Letrozole migraine

Hi
I have been on letrozle now for 8 weeks and yesterday i had what seems to be an ocular migraine I called 111 and they sent me to hospital for a check up.
Apparently,nothing sinister and have put it down to stress and/or letrozole.
I have been having some headaches, joint aches and feeling nauseous since being on these pills, but never have i had any type of migraine before.
I felt very low yesterday and just not myself it was very frightening.
Are these ‘migraine’ episodes to be a normal side effect or should i tell my oncologist ?
Thank you for any help on this :smiling_face:

Hi @martha3 it is likely to be the Letrozole to be honest although we should never minimise the impact of stress on the neurological system. I used to endure migraines - which are a neurological condition not just a headache - up to menopause when they converted into less impactful vestibular migraines ( basically swapping the headache part for vertigo but keeping all the other bits like stomach paralysis, drop in serotonin etc). I still get them from time to time but I have not found Letrozole impacts them too much. However we all get a slightly different basket of side effects so the ocular migraine may be one of yours. Whether you get any more or if they fade into the background as your body gets used to the lack of oestrogen, only time will tell. But YES definitely tell your oncologist about it, it is helpful for them to know all of the SE you experience so they can either adjust your endocrine treatment or, at the very least, provide you with prophylactic drugs to ameliorate the impact as much as possible.

1 Like

Hi martha3

Thanks for posting. It sounds as though you are having a difficult time since starting letrozole, and it’s understandable you are feeling low and frightened after having an ocular migraine. Although headaches and the other symptoms you mention are common side effects of this treatment, migraine specifically isn’t listed as a potential side effect.

As @Tigress suggests this may have been triggered by stress, but it’s a good idea to let your breast care nurse or oncologist know about your recent experience.

You say you felt very low yesterday, and this may be a consequence of having to go to hospital and feeling frightened. However you might find our information on low mood helpful to read. This gives information about coping with such feelings and signposts to relevant support available.

We offer a range of free supportive services for anyone who has had a diagnosis of breast cancer which you may be interested in. They include face to face and online courses and events.

For more details about all of these services, please see the information on the link.

Do call our helpline if you would like to talk this through or have any further questions. The helpline team have time to listen, talk things through and signpost you to more support and information if necessary. Your call will be confidential, and the number is free from UK landlines and all mobile networks. The number is 0808 800 6000. If you have hearing or speech difficulties prefix our number with 18001 and the call will go through Relay UK. Our helpline has access to telephone interpreters if language translation is required.

If you would prefer one of our nurses to call you. To do this, please complete this form ticking the box agreeing to a call back .

Our usual opening hours are Monday to Friday 9am - 4pm and 9am - 1pm on Saturday.

Out of hours you can leave a message and we will call you back when we next open.

Best wishes

Carolyn

Breast Care Nurse

Please read the Ask Our Nurses disclaimer Full details on how we collect and use your data can be found in our Privacy Policy

As we are unable to monitor for further replies, this thread will now be closed. If you have any additional questions or would like to provide feedback, please start a new thread, call our helpline, email us or request a call back.