is due to the femara and it not my regular dr that put me on the stuff. She said exercise and lose weight . She was rude needless to say i willnot go to her again . If my regular onc is not in i will not go.
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Nanna, some of these doctors should be forced to live our lives, and then see how they feel when they get comments like that. Sometimes I think I should just take a baseball bat with me to the onc office. I actually like my oncologist - but her PA is a pain in the a$$. Take care!!!
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Nanny: so sorry to hear about your visit. There's no reason for doctors to be that way. Why did they choose that profession anyway? Sending wishes for a better day :-)
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So sorry, Nanna, for such a rude response from your substitute onc. Her remarks were certainly uncalled for, and I just wish she could walk in our shoes for a while when our joints are creaking and our body hurts!! Don't let her get your down -- we have come a long way, and we are strong enough not to let callous, insensitive people bring us down!!
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Nanna,
wow, do I hear you loud and clear. What are these doctors thinking? Like you, I have been taking Femara for 16 months now. Before BC, I used 20 50mg Tramadols over a month for treating my 40 year history of migraines. Then comes BC, 5 surgeries, including a DMX with a LD flap (and I have scoliosis), chemo and rads. Hot flashes and aches from femara, back hurts like hell with any activity due to scoliosis and loss of LD muscle.
I need to function and move. I live on 8 acres and do lots of heavy yard work (and love it when I don't hurt). I eat well, don't do alcohol or cig's, try to sleep (aches keep me awake) and yet
when the GP finds out I am taking 20 tramadol every 2 weeks instead of 4, oh my heaven I get the dirty looks. Packaging says you can take up to 400mg per day, that's 8 pills. I at most take two in the morning and usually 2 at bedtime so I can stretch out.
I agree with you. Lets let some of these doctors try and live our now 'normal lives' and not require pharmaceutical intervention!
Can you tell I'm angry?.....and I've done tons of PT and stretch every morning and night and run 30 km a week!
Now what am I supposed to do? Sip on honey and tea for my pain? My husband says my temperament has changed (for the worse) with femara, well, it's coping with pain that makes me a bitch on wheels!
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Awe Nana, as if we don't know our own bodies! I too get either the looks or the comments about the weight issue and I hate it! It makes me so angry that at one time I let fly at one of my docs. He sat there with a very stunned look on his face but I laid it on the line................Don't you think that if I could loose weight I would? It took me three years to loose 10kg and then you put me on a drug that the first se you listed was weight gain.............thank you very much!!! I eat healthy I rarely eat sweets I limit my bread intake, my diet is mainly fruit and veg with very little red meat I can do no more other than not eat at all!.....................Needless to say, he has never commented on it ever again and my GP got a letter saying that I seemed a little upset at my last appointment......hahahahahaha! Me? Upset? noooooooo.
Sometimes we need to give then a piece of what we put up with on a daily basis and the only way to do that is to let fly. I agree with you about not seeing her again and I would ask if there was somewhere where you could lodge a complaint about her bedside manner.....or lack of it!
Love n hugs. Chrissy
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One of my finest hours in life was the day when, at the ripe old age of 28 and newly pregnant for the first time, I went to my first pregnancy checkup with my OB-Gyn... an older doctor who thought he was the answer to the questions of the cosmos... and when I handed him my enormous, economy-sized bottle of high-quality (expensive!) multivitamins, which was new and full, and asked him to read the ingredient label and confirm whether they were okay for me to take while pregnant, he ACTUALLY PATTED ME ON THE HEAD and said -- without looking at the bottle at all -- "Just finish them, dear, and then get some kind of prenatals, it doesn't matter" -----------
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There were enough vitamins in that bottle to last me the entire pregnancy. I needed an answer to my question, not a patronizing pat on my very intelligent head.
I said, "You may leave the room now."
He looked at me like he wanted to slap me. "What do you mean, leave the room?" he smirked.
And I said, "What I mean, doctor, is you are fired."
He was furious, it was fabulous, and it felt really, really good.
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Does anyone take melatonia and if so how much.
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Nana, I take Melatonin . Is that what you mean? I break a 5mg tablet in half and take about thirty minutes before bedtime.
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Nanna, Melatonin is a good sleep aid as it will not react with other meds and is produced naturally in the body but due to ag and illness the production drops. You can saftely take up to 20mg but most people take about three. The best thing to do for yourself is to try at a lower dose and if that is not enough increase it in small increments until you are getting the desired effect. Also, if your sleeping problem is you find it hard to fall asleep then the normal pill is just fine but if you have difficulty staying asleep, then you may need the slow release version. It is best taked 15 - 30 mins before bed time. A lot of people take it as they go to bed and then read in a comfy position for 15 mins before turning the light out. Good luck!
Love n hugs. Chrissy
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Hi, I'm on Effexior for the hot flashes and I can't take Melatonin with it. I think it only reacts with some antidepressants.
Janet
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Hi all, I've ben reading the posts. I'm 51, BC in 2006, on tamoxifen for 5 years and now they put me on Femara going on 3 months. I thought I would be DONE after 5 years. I have Osteoporosis and my chol is up but my good chol is 119 so that helped.
I had DMX, 6 months chemo and 5 years Tamoxifen is anyone else on drugs so long?
I am so tired and bloated.I want to stop so bad but I have a 6 and 10 year old and I'm scared.
thanks Janet
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Janetip if you have already done 5 years Tamoxifen, why is your doc insisting on Femara now and for how long? What grade was your cancer, perhaps that is why.
The Femara won't help your osteoporosis nor you cholesterol levels and weight gain is another SE. If your doc wants you on this for another 5 years, perhaps you could ask about a bone strengthener as in a bisphosphinate (sp?). The choice to stay on the meds or not is your decision but I would question my doc as to why he/she thinks you should.
Love n hugs. Chrissy
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Hi Chrissyb, I didn't question it at my last Onc appt. when he changed my meds. Now that I'm getting the SEs I'm so done. My nails and fingers look like they went thru a food processor. My pic is from Nov, now I am so bloated and my husband said yesterday what happened to your hair and that is just the outside SEs like I said the rest is happening inside.
I put a call into him yesterday and I hope to hear from him today. I don't know my grade but it was between a stage l and ll they just were not sure because I had a lumpectomy first and margin's were not clear.
I was just wondering if any one else has been on meds more than 5 years.
Thanks so much Janet
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Hi! I´ve read every post on side effects, but only the first and last page on this FEMARA discussion...it would take me too long for the rest and I´m wondering if someone feels like I do. I´m 59 years old but quite active.
After lumpectomy of a stage I breast tumor, I had radiation treatment and went right into FEMARA.
I have just a little over 5 months to complete 5 years. All this time I had minimal SE´s, (including osteopenia/osteoporosis, but again, I´m Asian, so I´m prone anyway), like some hair loss, and vaginal dryness.
A few months ago I was diagnosed with mild cataracts. I thought that I might be able to live with this dreadful news....until NOW, that....
.... I´m getting generalized itchiness (I look like a monkey who doesn´t bathe)...suddenly I have hypersensitivity to allergens and even to the clothes I wear, and excruciating pain on my left upper arm when I try to reach my back (all my lymphs were removed from my left arm).
I hate to think that I might have to operate on my eyes sooner than later (my Mom did hers at about 72) and am seriously thinking about quitting Femara at this point and end this torture. (My onc says that my osteoporosis will no longer be a major problem after I´ve finished the treatment.)
All my 6-month follow-up visits went swimmingly.
Does anyone think like me, that it´s possible the 5-year required treatment period might be a pharmaceuticals marketing strategy?? Has anyone quit ¨prematurely¨ and not had a recurrence? I´m sooo sad...thinking of the possibility that we all are being taken for a ride.
Can anyone tell us about a ¨happy ending¨ to the FEMARA treatment?
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Janet, there are some women here on the boards who have done the first 5 years with Tamoxifen and then followed or are following that with either Arimidex or Femara. If my memory serves me correctly, they were either very high risk or stage IIIb so were taking the meds in the hopes of reducing their risk. Before you make any decision to quit or not, I would check out the reasoning of my onc with some percentages to back up what he/she says.
Hi Toquitornot sorry you are here but glad you found BCO. There have been many studies done with the drugs that we take and the 5 year mark for each of them is set as that amount of time seems to be the optimum for prevention of recurrence and that is why it is recommended. Notice I said recommended but wether you take them for that length of time is entirely up to you. There are many women that have completed their 5 years and are still doing very well but there are also women that are in the process of getting through that time and have had a recurrence. There really is no guarantee with any of this, all you can do is do what is prescribed and hope that you have done enough.
Love n hugs. Chrissy
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Thank you so much, Chrissy, for listening. I will try to contact my onc to discuss my frustration, before I make a definite decision. Blessings!
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I don't have a link, but I read an article last summer saying that one of the best indicators of 5-year survival was adherence to hormonal therapy. So I don't think this is pharma marketing strategy.
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I don't have a link, but I read an article last summer saying that one of the best indicators of 5-year survival was adherence to hormonal therapy. So I don't think this is pharma marketing strategy.
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