Hi ladies I need advice.. I have been taking Letrozole since June 18, I was told my menopause symptoms were going to come back with a vengeance.. But having to take this drug as many of us do I thought I can handle it. 4 weeks after taking it I was ok not really any hot flushes to speak of, no night sweats.. Then BOOM omg, as soon as it gets dark it seems, they start, not to bad in the day time.. but more and more the night sweats are getting worse.. also Not sleeping more than 4 hours a night is not helping, i am getting forgetful, and generally pissed off. what can I do? I have made myself a peppermint spritzer bottle that I keep squirting in my face lol, I have made a roller bottle of Sage, lavender, and peppermint to roll on my pressure points, I am at the stage where I just want to stop taking this stuff. I am seeing my GP on Tuesday so I will talk with him, and I still haven't started my Radiation, that starts on the 14th... I don't want to be like this for the next 5 years, I know I very lucky and there are so many out there that are so much worse.. but yeah...... I guess its really getting me down

The flushes have almost died down to nothing after 9 months of Letrozole so there is hope for you yet. As for good sleep that will take time. My sleep pattern has only gone back to 'normal' a month ago. I feel so more alive! As for your memory try doing crosswords (use a crossword dictionary. My husband calls it cheating but i call it expanding my vocabulary! But then he's been doing crosswords for years so knows all the common clues and answers), sudoku, any sort of puzzle. I found it worked for me. My nemesis is joint pain which has ramped up significantly in the last month. Nurofen is my best friend on bad days. I'm hoping it will back off. As for cholesterol, mine is genetic but I'm able to control it through diet and exercise (gym 3 times a week). If you find you are getting quite sore around your pressure points try massaging them with a spiky ball. You can get them from osteos or physios. Hang in there!

Yep, pretty much the same for me. Ankles started aching three days in (I started on 1st June) and three weeks later everything jumped up a notch. The hot flushes got worse; longer and stronger and with sweat for the first time. I have them during the day but at night they are insane and my sleep is constantly disrupted.You should speak to your oncologist. There are several medications you can try to ease the hot flushes. You can also try different versions of the same drug. This can help sometimes.Many women report that it settles down after six months. I am trying to hang on until then in the hope that it will improve. I want to go back to work next year but there's no way I could function properly in a job with the amount of sleep I'm getting at the moment.It bloody sucks sista :/ K xox

Exactly the same for me. Awful. I don’t look forward to going to bed because I know my nights are so difficult. I am about to go off a medication that was meant to help with the hot flushes because it has been giving me awful nightmares. Not much else I can do.

So variable isn't it? I've been on Letrozole for 5 years. Some reduction in bone density (still on the right side of the ledger but my level was excellent before I began) and very definite vaginal atrophy. No pain, no aches, no flushes.

I've been on Tamoxifen for 4 years, and went through the menopausal crap for the first 12 months or so. The flushes almost completely stopped then. I am about to shift onto Letrozole, but I figured that I had already finished with those side effects...don't tell me they may start again!

Taking Letrozole | BCNA Online Network

Artferret
Member
7 years ago
The flushes have almost died down to nothing after 9 months of Letrozole so there is hope for you yet. As for good sleep that will take time. My sleep pattern has only gone back to 'normal' a month ago. I feel so more alive! As for your memory try doing crosswords (use a crossword dictionary. My husband calls it cheating but i call it expanding my vocabulary! But then he's been doing crosswords for years so knows all the common clues and answers), sudoku, any sort of puzzle. I found it worked for me. My nemesis is joint pain which has ramped up significantly in the last month. Nurofen is my best friend on bad days. I'm hoping it will back off. As for cholesterol, mine is genetic but I'm able to control it through diet and exercise (gym 3 times a week). If you find you are getting quite sore around your pressure points try massaging them with a spiky ball. You can get them from osteos or physios. Hang in there!
iserbrown
Member
7 years ago
@Spirit-Harmony - for me the only concerns my Oncologist has mentioned with Letrozole is Osteoporosis, Cholesterol and weight gain - no mention of menopause symptoms appearing. For me personally I didn't have any Menopause symptoms at all, I was starting to think my body must be lazy and giving it a wide berth and then BC turned in and made up for it!!

As to the symptoms he has mentioned, each is under surveillance by me, GP and the Oncologist and so far so good

Take care and as I said earlier I do hope the menopause symptoms will pass sooner rather than later and your body adjusts to Letrozole
Spirit-Harmony
Member
7 years ago

Ellamary98 said:

I've been on Tamoxifen for 4 years, and went through the menopausal crap for the first 12 months or so. The flushes almost completely stopped then. I am about to shift onto Letrozole, but I figured that I had already finished with those side effects...don't tell me they may start again!

@Ellamary98 oh I hope not honey...
Spirit-Harmony
Member
7 years ago

Afraser said:

So variable isn't it? I've been on Letrozole for 5 years. Some reduction in bone density (still on the right side of the ledger but my level was excellent before I began) and very definite vaginal atrophy. No pain, no aches, no flushes.

@Afraser, yes I guess we are all different in our symptoms,and we all suffer with something.. take care
Spirit-Harmony
Member
7 years ago

iserbrown said:

Sorry to read your symptoms. I'm on Letrozole with some aches similar to what I was experiencing with Tamoxifen, joint aches and bone pain but not the hot flushes. I sleep well regardless! Hopefully it is mainly menopause symptoms that you're experiencing and they will pass sooner rather than later
Take care

@@iserbrown I was pretty much finished with the menopause, the Letrozole has just bought it back, 10 times worse unfortunately oncologist said it would happen
Spirit-Harmony
Member
7 years ago

Tilly45 said:

Exactly the same for me. Awful. I don’t look forward to going to bed because I know my nights are so difficult. I am about to go off a medication that was meant to help with the hot flushes because it has been giving me awful nightmares. Not much else I can do.

@Tilly45 I am the same, I start to fall asleep in the lounge chair, and maybe should stay there lol
Spirit-Harmony
Member
7 years ago

kmakm said:

Yep, pretty much the same for me. Ankles started aching three days in (I started on 1st June) and three weeks later everything jumped up a notch. The hot flushes got worse; longer and stronger and with sweat for the first time. I have them during the day but at night they are insane and my sleep is constantly disrupted.

You should speak to your oncologist. There are several medications you can try to ease the hot flushes. You can also try different versions of the same drug. This can help sometimes.

Many women report that it settles down after six months. I am trying to hang on until then in the hope that it will improve. I want to go back to work next year but there's no way I could function properly in a job with the amount of sleep I'm getting at the moment.

It bloody sucks sista :/ K xox

@kmakm it's terrible isn't it, I was on one medication that was supposed to ease menopause symptoms, I can't remember the name, but it made me nauseous, dry mouth headaches.. so I stopped taking it, with my Drs ok... he says there are a couple of others we can try, so I guess its a wait and see thing... I just know I don't want to be like this for 5 years
kmakm
Member
7 years ago
@Ellamary98 Hope not!
Ellamary98
Member
7 years ago
I've been on Tamoxifen for 4 years, and went through the menopausal crap for the first 12 months or so. The flushes almost completely stopped then. I am about to shift onto Letrozole, but I figured that I had already finished with those side effects...don't tell me they may start again!
Afraser
Member
7 years ago
So variable isn't it? I've been on Letrozole for 5 years. Some reduction in bone density (still on the right side of the ledger but my level was excellent before I began) and very definite vaginal atrophy. No pain, no aches, no flushes.