FEMARA Reviews (LETROZOLE)Average Rating: 2.5 (1087 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare FEMARA with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
|
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 |
| 3 | Breast Cancer | Chronic bone/joint pain in chest area: neck, ribs, back and shoulders. Weight gain - 20+ lbs in 9 months! Vaginal dryness and loss of libido. I was a marathon runner with a sex life and now I walk like a 90 old lady....and I won't even discuss the other issue! | Started with Arimidex which caused severe headaches. Switched to Femara which got rid of the headaches but brought on the ever increasing bone and joint pain and other side effects. Given my cancer diagnosis I can live like a 90 year old woman or gamble on the cancer killing me. I am going to stick it out a little longer and see what happens. | F | 57 | 12 months | 1/31/2006 | 3 | Stage one Breast cancer, | Numbness in toes and fingers. Extreme tiredness. Very forgetful. | My MD stated that she has not heard of numbness being a side effect. Must take a sleeping tablet every night | F | 57 | 180 days | 11/2/2008 | 3 | Breast Cancer diagnosed March 05 | I was first on Femara in early 2006, but had to switch to Evista because of osteoporosis. While on Evista, I developed eschemic colitis (what a nightmare) and dr suspected the medication, so switched back to Femara late 2006. Did well until recently. After reading others' experiences, I know now my symptoms are probably drug related --- 57 and feeling 87, pain in calves, ankles & feet, feel feverish, hands can't grip. I also like to be active and sometimes exercise just makes it much worse. But at least I'm still alive and now have a good idea of what's causing the problems and can revisit this with my dr. | F | 57 | | 10/7/2007 | 3 | Class 2 breast cancer | Joint pain, fatigue. Trying to exercise through the joint pain, but am finding that I can't do as much as I'd like because I will "pay" for it. Sometimes the soreness seems systemic. My main complaint right now is extreme dry, sensitive skin. My eyes get red and look and feel tired frequently. Is anyone else experiencing this? | F | 57 | 9 months | 4/12/2007 | 2 | Stage 2 BC 4 lymph nodes | Tired, heart palpitations, bloated, joint pain, was exercizing every morning, now I don't have the energy to do anything. | Is there any natural supplement to take instead of this, | F | 57 | 4 days | 6/2/2007 | 2 | Stage 2 BC | The longer I am on Femara, the more pain I am experiencing, especially in the hands, wrists, elbows, neck, lower back, and feet. Pain is the worst when getting up in the AM or after long periods of sitting. The vaginal dryness and rawness of the vulva have made sex impossible. I could bearly tolerate my last pelvic & pap even with lots of lubricant. It feels like my membranes have lost their skin. Bladder irritation occurs too. | I started on Tamoxifin after chemo and radiation. I took it for 2 1/2 years, with minimal side effects, until I started spotting and required a D&C. At that time, my Oncologist switched me to Femara. I have always been an active person so the pain and stiffness I have is a real downer. Vaginal dryness and rawness is a lot worse compared to Tamoxifin. At 57 I have NO sex life. Doctors just say...use lubricants. Sorry, but that doesn't do the trick. My next appointment with my Oncologist is 3 weeks away. I need some answers or help. I am thankful to be cancer free so far, but aching all the time and a sexless life make me wonder if this is worth it. I am thinking of stopping the drug and taking my chances... | F | 57 | 8 months | 2/4/2007 | 2 | DCIS 6109 | Arthritis head to toe(never had this before I started femara), bursitis in shoulder(required PT to get range of motion back), foggy brain, lack of energy, night time hot flashes/sweats | Very costly | F | 57 | 7 months 1X day | 7/14/2010 | 2 | Breast Cancer | Eyebrows almost gone, hair seems thinner,the worst is my hands swell up and it hurts to bend my fingers. My feet feel like wedges are being driven between the bones, so walking for exercise is out. Hot flashes, mostly at night, and numbness in my arms while trying to sleep. | I can't live like this for five years. My oncologist said I have to take it and that tamoxifen will give me blood clots. She is very unsympathetic but I think I will have to threaten to stop taking it to see if she will come up with something else. Chemo was awful, but at least I knew it was going to end! I'm afraid this will do permanent damage to my joints and I feel like I'm 90 years old now. What's the point of living longer if you feel miserable the whole time? | F | 57 | 5 months 2.5 mg 1X day | 2/12/2010 | 2 | Post Stage 2 Breast Cancer | Headache, muscle aches and pains. No weight loss, feeling like I am 101, not 57. Sleepless, nights, pains in my hips, knees and elbows. Trying to exercise at the gym. This is so frustrating. I can totally idenify with the comments below. | Thanks to everyone that has commented, I am talking with my husband and making an appointment with my medical oncologist. I really want to trust God on this one too! | F | 57 | 1.5 years 10 mg 1X day | 5/24/2011 | 2 | Recurrent ovarian granulosa cell ca | Muscle and joint pain/stiffness. depression, mental confusion. Feel old. | Muscle aches and joint pain started about 2 weeks in. I told my husband I felt like I was 80. Mental confusion started slowly- noticed it started with small things - thought it might be age, but has gotten much worse. To the point where I have memory loss, and actually went to see a neurologist for episodes of amnesia. Also have had a major depressive episode. Didn't help that the cancer returned and they were unable to get it all this time. My onc says I am on it for life, or if the tumors increase, another round of chemo. Am now separated from my husband..I think he could not deal with the femara side of me. | F | 57 | 2 years 2.5 1X day | 11/5/2011 | 2 | breast cancer - stage 1 | Severe bone/joint pain; arthritis and increased wear in joints. Pain in feet upon rising feels like walking barefoot on sharp rocks. Insomnia is shredding my quality of life - it's getting harder to function every day. The only way I get at least 3 hrs sleep is to take a sleeping pill which I try to limit to 3 -4 nights a week. I've become good at faking life, except I can't hide the stiffness/joint cracking and difficulty. Libido is at zero. | I'm afraid to stop taking this drug because the cancer might come back, but I'm afraid to keep taking it too. I wish there were more options. | F | 57 | 2 years 1x day | 1/25/2015 | 2 | breastfeeding cancer | Hot flashes, feet and hand pain. Joint and muscle pain | F | 57 | 1 days 30mg | 9/20/2014 | 2 | breast cancer | Joint pain-ankles, knees, elbows, hands.Shortness of breath coming up stairs or running. Raised cholesterol. Hair falling out. Rapidly ageing skin. Loss of libido.All this in one year and I have an extremely healthy diet-lots of fruit and vegetables, whole grains, little meat etc, the perfect weight for my height and have always exercised daily.I feel as if I have aged ten years. Yesterday I decided to stop taking Femara as I feel that I have a greater risk of having heart disease or a stroke and of being disabled by arthritis if I continue, than of getting cancer.(No lymph nodes were affected and I had a mastectomy) | I wish I had found this site sooner, it would have persuaded me stop taking it sooner. | F | 57 | 13 months | 4/15/2008 | 2 | Breast Cancer stage 1 | Briefly? I wish it was that easy! Weight gain , pain in hips (severe) joints , fingers arms shins,constipation , vaginal dryness , brain fog , eyes hurt & vision problems , bloating & indigestion , continual fatigue , headaches , hot flashes (understatement, I want to rip off my clothes & jump into ice water, have run naked into the snow or rain on occaision ) Heart palpitations, racing pulse when I'm sitting still . If I wasn't so forgetful I could tell you more. | I just found this site. Why didn't my oncologist tell me all this? All he mentioned was I'd have to take more calcium from bone density loss due to femara use & hot flashes. Last time I saw him ,I mentioned heart problems & he said didn't I tell you about that? Apparently there's a lot we're not being told, as so many of us have the same problems. I was on Tamoxifen for a year but couldn't sleep much with that either ,so he told me I could stop. After a year off , I had a reconstruction operation& they found a pinprick sized tumor tha was part of the original .I had lobular B.C. in one breast ,had a lumpectomy , 6 mo. later double mast. No chemo or rad. Now I've been on Femara 2 years , but have little energy for the life I live. Feel like 100 years old ,shaky ,palpitating , in pain , spacey , exhausted, confused . Playing guitar ,Painting & thanking God for what I do have , is all that keeps me going | F | 57 | 46 months | 8/28/2009 | 1 | Breast Cancer | I was on tamoxifen for 3 and a half years. My doctor switch me to femara because of the type to tumors that I had. Tamoxifen had some side effects but nothing like femara. As soon as I took the pills I had severe hip and knee joint pain. Also I was having to have my glasses changed every six months. I thought for a while that I was losing my mind. My doctor told me that what I was experiencing was all in my head and that femara did not have any major side effects. I could not even walk up the stairs in my home or read the papers that I had to grade. I would not take this med. again. | F | 57 | 18 months | 4/2/2009 | 1 | stage 1 breast cancer | very bad pain in hands and feet ,tired all the time ,weepy,just a general feeling of awful | F | 57 | 1 days | 3/25/2009 | 1 | breast cancer | I have already described them:see F age 57 14th April 2008 | It is now almost 4 months since I stopped taking Femara. All the symptoms described have disappeared (although I have not checked the cholesterol levels yet). I feel and LOOK like a new person. I just saw a photo taken of me last December and was horrified-I looked 10 years older | F | 57 | 13 months | 8/4/2008 | 1 | Stage 1 Breast Ca | This stuff is POISON. With 2 days felt nausea, mood swings, heart palpitations, headache. I kept hoping the effects would level out, but they got worse!! Depression, relentless inferno hot flashes insomnia and feeling hopeless. No energy or drive to to do ANYTHING!! Brain fog... Then I came upon this website and realized how unbelievably dangerous this med is. Thank God I didn't take it long enough to have permanent damage to my bones, heart and who knows what else | I WILL NOT take Femara or any other Estrogen blocking drugs! Would rather die from the cancer than be debilitated from meds like this! Pay attention ladies!!!! | F | 57 | 1 months 2.5 | 12/20/2014 | 1 | Stage 1 B/C | At first my side effects were minor and I thought myself very blessed to escape some of the comments that I read here. Now I am 4 months into this drug and I must say it is terrible. My husband has to help me out of the chair (after sitting for a bit) my feet ache in the morning, my knees hurt all the time, the strength in my hand and arms is not only decreased but they are very painfull. I talked to my oncologist and she said that she'd like to keep me on it but that there is another option but I don't remember what she called it. I see her again in January and will ask her again. It's frustrating that after finishing my radiation I got my energy back and now this seems to have no end in sight. I really hope to get off this Femara. | F | 57 | 4 months | 12/20/2009 | 1 | Breast cancer in both breasts | Carpel tunnel and arthritis in my hands were very painful. I couldn't do hardly anything. Joints in my legs hurt every time I got up. Depression too. | I started taking Femara 3-17-09. I explained to my doctor all my symptoms. He had me quit for one week, and then he put me on Arimidex. After a week of being off of Femara, my carpel tunnel improved tremendously. The pain in my joints went away. My depression was gone. LADIES, TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR. There's no reason to suffer like that. Medicines work different on different people. I've been on Arimidex since 6-25-09, and so far, the only symptom I have is a tiny bit of carpel tunnel in one finger! | F | 57 | 3 months | 9/16/2009 |