Welcome to Cancer Chat EllieJ although I'm sorry to read about the impact Letrozole is having on you.

We have had quite a few discussions on the forum about the various side effects of Letrozole, one of which you can find just here if you'd like to join in. [@Angie76]‍ has been suffering from slightly different issues to yourself but she may be able to share how it's impacted on her emotionally so hopefully she'll stop by soon to chat now I've mentioned her in this post.

If you really feel this is having a negative impact on your to day-to-day life it may be worth having a chat with your breast cancer nurse to see what they think or your GP to see if they can offer an alternative.

I hope this helps and you're able to get on top of these side effects soon Ellie.

All the best, 

Steph, Cancer Chat Moderator

Hi Elliej. 

I’m on Tamoxifen which work in a different way to letrozole but it still messes with with your homones. 

I’ve been on this 11 months now and I think, finally, it’s starting to settle down a little. Have to say for the first few months I did wonder if I was going to be able to hack it. 

One of my cousins suggested taking a different brand of the same drug as the proportions and contents of the other stuff in the tablet can vary from brand to brand. 

Just a thought. If you are at the point where you really don’t think you can handle it anymore, talk to your care team. They might be able to suggest something else. 

Hi Steph

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my post.

Yes I will have a chat with them. I was trying to work out if it was the meds or something else going on in my life hence wondering if anyone else had the same issues.

I guess we are all different and react in different ways to the drugs.

I am going to monitor it and see how I go.

Best wishes

EllieJ

Thanks for your feedback. It's nice to know there is support out there. I will see how I go and monitor the situation. Actually had a really good weekend and kept my calm head! ;-)

Best wishes

EllieJ

I’m just tired and sweaty, not a good combination!

Hey [@EllieJ]‍ I completely get where you are coming from things were so bad for me my relationship was massively impacted with my husband and I basically have spent the last 8 months feeling like I am bat **** crazy!! My consultant referred me to our NHS psychology service who deals with life limiting conditions and where everything made sense it didn’t really impact my feelings. My hot flushes are out of control particularly with the latest warm weather we had. BUT, I guess it’s weighing up the need to take the meds and an element of accepting that it’s ok to be a hormonal emotional woman once in a while!! I am about to have a melanoma removed from my face next week and I have been really emotional about it, I too am usually quite a calm and collected person but I’m getting through it by talking to my family and friends and letting them know I am aware it how I am acting and this seems to help them being more understanding of where I am at.

just thinking this is probably not the most positive reply but I guess what I am saying is that it’s bloody hard but it’s ok, you are still you and the fact you are aware of how you may have changed is a huge positive!

happy to chat and be emotionally challenged with you whenever you may need a rant!!

angie x

Hi EllieJ,

I guess that from all the replies you’ve had so far you can see that your responses are unfortunately, perfectly normal.

I have had 2 bouts of breast cancer. The first time I had a lumpectomy followed by Tamoxifen for a year. The second bout I had a double mastectomy followed by Letrozole for 6 years. I stopped taking this last July (2017).

I had similar effects with both drugs. From being a sane and sensible woman, I became the manic post-menopausal woman once again and had tremendous pain in all of my joints. I also felt totally wiped out and slept at every opportunity. My breast care nurse advised me to change to a different brand of the drugs, but this made little difference for me. Some of my friends did this too and they benefitted tremendously from doing this.

Eventually, my nurse advised me that she had known a mild anti-depressant to help reduce the night sweats in particular. She prescribed Venlafaxine, which I have taken ever since and this has relieved the symptoms, although not got rid of them completely.

I guess that we have to weigh up the fact that this medication is fighting the cancer and trying to save lives, so 'there's no gain without pain'. Like you, I was embarrassed by the harridan I'd become. I warned my family that my demeanour was totally out of my control and told them to ignore my ways. It is only in the past couple of weeks, now that I have not taken any of these drugs for over a year that I am beginning to feel so much better in myself. The main improvement is that I don’t feel as totally washed out as I have been feeling and I have managed to do one or two things around the house that I couldn’t have managed to do before this.

I sincerely hope that your care team can help with your symptoms. You can always phone your breast care nurse to see if she has any suggestions.

Do please keep in touch and let us know how you get on. We are always here for you.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Hi Jolamine

Many thanks for taking the time to respond to my post and hear about your journey and how you have been feeling

Since I wrote this post I seem to have settled down. I settled some other issues that I thought were antagonising the situation and life has become much better now. ;-)

Even better since I had a scan on Friday and the tumour has disappeared into thin air. Perhaps some micro cells but nothing visible. To say I am delighted is an understatement.

I will continue my healthy eating regime and looking after myself as this has become a way of life now.

With my eating plan I have loads of energy and feel great most of the time.

I sincerely hope you stay well and continue to thrive

Very best wishes

xx

Hi EllieJ,

I am glad to hear that things have settled down for you and that life is much better for you now. Even better, was the fantastic news that your tumour has disappeared. We don't hear good news like this ofen enough.

I hope that your consultant will still keep an eye on you with regular check ups. Has he discussed this with you, or has he made another appointment to see you? Certainly keep up your healthy eating plans and stay healthy.

Are you going to continue taking Letrozole as a prophylactic? If so, I hope that it doesn't raise other problems for you in the future.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

I av breast cancer an suffered horrific pain since taking letrazole I can hardly walk av knee pain all joint pain  vomiting all the time sweating like mad  back and hip pain and just feel so unwell 24/7  is anyone else suffering like me