Letrozole Ladies

Hi Tennille, I've been on Letrozole for 1 year now. From the beginning I have suffered from the hots sweats and bone pain. I think I mainly get the bone pain when I'm over tired, run down or about to get sick with a cold or something. I take ibuprofen & panadol osteo to dull the pain & wait it out. The sweats are everyday & night. The worse ones are those that start with a feeling of anxiousness, fortunately I only get these once or twice a week. Can't do much for the sweats but keep a fan handy & refuse to go anywhere without airconditioning! But I do think either I'm coping better with them now or they have lessened over the last 6 months. I don't suffer from fatigue now but I did when I first started but I put it down to still recovering from chemo, radiation & the fact my body was a wreck. Take care, Jane 

Oh dear have just started letrozole - was told is best AI. Think already a few signs of joint pain. Have osteoporosis due to have Prolia injection Friday hope it prevents bone fracture as know this drug thins bones. No other symptoms as yet but been thru menopause twice plus in this weather might welcome a hot flush. Chemist recommended panadol osteo and can use continuously and has clients on L already using it. Medical onc recommended fish oil.Have friends with arthritis rapt with turmeric/curcumin is anti-inflammatory. Several ladies on this blog says settles but can take awhile 12 months for some also if intolerable can be switched to another AI. Value of gentle exercise/ walking strongly recommended. Have a look old posts here using search bar - powdered magnesium strongly recommended as well as Calcium/vitamin D. God bless,  good luck try hang in there - might be tough for a bit but others have done it so am going to try

Got a hunch chemo ladies may have had a belting on their bones so L may start tough. Also will be discovering I guess if having osteoporosis at the start does same. I did not have chemo just radiotherapy 

I have been on Letrozole for 5 months starting 2 weeks after chemo before 5 weeks of radiotherapy. The hot flushes are settling down but am suffering from back & hip pain & also whole body stiffness. I wake constantly trying to get comfortable from the stiffness mainly in upper body & hands. This lessens as I get up. The back ache is intermittent so have to have a scan to make sure nothing else is going on. I suffer from fatigue too but not getting enough sleep. I take a range of supplements but I think just a waste of time. I exercise a lot & run but think this aggravates my back. You have to try different things, they may work for you. 

Have read on here vigorous exercise eg running seems to cause problems - my breast surgeon promotes 30 minute walks.Noticed several small twinges myself yesterday- I've just started Letrozole- and did a one hour exercise class yesterday albeit was a relatively gentle program for older people. 

I am going to find it hard to give up running but I know it must be hard on the body. I will have a scan & then decide what to do. I am also doing yoga which I think helps. 

I'm thinking swimming might be a good idea as it supports the body - signed up yesterday for hydrotherapy. Might be good to search back on this site to see what others have/ are doing .Definitely believe exercise helps just a case of what type

Its the fatigue and nausea that gets me down more as I am normally very active. I have bone and liver mets so i have given up trying to figure out what pain is caused by what but I am definitely looking at swimming as my 'go to' form of exercise.

Sorry to hear that @Tennille, not much fun feeling sick all of the time. I feel nauseous at times but don't know whether it is the medication or vitamins I am on. The only way to know is to come off it but the risks are too high. If my scan is clear I am willing to give it twelve months to see if the side affects settle. It may just take a while for your body to get used to it, does your oncologist have any suggestions. It seems that every day is a battle to get through feeling ok!

I was on Letrazole for 6 years. I had all those same side effects too, but with time the side effects all nearly disappeared. It took a few years, but fish oil helped. Unfortunately I am now almost osteoporotic, so I have been taken off the Letrazole and put back on Tamoxifen.  I feel that my hot flushes have changed again, but my joints are great. I have been badly affected by hot flushes, since well before Breast Cancer. I am into my 11 year of hot flushes, but they are not as intense as they were before BC.