Hi Destiny,

Welcome to the forum that nobody really wants to join.

I am so sorry to hear about your brother’s passing last summer. I lost my brother aged just 24. It was to a sporting accident, but I still miss him every day. I also lost my mother to cancer. She initially presented with primary breast cancer and had that for 11 years before she progressed to secondary cancer. By this stage it was in her liver, lungs, breast, bone and brain. She deteriorated very quickly after that.

I understand that your Mum has now been diagnosed with Grade 1 breast cancer and is taking Letrozole. I had a lumpectomy and took Tamoxifen the first time I was diagnosed, but when I had another primary within a year, it was obvious that this hadn’t worked. I then had a double mastectomy and started taking Letrozole. I have just finished taking this after 6 years. I have looked forward to stopping taking this from the day I started, so was quite surprised by my reaction when I stopped. I felt as if the safety blanket had been pulled from under me.

I have had some side-effects from both Tamoxifen and Letrozole, but nothing unbearable. To be honest, it’s hard to tell whether these  medicines are the culprits, as I have a host of other co-morbidities and many of the drugs for these have the same side-effects. My main problems have been a big increase in weight. My arthritis, which affects every joint in my body, became more severe, especially in my arms, legs, breast and back. I also had increased muscle and nerve pain and stiffness of my joints. Food didn’t taste right. I suffered from horrendous night sweats, although I did eventually find another medicine to help with this. I have had a very dry mouth despite drinking copious amounts of water and use a spray to combat this. I also had a dry cough and my speech changed. I was also extremely fatigued and suffered from headaches, nausea, constipation, increased urination and malaise. I had increased swelling in arms, hands, feet and ankles. I also had very high blood pressure and dry, itchy skin. I also suffered from depression, memory loss and lack of concentration. My vision became blurred.

I know that this sounds like quite a list and it is, but it is hard to say what medication caused these problems. With each new side-effect I kept getting more medication to combat the problem. Please don’t let all this put your Mum off taking it. I am still here after 7 years and still in fairly good health.

I too am a proponent of alternative medicine, but found my consultant very against it. His reasoning is that some alternative therapies stop the allopathic medicine from working. If your Mum is going to take anything else have a word with her consultant first. I know that St John’s Wort is one of these preparations to avoid.

I am so glad to hear that your Mum’s cancer is only Grade 1. It sounds as if she has enough to deal with as a result of her heart failure.

I am thinking of and praying for you both.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx