Femara

I have been though chemo and radiation finished in Oct. 2004 for breast cancer. I was on Arimedex for about 2 mo but changed due to fatigue to femara but now I am expericing light headness and fatigue and when I stay of my feet for a while the bottom of my feet feel like they are bruised. Has any body else had this promblem and found a way to help. I am on vitimins and on a low fat diet. Can any one help me I know I need to stay on this for five years but how?

Hi Bobbie, I have heard a lot of different responses to femara. One person said that the pain was so bad that the doctors put her on oxycontin, oxycodone & celebrex. I started femera last month. I stopped twice and went back on again. My pain is intermitent. I can get a sharp pain in the bone in my calf that has sent me right to the floor. My feet were pretty much destroyed from chemo, so it is hard to tell what is causing my foot pain. I am in the process of loosing my toe nails. When a doctor tells you to live with the side effects you know the alternative. I just have a stiff drink once in awhile. It does not hurt or help, but what the hay. You ask how? You do it until you decide that you have lost your quality of life. Everyone has a different thresh hold. Hang on as long as you can. Life is worth it. Try to get out more it helps not to dwell on it. Now all I have to do is follow my own advice. Ha! Take care, Barbara

I was put on Arimidex after chemo and was on it for about two months when I had had enough. The quality of life for me was more important. The doctor then put me on Femara which is supposed to have less side effects and I am having trouble with that too. I keep trying to decide wether I want to keep taking this drug or not. Since cancer was found in a lymph node he insisted that I stay on Femara. I can't live like this. I have no energy, I ache all over like I have the flu, my bones hurt and of course, the hot flashes. I have arythmia and take meds for that and lately I have been experiencing problems with that again. Small ones, but enough to alarm me. I am 61 years old and do not want to spend the next five years like this. I have no desire or energy to do anything. I just want to hybernate till this is all over. But I know I can't. Some days I skip it all together, it's been two and a half months since starting it. When the pain got so bad in my jawbones and teeth, I quit taking it for a couple of weeks until the pain finally subsided. I'm back on it now, but have this daily delima of whether I want to keep taking it. My doctor has given me one other alternative and that is to take montly injections that have less side effects. The idea of injections don't bother me, I had to take hormone injections before cancer... There was a brief period of time...about six weeks when I didn't take anything...I had quit taking the Arimidex without telling my doctor. After about two weeks after quiting, I felt really great. I want that back. I have to much to do to be sick and achy all the time. Now I think I am beginning to get depressed. I can't take anything for that becuase of my heart meds. That is why I joined this forum. I am desperate to know what others are doing about the side effects, how it is affecting their mind, and if the quality of life is more important. I am too scared to stop, but to stuborn to keep taking Femara... I had a double masectomy in March of 2004, I am having horrible pain still, I think much to Arimidex and then Femara. Before I started these drugs I hadn't been in that much pain across the chest. I have to take Percocet at least twice a day. Before I was on the cancer drugs I was getting off of percocet all together. I also have trouble with breathing. Armidex was worse on the breathing than Femara, but I still get into trouble now and then. It is not the percocet doing it. I have watched out for that. Just don't know what to do anymore. Dorothyfaye

I have been on Femara for 3 years. The longer I stay on it, the more problems occur. I am very tired & can sleep anytime except at night when I need to. Lately I have very swollen feet and some pain with it too.My doctor seems to think there aren't many reactions to the drug, but I see I am not alone. Although I did have chemo it was over 20 years ago, so I can't blame that process.

Sue: I'm glad to know I'm not going crazy. I have been struggling for weeks now to get my days and nights turned back around. That also happened when I was taking Arimidex. I was able to switch back to sleeping at night after I had quit taking Arimidex. Now, on Femara, I'm back to trying all night to sleep and trying all day to stay awake. I finally just gave up and go with it. I'm very unhappy about this, I would like to be up in the day and asleep at night. DorothyB

Dorothy:It sounds like we are having similar reactions to the drug. Do you sleep easily sitting up? If I sit down to watch TV , I wake up hours later, having slept for hours sitting up. Now I am getting stiff necks. What other problems have you noticed? Do you have any swelling? I am 3 years on this drug & it is building up in my system, leaving me with some odd reactions to it.

Suzan, I had and have jaw pain, I thought all my teeth were affected and went to the dentist. She said it was probally the large lymph nodes in the jaw and neck that were affected and agreed it could be from the Femara...but of course, we don't know that for sure. I am unable to lay in any other position but on my back--in a reclining position since the double masectomy. Falling asleep is not always the problem, but staying asleep is. I wake up sometimes just fifteen minutes after falling asleep and can't get back to sleep for hours and hours. Come morning I'm so exhausted I finally sleep but it's only two or three hours at a time. I'm getting to where I am nauseous all the time now. I'm not hungry and smells turn me off, but my stomach behaves like it hasn't been fed in a week. So I have to nible on something or drink some milk often in order to stop it's complaining. My scar area, from arm pit to arm pit, has a tremendous increase of pain. Where before Femara and Arimidex, I barely needed anything for pain. I am lethargic, my eyes burn from lack of sleep and I am getting getting cranky. Every other day or so I get upset and don't take the pill, but then I get worried and start taking it again. I am so afraid of the jaw pain returning. Nothing took that pain away. I stopped taking Femara for about a week and a half and the pain went away. I struggle daily with whether I want to take this pill or not. Quality of life is very important to me right now...but so is life...I don't know what to do. I keep hoping the side effects will go away with time, but I'm reading all these things on this forum about people like yourself and others that it gets worse as time goes on. I've got a friend here in my community that had breast cancer and chemo when I did and she is on Arimidex and is not having too many problems at all. I was on Arimidex for two months at the start and that was the worst pain and misery I had. I could hardly walk. I stopped taking Arimidex for almost two months without telling the doctor. (And I was able to sleep at night and live a normal life for about a month) He was upset but switched me to Femara about two months ago. Lately I've had the "Blah's" big time. I'm having trouble concentrating on anything. In the past few days I have had heart palpataions and some dizziness or lightheadedness when I stand up. I have arythmia problems and take some serious heart medication and I'm also worried that the Femara is messing that up somehow. I have some diarrhea and abdominal distress. So far that's about it...Dorothy B

I read your message. I was diagnosed last February 2004 and it's been quite a ride. I tried Arimidex for two months but couldn't cope at all with those side effects. The doctor said the Femara would be better but I ache all over most of the time and the hot flashes makes me light headed. I also have a twitch in my eye which drives me crazy. I don't know how I'm going to continue with this drug. I don't want the cancer back but I feel like I aged 25 years since she put me on it back in October. I also get anxiety attacks because I keep thinking every ache and pain is cancer starting somewhere else.

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one with the sleeping difficulty. My feet swell now, which they didn't before and I'm light headed sometimes, especially while having the hot flashes.

Sue, Just surfing the internet and I am on Femara. Have you heard or know that Fermara has an accumalative effect? I heard that the side effects are immediate but from your e-mail, it sounds like Femara builds up in the body. Please advise how you are feeling....I am concerned for you and myself. Ziatunes