Hi I have been taking  letrizole for nearly 7 months I stick to the same brand "teva " my pharmacist orders It in for me at first I was given all different brand names and got different side effects but with the teva the side affects are minimal and don't bother me too much I can live with it a few muscle aches and hot flush now and again I'm more active now than I was before and sleeping better I have noticed a little hair loss when I wash and brush but nothing noticeable  I do have very thick long hair I was told I'll be taking letrozole for ten years I'm 59 I take same time every evening the only thing that bothers me it's keeping my weight on I'm finding it difficult to loose 1lb-2lb on healthy eating plans and find it a bit disheartening I get easily tearful sometimes I'd expect that's the hormones balancing out! 

im happy to stay on letrozole if it lowers the risk of a reoccurrence I hope your situation improves I hear that caffeine shampoo is very good for hair loss .

best wishs marie.

Hi Deb,

Welcome to our forum. I have had 2 bouts of breast cancer. The first was 11 years ago. I had a lumpectomy followed by Tamoxifen. I discovered a second lump in the same breast a year later and, had a bilateral mastectomy followed by Letrozole for 6 years. I stopped taking this in July 2017.

All of the hormone therapies have their own side-effects, but these don't affect everyone. Some people just sail through treatment. I wasn't so lucky and, had to have both knees replaced along with a number of eye operations. All of my joints were sore and, still are, 3 years after I've stopped taking them. I did lose some hair. Mine was very thick, so it wasn't obvious to anyone except myself. I tried Caffeine shampoos, but unfortunately they didn't help me.

Having had various medicatons throughout the past 11 years, I now no longer look at the side-effects of any drug, as I can then convince myself that I've got some of these. If I now develop symptoms, I'll look up the drug leaflet to see if what I'm experiencing is normal. There's enough things to worry about in this world without worrying about what might or might never happen. Besides, there are other drugs which can combat some of the side-effects, such as night sweats or depression.

Like MB01, I was happy to take Letrozole to reduce the risk of another recurrence. Have you started this treatment yet, or are you just considering it?

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Hi Marie and Jolamine

thank you for your response, I have always had a good thick head of hair but lost it my the second session of chemo. For someone who has a,ways had a good head of hair I was devastated. It has just started to grow and at the moment I have a head like a fluffy chick I'm just worried that it hasn't really had time to get established again yet.

i already have hot sweats and have done for years so that I can cope with and I know in the scheme of things the benefits far out way the side effects but I th8nk of myself as a pretty young 56 year old and don't want to hav3 to wear wigs for the foreseeable future. 
Good luck going forward and thank yo7 for taking the time to comment.

kind regards

Deb 

Hi Deb,

Don't worry, the fluffy chick look will soon disappear. so you certainly shouldn't have to wear a wig for any length of time. It is cdefinately devastating to lose your hair, but you'll appreciate it all the more when it grows back. I very much doubt that Letrozole will have much impact on your hair growth/loss. 

Here's hoping that your treatment will start to show some positive signs soon.
Kind regards,

Jolamine xx