Breast Cancer Now Forum

Thanks ☺️ I'm feeling pretty good, my mood is a bit up and down at times, it could be the Letrozole but it could just be the whole shenanigans of it all! I didn't have radiotherapy. I was given the option of a 5 day course but going over it all with the oncologist, given my good percentages, I decided in the end on just the hormone treatment.  I hope you're starting to feel better and that your energy levels pick up soon. As you say it all just takes time. I hope you have a lovely Christmas, and all the very best for '22 xx   ... View more

Hi, I'm 7 weeks in on Letrozole (Femara brand). I've been doing fine apart from the last couple of weeks a bit of insomnia has kicked in (not every night) that I hope will settle down. I think I'm getting the odd mood swing too as I've had a couple of 'dips'...but that could be the after effects of everything that's happened...diagnosis, op, & onwards! I suffer with vaginal atrophy and had just started HRT (patches) a month before my cancer was picked up on a routine mammogram. Previous to HRT I had been on topical estrogen treatment which wasn't doing much to help so was trialling a course of patches which I have to say only after a month I was feeling the benefit of but hey ho, that's out the window now. I am now using YES VM but it's not the same. I believe topical estrogens & testosterone can be used in some BC patients on Letrozole which is something I will investigate along the line. My hair was already thinning, started a couple of years ago, which was already causing me distress so I'm hoping it won't get worse...I am browsing wigs online already though! I have started a non-inflammatory diet (my diet was quite healthy before but have tweaked it) & have lost a stone in weight (probably a combination of tweaked diet & cancer fear!) I do feel healthier though, the small changes have made a difference. Lack of exercise is my main bugbear at the moment, combination of weather & apathy! Thanks for starting this thread, best wishes to all 😊 👍 ❤️         ... View more

Hi Poppy, I was given 2 book recommendations  'foods to fight cancer' by Professor Richard Beliveau & Dr Denis Gingras. I got a secondhand copy of this online & it's really helped me put a simple food plan together. The other is 'anti cancer a new way of life' by Dr David Servan-Schreiber, also got it secondhand. I'm 6 weeks into hormone treatment (Letrozole...Femara brand), 8 weeks post-op, 12 weeks since diagnosis. Life just changed on a pin in September...a whole new world of strange words & deeds...a whirlwind for sure. All the best, Aileana             ... View more

Hi Jan, thanks a lot for your reply which is not in the least unhelpful! I truly appreciate your input. Firstly I'm so sorry to read you've had a recurrence & I wish you all the very best going forward & I hope your Mum is doing ok too. I totally get what you are saying, it's what the dialogue with myself is throwing backwards & forwards anyway. It's the chance of possible longterm after effects from radiation that concern me most, they worry me more than anything else really. I have to weigh up the small benefit it would give me against it possibly debilitating me. Initially I was also against the hormone treatment but I will give it a go. I'm not an overly anxious person now.... I spent many years in a state of stress & anxiety due to trauma caused by my son's illness & then grief from his death. I felt battered by it all & didn't think I'd get out the other side. I have worked hard to find serenity over the last few years and have developed fairly well honed coping mechanisms. My breast cancer diagnosis pulled the rug from under my feet, and rattled my serenity hard...the universe obviously decided I hadn't had quite enough trauma in my life & has sent me this new challenge....I just feel my body & mind has had enough. Maybe if I hadn't had previous trauma I would be feeling differently. Decisions decisions 🤔 Thank you again, Aileana 🤗 x   ... View more

Hello Posden, I was wondering if you decided to take Letrozole & how you are doing with it? I am now facing the same dilemma.  I had an estrogen receptive IDC cancer diagnosed in Sept and was operated on at the beginning of Oct...wide excision & sentinel node biopsy. Thankfully my lymph nodes are clear & my cancer was very small (5mm).  I'm 68 & have to decide to start (or not) Letrozole. I am similar to you with osteoarthritis & I also have low/no tolerance to drugs so of course am fearful of being debilitated by this drug. It's all been a bit of a rollercoaster & my head is in knots with it all  I hope you are keeping well...very best wishes...Aileana               ... View more