Letrozole

New to the forum. Thanks everyone for the posts about joint pain - at least I now realise I’m not imagining feeling like a really old woman at 56. I’ve had bc three times. First time 7 years ago it was non invasive so had surgery and radiotherapy. Second time a year later was invasive so I had surgery, radiotherapy and was put on tamoxifen. Side effects were minimal and tolerable. Last year brought the third diagnosis resulting in a mastectomy and being changed to letrozole. Finding the joint stiffness the worst, although I also notice an effect on anxiety and mood. I’m also on zoladex injections which might be exacerbating things. However phoned bc nurse today and she’s suggested I stop letrozole for a few weeks and if it makes a difference they’ll try me on a different drug. Thanks to posts I now have the names of alternatives, like exemestane, that I can ask about. Maybe I’m just feeling a bit sorry for myself as my tissue reconstruction was cancelled in April due to lockdown so still waiting! Need to try to stay positive! Take care.

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    Hi Joycat,

    Welcome to our forum. I am sorry to hear that you have had breast cancer 3 times. I have had it twice in the past 11 years. First time I had a lumpectomy, followed by Tamoxifen. For the second bout I had a double mastectomy followed by Letrozole.

    I had terrible night sweats and mood swings with Tamoxifen. I also had some joint paint, but there has always been a family tendency to arthritis, so it was difficult to pinpoint the cause. When I changed to Letrozole, my joint pains became markedly worse throughout my entire body and, I had to have both knees replaced. However, my mood changed markedly whilst I was on this. I stopped taking Letrozole in July 2017, after I had taken it for 6 years.

    I hope that your care team can find another treatment for you that doesn't cause too much bother, but I fear that most of these types of treatments all carry some side-effects.

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

    Kind regards,

    Jolamine xx