Hi lizzy
Here’s the link to the BCC publication about Femara which you may find useful:
Best wishes
Lucy
Hi Sue
Glad you have joined us on the Femara site. I started Femara in August 2010 after having a WLE and 6 Lymph nodes removed for testing as the cells were grade 3 and had 8mm of invasive cancer. Then went on to have 6 FEC and 20 Rads.
It all seems a haze now that a year has passed and I have had my first mammogram which shows no sign of any further cancer, hope it stays that way.
I have suffered painful joints on and off while taking Femara also suffer from a dry mouth, can cope with these as long as it keeps the disease at bay. This is a great site to post as all of the questions I have asked somebody else has had the same symptoms and is able to help me.
Hope you don’t have any side effects on the tablets, but you know we are always here with answers.
Love Anne xx
Hi Weannie, I suffer from a dry mouth too because of medication. My GP gave me a gel in a tube which I didn’t like. So I went back to him and he gave me a spray fro my mouth which I find better. he gave me more that one bottle of the spray ( his suggestion) so that I could keep one beside my bed and one in my handbag when I was out. My mouth is still dry but it does help. My dentist was not pleased whern I told him I had been sucking sweets before and he suggested sugar free gum. So I have both at hand. Hope this helps. Love Val (If you want the name of the spray just get back to me)
Hi Val
Thanks for replying about my dry mouth. I have a spray for my dry mouth called Glandosane which I got from my GP. It is really helping me.
My hygenist at the dentist also told me that sucking sweets was not good for me as they contain lots of sugar and that she had seen lots of ladies with decay because of this. thanks for the tip about the sugar free gum.
Thanks for your help.
Love Anne xx
I’ve suffered with a dry mouth both on Femara and on Tamoxifen before it. My dentist now prescribes me some saliva producing tablets that taste like sour lemon (a nice taste) that I take when needed. They are called SST (saliva stimulating tablets). She also prescribes toothpaste for me - Duraphat 2800 which has extra fluoride and protects teeth better when there is a shortage of saliva. (I had terrible problems with my teeth after chemo - fillings dropping out, teeth breaking, crown continually falling off and apparently this is a side effect of chemo).
Have a word with your dentist (it saves you a fortune in toothpaste!!).
Jo
Thanks for that Jo. I am visiting my dentist next week so will make a request for the toothpaste and SST tablets. Val
Have bumped this up as so many of you Femara ladies may now be receiving the generic form , letrozole , from one of many manufactors . How are you all getting on ?
I’ve been on letrozole for a couple of months now. First month was Femara and now generic from Actavis. I’ve been very luck Only real side effect is a touch of nausea and hot flushes. When these happen I just say to myself its better than cancer. I’m post-menopausal, which I think helps. So far no more stiff than usual! I’m a bit tired, but I’m in mid-radiotherapy and long overdue a holiday.
Hi everyone. I have now been on Femara 10 mths. First nine received Femara from the chemist this month RANBAXY letrozole anyone else had this make? Regards side effects on Femara I find my main problems are hot flushes (which I also saw previously over my five years on tomoxifen)joint pains and fatique. However, I found the joint pains really lessened after 7mths of taking Femara. Previously the pains were that bad in my feet and ankles I had trouble walking down stairs. I ended up having both my feet and ankles x rayed and was really pleased to find the x rays were clear. I also had a dexa scan which was also revealed no problems with bone density so pains could only be side effects to Femara. My GP gave me calci chew tablets (eg calcium and vitimin D supplement) after 2 months of taking them the pains in my feet and ankles really lessened I do not know if it is the calci chew that is aiding me not to see such severe joint pains as I was but I would say to anyone taking Femara give them a try if you have not yet been issued any supplement to protect your bones. All the best to everyone JL
I have just got my first supply of Femara today. I’m hoping I dont get the pain that so many of you do as I already have loads of pain from arthritis and spinal stenosis.I think I’ll get some calcium tablets as some of you have found them helpful.I find these forums so useful as someone has always experienced the problems you are having. Thank you everyone
I take a lot of Vitamin D3 which I think does help with the joint pains. Good luck with it!
My mum has been on Femera for almost a year now. She has gone through some painful episodes with her joints but this does seem to getting better. She has been diagnosed with bone mets unfortunately but they have said that these are perhaps a couple of years old and that the Femera has done a good job at stopping the progression. Her breast tumour has all but disappeared again thanks to the Femera plus it,s her birthday today and she,s at the grand age of 92, love her so much!
Hello
I was on Tamoxifen for 5 years, got on with it okay. Started on Femara April 2009 and by early 2010 having problems with mouth,dry burning sensations, sores at corner of mouth etc etc.
Anyway tried taking a break of 6/8 weeks from Femara, didn’t really make an awful lot of difference, various medications,blood tests, mouth washes, the list goes on. Lost count of the number of things I have tried. GP tried to help but last week went to a Oral and maxillofacial specialist who has said that it is Burning Mouth Syndrone from which they can only treat the symptons. It effects 1 in 3 postmenopausal women but I haven’t seen anything on this site to suggest that is the case.
I had to have another load of blood tests to rule out anything else and I go back to the hospital in 2 weeks time where I think I will be put on the drug Gabapentin to treat the symptons. Amitriptyline is another drug but I have jsut come off that because we thought that was causing the dry mouth. I was on Amitriptyline to help the pain in my arm after surgery.
My Onc had said that I would be on Femara for 3 years but has now raised that to 5 years so if Femara is the culprit I have another 2 1/2 years to go!
Hello everyone.
I’ve been taking Femara for 10 days now and, apart from feeling a teeny bit nauseous in the first few days, I’m feeling fine now and am keeping everything crossed that no nasty SEs kick in.
Can I ask, has anyone else experienced really badly aching feet during and after their chemo? The tops of my feet from my ankle down to the top of my toes are incredibly painful. If so, when did it subside. I’m finding it unbearable when the pain starts and ibuprofen takes the edge off it but I’m reluctant to carry on taking them.
Flapjack x
Can’t say as I didn’t have chemo but am very heartened to see the posts saying that femara side effects can reduce after a number of months. I had read that this can happen, but as its about 6 months of femara for me and am still getting terribly achey joints, feet especially, and no sign of it getting any better, then these posts help with the optimism.
I switched to Femara from Tamoxifen in January this year. Hot flushes and night sweats were horrendous, had regular migraine headaches, aching finger joints and stiff ankles etc. Since Letrozole came off licence I was given a different brand last month (can’t remember manufacturer. The night sweats and flushes and headaches completely stopped but I just couldn’t sleep. (Didn’t sleep well before but even worse with these).
This month I’ve been given yet another make from Arrow. Flushes/sweats and headaches still gone, finger joints and ankles much better but now getting quite strange head pains. I also now want to sleep all the time!!!
The moral to this seems to be that if you can’t cope with the side effects ask your doctor to try you on different brands, you may find one that is not too bad.
Jo
Hi, Would just like to say I have been on femara for 7months and have found joint pain etc difficult. The hot flushes are another problem. I saw my gp and she suggested citalopram (Anti-depressant) studies have shown the drup can help with the hot flushes and night sweats. It does’nt work for all women but it is helping me…
Maybe worth a try for someone out there.
Littlegem …