Hi
Had breast surgery in may then radiothreapy sailed through it then in September put on Letrozole and after a month wham joint pain hot flushes not sleeping mood swings ,been through the menoporse and now have all the simptoms back the thought of this for 5 years is not bearable .I am 65 fit and still working but finding it so hard feeling like s----t all the time help!!!
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I have had breast cancer 3 times , when I was 33, 49 and 56 the last two times have been put on arimidex and now on letrozole, and I have gained nearly 2 stone in 8years I am supposed to stay on it for another 4 years but cannot put on more weight, have tried dieting, am fairly active but cannot shift it. Reading a lot of posts it is well known to gain weight on aromatase inhibitors. Has anyone tried natural remedies ??? Ive thought of asking GP for weight loss medication but I’m sure that will have side effects !! Any help would be grateful
Hello shaznic
Sorry that u have had to deal with bc three times but assume it hasent spread to other organs as secondaries …
I have been on letrozole for 2 years and have a real podgy tummy and donut waistline. .despite eating half of what I used to but needs must as it’s a good treatment …
Im struggling with tamoxifen. I got foggy head accelarated pain from neuropathy from chemo that is bad anyway. My knees are weird. Feet hurt and fingers.the longer I was on tamoxifen my thoughts were like weird and memory blocks and getting stuff muddled up forgetting names etc as soon as I stopped ot started lessening.going start an implant and letstradol but reading all these write ups wondering if im gonna have bad time again. This long term tablets scare me as they affect your mind and body.any thing out there Nature l or should I try this combo. I feel panic to not be on anything but want quality of life.
I tried the tamoxifen for 4 weeks and but the side effects were terrible, from bone aching, fatigue, depression, increased munchies (I was constantly hungry) hot flushes… and this horrible dry mouth which felt like cobwebs - I stopped taking it. I was a G3 tumor with no nodes but vascular. Oncologist then looked at AIs, but in mean time I studied Dim and found a homeopath who could could provide me the homeopathic version of tamoxifen (using my own tablets). So now I take this and 100mgs of Dim daily. Although I am not totally side effect free, it is livable and there is no sign of return of cancer and now coming up to my 2 year anniversay of diagnosis.
My oncologist is now looking closer at Dim and IC3.
There is lots to read and digest on this subject, but what ever you chose you have to be happy with the decision you make, for me there was no point in surviving cancer unless I could get out there and live after!
Good luck to all - happy to share the evidences I found if anyone is interested.
xx
I have also had a break from Letrozole due to awful side effects such as joint pain, nausea and insomnia. Slowly I returned to feeling more like my old self. However my oncologist had suggested I try Tamoxifen which I reluctantly started four days ago and lo and behold all the joint pain has returned alongside the difficulties sleeping - hence the time of this post. I am now back to wondering if the extra protection Tamoxifen gives is worth it. Has anyone had similar experience and have symptoms settled after staying on it. any suggestions for pain relief for the joint pain in ankles, wrists and shoulders. This may then help me sleep a bit better !
Hi Musician,
Just to point out, not all of us get side effects, or if we do it’s manageable. I remember feeling very anxious about it before starting & reading experiences here fed my anxiety somewhat, as understandably, those with issues will post, not those who are getting on ok.
See how you get on & if side effects are an issue, then you’ll deal with it then.
Wishing you well with it all.
ann x
Hi Eb
Just wanted to say a big thank you for all the info you have supplied in this particular post.
I have been on Letrozole (Femara) for over a year (Sun Pharm and Accord brands gave me stiffness straightaway so I asked to go on Femara as I heard it was supposed to be ’milder’) and it was to start with. However, I now have so many side effects that seem to have appeared in the last few months and are getting worse i.e. stiffness started in my left wrist and the pain is awful, in particular, when trying to do my bra up. The tiredness has been very debilitating - now having to have a nap at least once a day, sometimes twice and more recently not feeling any benefit from either and wanting to sleep a 3rd time. I listen to a 45min - hour & a half stress ’tape’ on my mobile. On one occasion recently I slept for 2.5 hours. I want my life back!
I found a list of every day foods that are supposed to reduce the risk of ER+/PR+ breast cancer and, I was already eating many of these and continue to do so but another article said these foods can also increase the severity of side effects of AIs. There are other, every day foods, that can increase the risk of ER+/PR+ breast cancer.
I will get the supplements you suggested and see if they help me and also ask about taking a different AI every other day.
Thanks again and a big hug from me!