Restarting hormone therapy after break - what to expect

Life after a breast cancer diagnosis Living with breast cancer
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I have been on a break from Letrozole for a couple of weeks due to the side effects. As well as menopause symptoms, fatigue and low mood, the worst effect has been cognitive. After 3 weeks without letrozole, I feel like my brain has woken up. I still struggle with memory but for the first time since treatment started (nearly 3 years ago) I actually feel like myself again. The hot flushes have eased and I’m sleeping better, which helps too.

I don’t think I can stop taking an AI as I’ve been given a 25% risk of reoccurence. I started the letrozole whilst I was having my second lot of chemo so my brain wasn’t its usual self from the outset, which may be relevant to the horrible cognitive effect I experienced.

I’d be really interested to know about others experience of restarting an AI after a break/switching to a different AI.
If I stick with Letrozole, will I have to go through that miserable period whilst my body gets used to it again? Does it get any easier the second time? Are other AIs worse or better?
This is my first break in nearly 2 years. Has anyone been able to take regular breaks over the course of their treatment?
Thank you

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Hi there - sorry you were suffering on letrozole. Me too! Worst problems for me were joint pain in hands/wrists and knees. As I already had a lot of joint issues my oncologist suggested we switch to exemestane. I had a two week break in which my joint problems sadly remained the same. But other menopause type symptoms, particularly hot flushes and night sweats were much worse. In fact one hand and wrist bad got really painful - my GP thinks it’s not the drug per se, but that the treatment triggered my rheumatoid arthritis which had been in remission for several years. So now waiting for an appointment with the rheumatologist and a prescription to switch back to letrozole! You might be luckier than me- always worth a try!