Femara

Lisa I've been on Femara for 10 months. I was on Tamoxifen for a few mths before but decided I wanted to reduce my recurrence as much as possible! So l made the decision to remove my ovaries to stop any hormone production (thank god l have my 2 boys) and force menopause as I was 40 at the time in Dec 2011. Femara is for post menopause & Tamoxifen is for pre menopause, both with their own side effects. Simply, Femara stops hormones producing & Tamoxifen acts like a blocker of hormones altogether. The only very noticeable side effect l have with Femara is the joint pain. Whether l sit for 1 minute or 1 hour the stiffness is the same, but it gets better once I'm going. I go to the gym 2-3 times week which helps & going through my first winter this year on it hasn't been too bad. The mornings are a little stiff to start but hey, I compare everything to chemo now & nothing compares to that anymore! I also read somewhere that after about 12-18 mths side effects can disappear! Wouldn't that be fantastic! l can live with the 5 year "insurance policy" if it means l have better survival rate! I reckon the side effects of the forced menopause are worse to be honest! Do what you feel is best for you. You'll know what is right! Good luck. :)