Femara - To take or not to take...
Has anyone made the decision to NOT take a blocker drug such as femara?
I am 63 years old and have recently had a lumpectomy (1cm Grade 3) and central lymph node removal (Lymph node was clear) and ...
Forum Discussion
Hi Girls,
I am new to this site but have been reading the blogs about Femara. I have secondary cancer (LCIS estrogen pos) but am doing really well. I have taken Femara for (8 months) and yes I have had joint pains in my thumbs, fingers, knees, elbows etc. I have felt about 150 years old when I got out of bed in the morning. My onc suggested I take fish oil capsules 5000mgs. I take 5 capsules of 1000mgs and have found a significant positive difference in my joint pain. On a scale from 1 - 10. 1 being the least pain and 10 being the most pain. Before the fish oil I could rate my pain as an 8 or a 9 and after approx 3 weeks on fish oil my pain rate was 2 - 3. This has improved my life enormously. I cannot comment on other side effects like dissiness or blurring eyes for I have not had any of these with the exception of fatigue which I try and conteract like Iliana said by doing exercise. I like to bike ride, do Walk at Home DVD's with Leslie Sansone, yoga or a beach walk. I know it's so hard to exercise when you feel so tired but even 5 minutes of dancing can help you feel better. Believe me I have those days I don't want to get off the couch or out of bed for that matter but I have noticed when I do a little something I do feel better.
Re: depression. I was already taking Venlofaxine ( Effexor 150mgs) for chronic depression. This is often given for hot flushes as Illiana mentioned (Prystiq) the new generation of Effexor. I had my ovaries removed and was hit like a steam train with hot flushes so I am not sure if the anti-depressant is helping with those, if it is I can't imagine what it would be like without them.?? Like having an perpetual sauna internally. LOL.
My onc also said I could use vaginal estrogen cream as it does not work systemically. I was getting a few UTI's and thinning of the vaginal walls. For me this has worked well. As we know, all cases are different just as we are individuals so it's worth asking our onc's or gp's/and or naturpath's lots more questions to find answers that improve our quality of life..... Surely that's what it is all about!
Good luck everyone I hope this helps. x