@Clairebear56 My ankles ache 24 hours a day with varying strength. Some days worse than others. Same with my hands, especially my thumb joints. I used to think they were better when the weather was warm but today it's hot and they are really sore. Exercise makes no difference, Panadol-Osteo doesn't touch the pain. I'm currently working through what I've got in the cupboard to see what does help for when it gets bad enough to interfere with my day to day activities. I am generally very stiff after being still for a time, and if I sit for a time on a hard chair my coccyx hurts like billy-oh as I get up. I had zero aches and pains before Letrozole other than a bulging disc in my lower back which the remains the same.
When I first started Letrozole I was constipated for several months. That has eased a bit, though my 'movements' are not what they were before BC. I manage that with Osmolax as I need to.
I get mucosal dryness, ie dry nose, eyes and especially mouth. Again this has eased somewhat after the first three months. My skin is dry for the first time in my life, and I now have dandruff.
Chemo put me into menopause and Letrozolexis keeping me there. I've a lot of life 'stuff', and between that, menopause and Letrozole, I am depressed and anxious. Both of those are side effects of menopause and Letrozole, but where life, cancer, menopause and Letrozole begin and end I have no idea. I am taking anti-depressants and seeing a psychologist, both for the first time in my life.
My oncologist has confirmed that for some, the side effects of Letrozole (the AI that reduces your estrogen the most) subside after six months. I am persisting until then. With her blessing I am having a month's break in December. I will then go back on and if there's no abatement in the side effects she's going to switch me to Tamoxifen. I am nervous about that but life is such a struggle for me at the moment that I have to consider it.
Remember, some people have little or no side effects. I'm just unlucky that I'm getting a few (there are 61 listed for Letrozole...).
Above everything is the need to take something. My tumour was so highly ER positive that there's no question about it. I plod on. K xox
