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 Date added. 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 |
| 1 | breast cancer | debilitating body aches, pains, fatigue. Lack of focus.... NO libido. vaginal dryness. NO quality of life. | I also took Arimidex and Tamoxifen. I chose to not take any of the aromatase inhibitors. I was MISERABLE on them. I was a statistical survivor. I prefer to be a "thriver". I could be hit by a car crossing the street tomorrow. If I took my Rx like a good little patient, would it be worth it? I have been aromatase free for 3 years and am loving every minute. That's just me. It must be an individual's decision. Love to hear what you have to say. Peace and Happy & Healthy New Year. | F | 49 | 365 days | 1/1/2010 | 2 | breast cancer stage 0 | I have experienced the heavy sweating and sleeplessness that others have commented on. The biggest problem however is the joint and muscle pain in hips, knees and ankles. I am really crippled up. | I quit taking the drug about 6 weeks ago. Within two days of stopping the pain left my knees and ankles. Still having seriously debilitating hip pain that gets worse as the day progresses. Had no hip or leg pain before starting Femara. About to try Arimidex at the doctor's urging even though similar problems reported. Because my cancer was stage 0 in situ and I required no further treatment, I will have to consider my next decision as a quality of life issue. | F | 68 | 5.5 months | 12/28/2009 | 2 | breast cancer stage 2 | Aching knees and "dead legs" making me feel prematurely aged -- and I am generally very active, so I know it's not fatigue I am looking into bioidentical hormones that my provide the intended benefit without the arthritic side effects | F | 55 | 5 months | 12/27/2009 | 4 | Stage 1 Breast Cancer | "Fuzzy" focus and memory; extreme stiffness in knees, elbows, and ankles; weight gain; vaginal dryness | I took lupron + tamoxifen for 1.5 years, then switched to femara + lupron for 1 year. I then took a 1-year break from all medicine. I've now been back on femara/lupron for 1 year. I thought it was me turning 40, but I guess it's also the meds. I can't stick with a thought for more than half a minute. It takes me 5 minutes to get out of bed. My knees creek going up and down the stairs. I also have what feels like arthritis in my elbow. I'm not sure how I feel about continuing it. My onc says that I got the most benefit in the first two years. I rated it a 4 because of the general benefit of preventing a recurrence, which is the main point. | M | 41 | 2 years | 12/25/2009 | 3 | DCIS breast cancer, ER-Pos. | Completed radiation,33 treatments,and now after almost 2 months of Femara 2.5, I don't feel much worse than before. My biggest complaint is muscle and joint pain. I experienced this before taking Femara but seems to be a little worse. I figure it is arthritis to some degree. | I am willing to take Femara if it keeps me from having a recurrence. It definitely has not affected my appetite. I do not have any problems with my stomach or going to the bathroom. Blood tests are normal. | F | 55 | 45 days | 12/25/2009 | 3 | Breast Cancer | Very severe joint pain particularly in one knee which is also swollen most of the time hampering bending, sitting, excercising. Have been taking femara for 6 months initially not too bad but the joint pain is progressively worse. Wold love to hear from anyone taking anything natural to assist hot flushes and pains and still maintaining reasonalble esrogen levels so that bones are not to compromised by this drug. | Hot flushes during the night so sleep is disrutped most nights. Can't find a comfortable position to sleep. Manged chemo pretty well able to excercise and felt good until I started the drug and now I have added on 8 kilos. Frustration and disappoinment and the side effects make me feel older than I am as I can do less. Thumbs are still sore, feet hurt after sitting too long. Taking mobicosa, calcium. vit d, glucosomie, fish oil and juicing daily adding spinach and other fresh greenry to juices to help reduce inflammation. Physio is helping somewhat. Thanks to everyone for sharing it helps to know you are not alone as the oncologists cannot really offer much. | F | 53 | 6 months | 12/24/2009 | 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 | 2 | breast cancer, no nodes, mastectomy | I was ok for a while. The hot flashes bother me in the summer but not so much during the fall and winter. I have noticed alot of pain in my hips and knees lately, and sometimes I can't pick up something on the floor. I also have thinning hair. I sleep very well and I think its due to an antidepressant which started long before the breast cancer. I wish I could find shoes that don't hurt. I have had degenerative disc disease and scoliosis all my life and now I am pretty sure I will end up in a wheel chair due to this drug. I have increased my glucosamine, take B vitamins, fish oil, and increased calcium, as well as Boniva. I never did chemo or radiation. I thought I was lucky. But this medicine makes me feel so very old. i am trying to exercise as much as I can, because it seems to help. | I don't know if its helping or not. I just keep on taking it because the oncologist says I must. | F | 67 | 15 months | 12/18/2009 | 4 | Breast cancer | Diagnosed with breast cancer stage 1, grade 3 in February of 2009. Had lumpectomy, sentinel lymph nodes removed and were negative of cancer. Completed radiation and 4 treatments of chemo. | Began taking femara in August 2009. The first few months were good. No side effects nothing major. The last couple of months,I begin to feel joint pain, more in my legs and thighs, and arms and wrists. Some anxiety attacks, depending on what might be happening at the time in my life that will bring on the anxiety. Other than that, I am sticking with the femara, even though without any health insurance right now, it will cost over $1000 for a 3 month supply. I am exercising as much as I can, taking vitamin b12, d, and fish oil caps. I think they help a bit. Good luck to all on the site; it's a great site with lots of info from other patients. | F | 54 | 5 months | 12/16/2009 | 1 | Stage 2B breast cancer, bilateral | Joint, bone, muscle pain. My feet and thumbs were especially bad, but knees and lower back hurt all the time. Muscle cramps in lower legs and feet, especially at night in bed. Weight gain, loss of libido, angry outbursts, fatigue. My face would get red and the skin would feel like paper that was on fire -- very unlike hot flashes I had which were quite mild. | After bilateral mastectomies, I was on tamoxifen for a little over 3 years and experienced very few temporary side effects. My oncologist then switched me to Femara . I seemed to be fine for a couple of months and didn't give it a second thought. Then gradually I noticed I was tired no matter how much sleep I got, and my feet hurt. Then my joints and bones seemed to ache all the time. I developed muscle cramps in my lower legs and feet when I went to bed at night. I already had arthritis and I just thought it was getting worse, but it seemed really fast, and my feet had never been such a problem. I couldn't get motivated to go to the pool at the gym, which had been helping me with my arthritis for a couple of years. The worst was I was having angry outbursts over the littlest things, and my partner was walking on eggs, never knowing what would set me off. After ordering a refill 2 weeks ago, it struck me that maybe I was having a delayed reaction to the Femara, so I looked around online. I found this website and was appalled, but relieved at what I was reading. Every problem I was having was mentioned in these postings! I was actually excited that maybe I could make this downward spiral stop. I stopped taking the Femara immediately, and after 2 weeks, I am 100% improved. I'm back to my old self, even went to the pool today. I feel so much better. I will NEVER take that drug again. Attitude and quality of life are everything, and Femara took both from me. No more. | F | 61 | 6 months | 12/16/2009 | 1 | Stage 1 Breast cancer | I ache all over, I am nauseated,my hair is thinning, I have sweats, I am seeing a doctor next week because I have carpal tunnel and cannot sleep and I feel depressed. A recent blood test showed elevated liver enzymes. My doctor took me off femara for one week while he had my liver evaluated. I felt better - then he put me back on and I feel miserable again. If I have to be on for 4 1/2 more years, what kind of quality of life is that? | F | 68 | 5 months | 12/16/2009 | 3 | Treatment for Endometriosis | Horrible joint paint in almost every joint, especially the tops of my feet, elbows, knees and shoulders, hot flashes, sudden break out in hives/acne on my neck, chest and shoulders (never EVER had acne in these places ever in my life), mood swings, and fatigue | I took Femara for about 8 months and just literally took my last pill tonight. I took it for a treatment as a result of stage IV very bad Endometreosis. From what my doctor has said the surgery I had and the pills, coupled with a Lupron shot once a month for 6 months have done the job. However this is not without the nasty side effects. I can deal with the hot flashes, mood swings, and even the horrible acne that showed up, but the joint pain was the worst. I used to run about 3-4 times a week and now when I get home from work I do can barely anything. I am so tired and my joints are so achy I usually just go to bed. I am 24 years old so I hope after taking this last shot I will be back to normal and I hope the joint pain isn't permanent because it has been pretty miserable the past 3 months | F | 24 | 8 months | 12/10/2009 | 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 | Stage 2 Breast Cancer | No noticeable bone pain, vaginal dryness, however, my biggest problem this past year has been development of Gerd / Acid Reflux and recently, a breakout of hives every morning which tend to go away. The Gerd has been horrific this year but I'm getting it under control, however, now that hives have developed which could be chronic and caused by autoimmune disease, I'm very concerned that Femara could have brought it on. | I took Tamoxifen for 5 years and tolerated that well enough but I'm very concerned that Femara could be causing more of my symptoms which are not listed as a major side effect but I wanted to post this due to the possibility that more people could be experiencing these symptoms without knowing they may be related. I'm going to speak to my oncologist further. | F | 60 | 2 years | 12/7/2009 | 4 | stage 3 breast cancer, HER2/nu pos | Moderate hot flashes -- I also have some sleep issues, stiffness in my joints if sitting too long, and hair thinner than I used to-- but so do some of my post menopausal friends with out cancer. | After my chemo, and radiation I was on Herceptin for a year. I was first taking Arimidex, another aromatase inhibitor but after about a year I had bad joint pains, lack of energy, felt like 100, etc. I talked to my oncologist and she changed me to Femara, which I feel better on. Another woman in my breast cancer support group had problems with Femara and now takes Arimidex -- and likes it. We are all different, talk to your doctor and find an alternative drug. I will tolerate some discomfort to enjoy my first grandchild. I also exercise and do yoga. I think Arimidex did hasten my joint problems originally caused by an old injury and arthritis. I had a knee replacement surgery in 2007. | F | 62 | 2.5 years | 12/4/2009 | 3 | breast cancer stage 2 nodes clear | severe knee pain- one knee only; dry eyes; occasional hot flashes | Started femara mid-April 08 and have recently (since early October 09) been experiencing steadily worsening pain in one knee-a knee I injured in 1998. As others have said, I feel like I'm 80! Have also been experiencing dry eys, making contact lens use somewhat problematic. Will see my med-onc and ophthamologist next week and discuss. Have had occasional hot flashes, but they have not been a problem. (Won't know how effective Femara's been until I don't get cancer again!) | F | 66 | 2 years | 12/3/2009 | 2 | Stage 2 breast cancer | Severe joint pain all over, developed 2 trigger fingers, hair thinning, losing my eyebrows, depression, weight gain particularly in the midriff area, pain in my feet, sleeplessness, blurred vision, loss of hair on my legs and underarms, total lack of energy. | I began taking Femara in October 2008. I thought I was just being a complainer about my "aches and pains", especially with family and friends telling me that this was better than possibly dying. I just happened upon this site today and was so happy to know that I'm not the only one who is disgusted with this treatment. In additon to the side effects which are making life miserable, this drug is so expensive that I was forced to ask my doctor to put me on something else. He reluctantly chose Tamoxifen. If the quality of my life doesn't improve with that, then I would rather trust my life to God's will, than to spend the rest of it like this. I feel like I'm 80 years old and unable to do much of anything. That's not living...it's existing. | F | 67 | 14 months | 12/2/2009 | 3 | post Tamoxifen after mastectomy | The hot flashes are overwhelming and getting worse. Bones/joints hurt all the time. | Eight years since breast cancer surgery and all appears to be under control. I'm thankful for the Tamoxifen and Femara therapy however I don't know if I can stand 2 1/2 more years of intense hot flashes multiple times per day. The pain in my bones and joints seems to be staying about the same. And the cost is extreme to my insurance and to me with a co-pay. | F | 61 | 2 years | 12/1/2009 | 2 | Estrogen & HER2 Postive BC | Constipation, insomnia, joint pain in hips, weight gain, bottom of feet sore. Recently 2 joint flare ups which are very painful - caused by Femara? Who knows! | I would like to stop Femara. My tumor was small, stage 1 and no lymphs involved. Had left breast masectomy, Herceptin infusions for a year and have been on Femara since 11-20-08. Oncologist not happy with what I'm thinking. Now with the recent knee and wrist flare-ups which put that part of my body out of commission I'm wondering if Femara is the cause. Flare-ups last around 24 hours so not as bad as some of you. | F | 64 | 1 years | 11/26/2009 | 2 | breast cancer state 2 | I felt I needed to write more. I was tiered of not being able to think clearly. Had brain fog all the time. could not remember to do things and had to carry a note pad with me and write things down. My shoulders "pop" when I lift my arms over my head. cant sit long, my back and hips hurt. Lost my temper often, cried a lot, Just felt that I had lost control of my life. I chose to have the other breast removed in July. This lowered my odds of reacurance 60% will soon have my ovaries removed also. who knows if I will ever be the same from the damage that this drug has caused, but Im glad I got off it. I was told to be on it for 10 years, only did 6 years. | my hair is very thin, and brittle nails. blurred vision, no sex drive at all (this is hard on a marriage) could not sleep, really bad night sweats that did go away after a year. Have been off since July and the only difference I notice is I can think clearly again. still hurt, and can only sit in one position for 30 min at best. Have to get up and move around or I stiffen up. | F | 42 | 6 years | 11/24/2009 |