Forum Discussion

sickgirl's avatar
sickgirl
Member
5 years ago

Femara/Letrazole

Hi, anyone on this and have side effects? I’m almost half way through my supposed 5yrs of this and still have various side effects on and off. Nausea, weakness and have fainted a couple of times over a period of time. Have had bloods, abdomen ct and brain ct with nothing showing up. Was suggested to go off them for 5 weeks see how I felt. Did feel marginally better but unless was off them for good how would you know? Offered to change meds but I’m like could there be another lot of different side effects. Feel stuck, 2.5yrs long time to still feel pretty crappy 😔
femara
letrozole
side-effects
  • Afraser's avatar
    Afraser
    Member
    5 years ago
    Dear @sickgirl
    I have been on femara for seven years - my oncologist has studied the research and, like tamoxifen, thinks 10 years is better than 5. We’ll see. I don’t have nausea, joint pains, weakness etc but have experienced both vaginal atrophy and bone thinning. I’m monitoring the latter carefully - luckily my bone density was excellent at the start so I have some wiggle room. Oestrogen cream (I know it sounds counter productive but at my age - 74 - I am producing very little!) helps the atrophy. Unfortunately while there is research suggesting 5 years is better than none, and 10 years is better than 5, there is none to say if 7 or 8 is better than 10! So I am keeping on so far. A change may help, others have found that beneficial. Best wishes. 
  • Sister's avatar
    Sister
    Member
    5 years ago
    I haven't had those side effects but somewhere on here you'll find @arpie has posted a list of published side effects plus what women on the forum have reported.  For me, it's severe joint and muscle pain, stiffness, osteo-arthritis, vaginal and skin dryness, hair thinning, and fatigue.  Memory problems could be Letrozole or could be post-chemo!  I believe that changing meds does improve things for some and Exemestane in particular as it is a steroidal AI so a bit different but others may be able to provide more accurate information.