Letrozole aches and pains

Hi Dibee  sustained repetitive exercise with letrozole does affect muscle for me so only gentle exercise walking ok but not running
If you had chemo also affects muscle and joints  some see an execrise psyciologist for assistance
We have to adapt to gentle movement yoga and swimming 
All best bright

Hi @DiBee, I have been taking Femara for 5 months & have all sorts of pain. Very stiff hands, shoulders, back pain & aching hips which started 2 months after. I wake a lot in the night uncomfortable with the stiffness in hands & shoulders. I love jogging but have found this aggravates my back. I also walk, do yoga & pump classes. I have regular massages which help & acupuncture. Seeing surgeon this week who will probably suggest a bone scan to make sure nothing else is going on. I have heard that sometimes it takes a while for the body to adjust. My pain is not bad enough to take anything, it is just annoying. I hope you find some relief. 

About to start Letrozole myself today and asked both on here and my medical oncologist about what to do to counter this. The medical oncologist said Fish oil. Several ladies on this site say they take powdered Magnesium daily . There are a lot of other suggestions on this blog and several are/ have been on letrozole - have a look back thru recent blogs .Guess your bone density has been checked - I have osteoporosis and am to have 6 monthly Prolia injections to help counter bone thinning.I joined a gentle exercise class twice a week and if it ever stops raining hope to walk for 30 minutes daily.Thinking of you 

About to start Letrozole myself today and asked both on here and my medical oncologist about what to do to counter this. The medical oncologist said Fish oil. Several ladies on this site say they take powdered Magnesium daily . There are a lot of other suggestions on this blog - eg afraser and Guess your bone density has been checked - I have osteoporosis and am to have 6 monthly Prolia injections to help counter bone thinning.I joined a gentle exercise class twice a week and if it ever stops raining hope to walk for 30 minutes daily.

Try putting Femara/ letrozole in the search bar on the home page top right - it will pull up quite a lot of posts

I take fish oil, Glucasomine with Chondritin, Vitamin D, Magnesium powder from Naturopath twice daily but none of it seems to help. 

brightspace said:

Hi Dibee  sustained repetitive exercise with letrozole does affect muscle for me so only gentle exercise walking ok but not running
If you had chemo also affects muscle and joints  some see an execrise psyciologist for assistance
We have to adapt to gentle movement yoga and swimming 
All best bright

Thanks for your thoughts. It's quite confronting as this has all come about doing oncology rehab.

I am on my last year of Femara (hooray) and while I have had some side effects, I have had none of the aching joints or arthritic pains that my oncologist warned about at the start and that others have experienced. For other reasons, I have taken magnesium, fish oil and vitamin D for a long time, and have been on calcium since I decided to cut back on some high fat dairy foods (still drink quite a bit of low or no fat milk as Femara is not good for bone density). Have no idea if these have helped or not!! But no aches or pains.

Afraser may I ask is it better to take Femara in the morning/ evening and with/without food - there are no instructions in/ on the box and forgot to ask the oncologist Thursday

I have taken it both ways (overseas travel plays havoc with my pill box!) and it hasn't made any difference, but then again I haven't been having these side effects anyway. As far as I know there is no issue about before or after food, although my package (chemist label) warns it can affect alertness and to "beware of driving". I don't drive, I have never felt any drowsiness and I have no great confidence in labels slapped on by chemists! The manufacturer lists the usual long list of possible side effects, but doesn't emphasise bone density impact and vaginal dryness, neither of which are uncommon. Also says it is not food affected. Ah the joys of drugs!