Femara - To take or not to take...

Seems to be some confusion about the drugs. Femara/arimidex/Aromasin are all Aromatase Inhibitors ie they block oestrogen production from the adrenal glands and fat tissue and can only be used in post menopausal women (natural menopause or surgical or Zoladex). Femara and Arimidex are very similar but Aromasin is a little different. Tamoxifen works differently by blocking the oestrogen receptors on breast cancer cells and can be used in pre and post menopausal women. Zeloda is yet another anti oestrogen drug and is used if the other 4 aren't working I am on Femara. Diagnosed Stage 2 or Stage 4!! In May 2011 at 43 years old. I take an anti inflammatory drug at night to help with joint pains- I have foot, hip, back, wrist, finger joint pains as well as tendinitis. I get very hot at night and have recently noticed male pattern hair thinning which concerns me more than having no breasts! I am a Cosmetic Medicine GP and am probably going to have a procedure called PRP injections to stimulate hair growth. Re how do the onc's choose who gets which drug: they have access to the medical evidence and then draw their own conclusions. Aromasin is usually a 2nd line drug, whereas Tamoxifen/femara/arimidex are offered 1st line. Different women respond differently in terms of side effects and cancer blocking so there often has to be a bit of fiddling around until the right one is found. Hope this is helpful