FEMARA Reviews (LETROZOLE)Average Rating: 2.5 (1087 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare FEMARA with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
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Results are sorted by Age from youngest to oldest (reviews with no age reported listed first). Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.) Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 |
More on FEMARA: Reviews Summary | Drug Safety Information
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR FEMARA | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 2 | breast cancer | I was fine for about 4 months and then, wham, it's like my body doesn't belong to me. Night sweats, horrible joint aches as described by others. I can barely move after being in non-standing position, up at all hours of the night. The one thing I have not read about here, is that I am having horribly vivid which I remember in complete detail after I am awake. Some are disturbing to the point that I carry it with me throughout the day. Even if the dreams don't effect me negatively, it is very odd for me to have such elaborate dreams. I haven't talked to my doctor about this yet, but I will. | Just very curious if anyone else is having protracted, detailed, vivid dreams. | F | 54 | 5 months | 12/19/2008 | 2 | ductal cell ca | Major--hair loss-almost immediately. After 10 months-hypertension(I did not have this on Tamoxifen. Now I have a constant high-frequency pitch in my ears(can not differentiate whether right, left or both) wwhich was intermittent before---anyone else have this? (my b/p is normal at this time) | F | 54 | 13 days | 12/10/2007 | 2 | prevent reoccurance of bc | pain in my hips, shoulders, now traveling down my arms. numbness in my right hand (I thought maybe it was carpel tunnel) tiredness. I have had an increase in cholosterol and blood pressure. I'm now thinking maybe it's all the femara, not just that I'm getting old! | Took Tamoxifin for 5 years after bc surgery/chemo.(12 years ago) then went on Evista (raloxifene) for about 5 years (no problems) then swithced to femara last May. Thought my hip pain was coming from walking so much (trained for BC 3 day walk).So glad to have found this site. Will call my oncologist and see what can be done about coming off and possibly awitching back to Evista. | F | 54 | 9 months | 3/27/2008 | 2 | Stage 1 breast cancer | Hot flashes, night sweats, crippling joint and muscle pain, muscle weakness, pathologic weight gain, sleep disturbances, constipation | In addition to breast cancer I have MS, the hot flashes exacerbate the MS symptoms. The biopsy did not reveal any cancer cells outside the tumor, there was no lymph involvement, and my oncotype DX test results indicate an 11% recurrence rate. Even if my results were less favorable I don't think I could consider continuing with this medication. It is a quality of life issue. Survival is wonderful but not if you spend your time hoping tomorrow will bring blessed relief. I see my oncologist tomorrow and it's not open for negotiation. My compliance with Femara has seen it's end. I'll close with the one and only positive in my Femara experience, my hair has become wavy. | F | 54 | 6 months | 3/10/2009 | 2 | Breast CA Stage 2-A, HRC+ | Aching muscles and joints especially hips/hands/shoulders/forearms and upper back ,nonpitting edema of feet/ankles/hands, stiffness especially in mornings, neuropathy/partial numbness in hands (worsening of carpal tunnel),weakness in hands, increase in frequency & severity of hot flashes, lack of libido, weight gain | I had 2 surgeries, a wound infection, chemo, a blood clot (4 months of Coumadin) sepsis, and radiation. My oncologist did not want to try Tamoifen as it has a risk of blood clots. I have tried Arimidex, and Aromasin (the other 2 aromatase inhibitors) with the same side effects (plus leg weakness), which gradually increased with time. The hand numbness eventually became debilitating. I am an RN and cannot work with numb hands! I am trying Femara, but the same side effects have been developing over the last 2 weeks. Today I read that Femara can also have some risk of blood clots. Will try to tolerate the side effects for the 2 more weeks of med I have, but if my hands become constantly numb I will have to discontinue Femara too, and trust my future health to God (and a healthy lifestyle). Only long term use would really show if the drug is working to prevent recurrence of the cancer. | F | 54 | 12 days | 10/19/2009 | 2 | BC Stg.1, node neg. | Living in a fog, frightening short-term memory, every joint in my body stiff and aching, especially fingers and knees. Plantar heel pain such that upon rising from sitting or laying down may need crutches soon if this gets any worse? Everything hurts. | Before I began it last week, I asked the onco-doc 4X to tell me what the common side effects were. At first I thought he'd not heard me but then I realized he was deliberately avoiding the discussion. Then, with a heavy sigh, he began this sort of tirade about how, having already gone through breast surgery, axillary node disection, taxotere/cytoxin chemo, radiation and then a bilateral oophorectomy, this drug would be, by far, the easiest. He told me he doesn't like to be switching BC patients from A.I. to A.I., and told me with a chuckle that he did NOT want to be hearing any joint complaints. He said this was the most important aspect of my 'fight', reiterated the great successes this drug could boast, and sent me on my way. WITHOUT a script, btw.....but with a 30 day supply from the sample cabinet, and, I have excellent insurance, so this sounds like he wasn't ready to prescribe it. So, as I said, it is day 7 and I am searching the net here for other people's symptoms with Femara. Three days into it, and I found myself crying while trying to explain to someone how I suddenly feel as though I am 90 years old! I hadn't cried all year, even at my diagnosis! And now, what to do? I don't know if I can do this much longer, am sort of afraid to tell the onco doc this! This is worse than any of my above treatments because THOSE things had an end in sight. Also, (in my mind?)everyone expects that I am all better now, that I am cured and should be feeling great any day now. | F | 54 | 7 days | 12/9/2009 | 2 | Post breast cancer. Stage 4 | Very tired. Extreme muscle and joint pain. Vaginal dryness and hot flashes. I thought these would all get better but getting worse, but don't want cancer to return. | F | 54 | 5 years 2.5 1X day | 12/30/2014 | 2 | Breast cancer | I started having pain in my back, shoulder and hands almost immediately from the start of taking. The pain is now constant and can barely walk, cannot write without extreme pain and cannot sit or stand for more than a couple of minutes. I have hardly any short term memory, will have bouts of severe fatigue that comes on suddenly and have lost almost all muscle mass so that it shows I have only put on 5 lbs. but in fact, have put on quite a few inches. I also have tremors in my hands that I do not see listed as a side effect. I am going to disscuss with my Dr. about going off. I have no quality of life at this moment. | F | 54 | 1 years 30 | 3/26/2012 | 2 | Stage 3 Breast Cancer | Major depression, hair thinning on top, weight gain and very bad Constipation. Soreness and stiffness in legs and back, unable to walk easily, I find getting up from the seated position very stiff and painful. Feel like I am 80 years old!! Unable to sleep well, hot flushes so bad I have sweat dripping from end of nose!Fatigue and tiredness. | My Doctors think I should quite work. I am only 54 years old and feel like my life is over! However,I am very grateful for your comments because it made me realize that all the problems I have had are all because of the Femara and that I am not the only one with these problems. Thankyou to all you lovely women, God Bless you!XXXXX | F | 54 | 2 years 2.5 MG 1X day | 4/20/2011 | 2 | Stage II Breast Cancer | I have been taking femara since August 2007 and I feel as if I am slowly losing my mind. Problems with memory, especially with words or phrases during routine conversations. I'm extremely tired all the time, my joints ache, even the joints that are not afflicted with arthritis. Sex has become almost non-existent due to vaginal drynessl I can only sleep if I take Lunesta, Demerol, & Neurontin. I also take Effexor in the AM, Levothyroxine, and Triamerene. I'm beginning to lose track of time, dates & important events. Can anybody please help me? | F | 54 | 2.5 years 2.5mg 1X day | 4/27/2010 | 2 | Stage 4 Met. Breast Cancer | More bone pain. Have had difficulty exercising because it is easy to injure cartiledge or muscle. Not fun. | F | 54 | 50 days 2.5 mg 1X day | 9/18/2010 Patient History | 2 | breast cancer stage 2 | Foot, ankle, wrist pain. Painful to walk after sitting still for even a brief time. Ankle and wrist pain makes it harder to sleep. Vaginal dryness. Sometimes pain with intercourse despite using lubricant. | The point of taking an aromatase inhibitor is to reduce circulating estrogens in case there are any estrogen receptor positive cancer cells remaining. After surgery and radiation, I wonder if there are any remaining. If not, then I'm taking Femara unecessarily. It bothers me to take heavy duty medication when it might not even be necessary---if there are no estrogen receptor positive cancer cells left after treatment, then it does not matter if I have the normal amount of estrogen I would have at this age---I guess it is impossible to know for sure if surgery and radiation eradicated every cancer cell. | F | 54 | 4 months 2.5 mg 1X day | 7/29/2010 | 2 | after 5 ys of tamoxifin for BCancer | I have been on femara since mid June 05 and have suffered from joint pain since July 05. It is especially painful in my hip, leg ,knee and sometimes lower back. I also notice more pain in my hands. I wake up at least 2-3 times a night with the pain. | I am taking naproxin for pain and have tried physical therapy. Neither have offered any relief. I am considering stopping the drug to increase my quality of life. I used to exercise regularly, but I can not now because of the pain. | F | 54 | 7 months | 2/19/2006 | 2 | for prevention of breast can return | Joint,bone and muscle pain especially in wrists,thumbs,legs and feet. Bones in feet even have burning feeling. Weight gain and extreme fatigue. Rise in liver enzyme ALK. | After five yeras of Tamoxifen switched to Femara. Hot flashes better but other side effect more severe. | F | 54 | 1.5 years | 12/23/2005 | 2 | Breast Cancer -Stage 1 | Stiffness and aching of the legs,hips,and particularly my knees. Fatigue and hotflashes are horrible all hours of the day and night! Tingling in my finger tips on my left hand. Sore area in my left upper arm deep near the bone. | Been on the drug for 6 months | F | 54 | | 7/11/2007 | 2 | BC lymph node invl stage2 | Joint pain, very bad, weight gain, vaginal dryness that is unbearable to have relations with my husband. Dizziness and heart palpitations. Thank you for this site, I now know I am not going crazy and that these symptoms are from the drug and not normal aging!!! | I am going to the oncologist in Aug-07 and make the decision to stay on the drug or go off...Followed Tamoxifen (took for 2 1/2 years) and then Femara. I was too afraid to quit taking this before. | F | 54 | 2.5 years | 6/1/2007 | 2 | Stage 1 BC | Lots of pain in my hands in the a.m. and if I am sitting still for a while. I can hardly move and I am stiff. Feels like I age 30 years in the last year. Hot flashes throughout the day, always warm. | F | 54 | 1 years | 4/24/2007 | 2 | to prevent breast cancer recurrence | Started off with generalized soreness at 2 months. By 2.5 months knee pain with associated muscle soreness in thighs. Eventually spread to hip, elbow, shoulder, neck/upper back pain. All were bilateral and identical in intensity and on both sides. All involved the general joint and muscle area. The knees and hips were far worse than anywhere else. Feet swelled a lot by the end of the day--shoes began not to fit even by the next morning. Fatigue/malaise and some days just exhaustion--even driving to work in the morning! I knew something was wrong when I actually thought about resting my head on the steering wheel. Some days I was smarter and just went back to bed. I have no idea if it's related but I got a very nasty respiratory flu each time I took Femara. I haven't had the flu in many years and I get flu shots. | I wanted to take this medication because of my Dr.'s recommendation and the good results in the trials. I took Tamoxifen 5 years with no problems. What a dilemma. I tried it twice, about 2.5 months each time, with 5 weeks in between to get back to normal. I have no allergies and never before had such strong medication side effects. It became too difficult to work and do normal activities because of the erosion of my stamina and the chronic pain/soreness. I took 2 Aleve at a time, mostly twice a day. Getting out of a chair and getting in and out of a car were the most painful movements. A short walk helped, but often getting back was painful! I tried support hose and a low salt diet. I had to take intermittent leave to reduce my work day and to cover me on the exhaustion days. I'm still trying to catch up at work. The best I felt on Femara was when I was in the pool. I spent a lot of time at the pool this summer! Good luck to all of you. It just got too hard to manage Femara in my | F | 54 | 5 months | 10/22/2008 | 1 | stage I invasive bc | Hands and feet hurt , my vision has gotten worse, no desire for sex (should give this drug to sex offenders). Extreme fatigue, memory loss and having migraines which I haven't had in many years since stopping birth control. Depression. Stopped femara on 4-8-07 after 10 months. Maybe the depression makes me not want this life. Was very active, gained weight which will not go away. No quality of life. | Took tomoxifen 5 years. Took antidepresant and stopped because of side effect. Concerned about bone loss. Fosamax was terrible. There has to be a better way. | F | 54 | 10 days | 4/11/2007 | 1 | DCIS, status post lumpectomy | I began taking Femara after completing five years of Tamoxifen. Eight to ten weeks after starting Femara, I experienced severe bone and muscle pain, severe morning stiffness with joint swelling and pain, even developing a Baker’s cyst behind my right knee. I experienced severe headaches, worst I have ever had, with numbness down my arms and severe back pain where MRIs revealed cervical radiculopathy and disc degeneration at C5-C7 along with a large cyst at L4-L5 that was growing into the vertebrae and pressing against the sciatic nerve causing extreme sciatica and loss of control of my right leg ending in back surgery and fusion at L4-L5. There has been terrible weight gain, abdominal pain, horrific sweating and decreased libido. I was told that I had Rheumatoid Arthritis even though all the blood tests were normal. None of the extremely expensive arthritis medications worked. I am 54 and feel 94! I am a professional woman and have been able to work only part-time. I canno | This medication was rushed through normal FDA trials without thought to patient outcomes. I am very discomforted to be treated as a Guinea Pig and in this case would not wish this on them either. | F | 54 | 3.5 years | 9/23/2007 |