Early Days on Letrozole
So, I started taking Letrozole on the 1/6/18. My oncologist says I have to be on it for 10 years as several ongoing studies are indicating cancer preventing benefits beyond the seven year mark. It...
Forum Discussion
@kmakm - what you are experiencing basically IS menopause - and mine lasted 10 years on it's own, from age 45-55 - I thought I'd started 'early' as I hadn't had kids, but apparently those with kids can also go thru it early as well. It was the biggest pain in the arse that I've ever been thru. Some people are lucky & sail thru it - actually feeling empowered and more sexually active afterwards. That wasn't me.
Initially in the lead up to it, there were the random massive bleeds/flooding. Then the hot sweats which were debilitating & often, both day & night. I had them for years. I regularly had to change the sheets in the middle of the night, I got so wet. I used to sleep on a towell to try & mitigate the effects! (Not very comfortable, BTW!) I could feel them 'come on' at any time of day & night - with the heat rising up from your neck to forehead. I also had severe depression & became very angry & intolerant of idiots ..... my boss copped the worst of it - tho hubby got the 'rolling eyes' more often, too! I was emotionally unstable - bursting into tears at the drop of a hat! Vaginal atrophy was the worst ever (and still is) - talk about razor blades!! :( I went onto hormonal cream to try & sort that out (even applying it vaginally) but that only resulted in an abnormal Breast Scan 15 years ago (being called to Newcastle Hosp for followup scans!) so I stopped that pretty quickly as it was the testosterone component of the cream that gave the abnormal 'read'! I still swear that 'the change' brought on my bunions in both feet as I'd never had them before - they were SO painful (and still are, but not as bad as when it came on initially, when I seriously considered surgery, until I read what was entailed!) I can't recall specifically getting the aches & pains back then ..... as I've always had a level of arthritis ... but it is definitely worse since finishing 'the change'!
The good news is - that eventually it WILL all settle down! How long? How long is a piece of string? Probably for as long as you are on the meds, I would think! :(
Initially in the lead up to it, there were the random massive bleeds/flooding. Then the hot sweats which were debilitating & often, both day & night. I had them for years. I regularly had to change the sheets in the middle of the night, I got so wet. I used to sleep on a towell to try & mitigate the effects! (Not very comfortable, BTW!) I could feel them 'come on' at any time of day & night - with the heat rising up from your neck to forehead. I also had severe depression & became very angry & intolerant of idiots ..... my boss copped the worst of it - tho hubby got the 'rolling eyes' more often, too! I was emotionally unstable - bursting into tears at the drop of a hat! Vaginal atrophy was the worst ever (and still is) - talk about razor blades!! :( I went onto hormonal cream to try & sort that out (even applying it vaginally) but that only resulted in an abnormal Breast Scan 15 years ago (being called to Newcastle Hosp for followup scans!) so I stopped that pretty quickly as it was the testosterone component of the cream that gave the abnormal 'read'! I still swear that 'the change' brought on my bunions in both feet as I'd never had them before - they were SO painful (and still are, but not as bad as when it came on initially, when I seriously considered surgery, until I read what was entailed!) I can't recall specifically getting the aches & pains back then ..... as I've always had a level of arthritis ... but it is definitely worse since finishing 'the change'!
The good news is - that eventually it WILL all settle down! How long? How long is a piece of string? Probably for as long as you are on the meds, I would think! :(