Hi I've had a right masectomy in march I've been on letrozol since February and now getting awful pains in joints and muscles has anyone else gone through this and if there is anything I can do also my hot flushes are bad to x
I'm sorry to read about the difficulties you're having at the moment. It sounds as though your side effects are relatively common (you can read more info about this on our website here) although of course if things are becoming too uncomfortable then do speak to your doctor about this.
Meanwhile if anyone here has similar experience to share then hopefully they'll be along soon. You can also browse or search the forum for similar discussions if it helps.
I am sorry to hear of the side-effects that you are having with Letrozole. As Ben says, these are unfortunately fairly common.
I have had 2 bouts of breast cancer. The first was 11 years ago. I had a lumpectomy followed by Tamoxifen. I developed a second cancer in the same breast the following year and had a bilateral mastectomy, then took Letrozole for 6 years. I think that all hormone related cancer drugs have side-effects. Some effects are more prominent with one drug, whilst others are more obvious with another. Some lucky people sail through with no bother at all.
I found that Tamoxifen caused all sorts of emotional upset and night sweats, whilst Letrozole did cause me a lot of joint pain, night sweats and eye complications. I had to have both knees replaced in the middle of my treatment because they were so bad.
My breast care nurse initially suggested Clonadine for my sweats and, when that had no effect, she suggested a low dose of Venlafaxine, an anti-depressive drug. This doesn't stop the sweats, but it did make them a lot more managable. Have a word with your care team and see what they suggest. You can change to another drug, but this too might also cause side-effects.
Do please keep in touch and let us know how you get on. We are always here for you.
Thank you for reply I've spoken to my gp said to try and carry on if things get to much to contact him . I think when any of us are in this situation we just want a miracle dont we , had a bad day yesterday I felt ugly fat hair was looking really bad quite honestly wanted to walk away from everything my husband is being brilliant but when I said I looked awful he shook his head which then made me feel he didn't understand but he does sorry to moan but just needed to let it out thank you. How are you feeling now x
We all have black days like you had yesterday. It's like riding a bicycle. The trick is to pick yourself up and start all over again today. I must confess that I gave my poor family he** when I was first diagnosed. I just didn't see any way out of the big black hole presented in front of me, but with their help and the passage of time here I am 11 years down the line.
I still have problems with all of my joints and feel nauseous all the time, but I lead a full life and I recogn that every day is a bonus.
You can come here ant time for a good ol' rant. We're quite used to it and, it saves upsetting loved ones so much.
