Different makes of Letrozole

Hi ,

I would think it is highly likely to be the letrozole - joint ache is one of the main side effects. My fingers are the worse and I have noticed my knees are getting quite stiff too, especially when I try to get up. Fortunately it is not too painful, more achy than actual pain. I hope it stays that way!

Gay xxx

Dear Marie-Francoise

Thank you so much for your reply.

I am sure that the "just get her whatever you can" is EXACTLY what he thought he would do!  I went  to pick up my specially ordered Actavis Letrozole this afternoon to find he hadn't got it!!  

Now , I heard him ask on the phone yesterday, if they had it in stock. He said , collect it after 11.30 today.  I went in at 2pm to find another ( very nice) pharmacist there who said , there was no record of it being ordered....  She had been on Anastrazole herself and went to see which brands they had got in stock, 1 packet of Teva, which I definitely wouldn't accept, 1 pkt I had never heard of that is made in Romania and 1 pkt of Accord which I have never tried. She suggested I took the pkt of Accord as, as far as she knows it is the one which has the least side effects, and she would order me the Actavis for next month.  She was totally sympathetic and said it is not just the fillers which cause problems but also the artificial colourings used.  What a difference.  Unfortunately she is just a locum pharmacist.

So onward and upwards and we will see if Accord is ok for me.  If it is, at least it is another one to be able to take if I can't get the Actavis.

Linda x

Thank you to all of you who have replied to my post of yesterday about different brands of Letrozole  and whether we can get the ones which suit us best.

You are all fantastic and it so heartening to be able to bare all (metaphorically speaking!) is so liberating and comforting.

((((((((big hugs))))))))

Linda

Hi

I've had the same experience of different brands and conversations with pharmacists about how they order tablets. And of dreadful side effects especially the leg joint and muscle pain and bad cramping at night - waking up every hour to carefully shift position so as not to start a cramp or painful joints!

I am also due to have a knee replacement but hardly any of my leg pain is due to the arthritic knee - which I had before cancer. I explained to the doctor that many people on Letrozole found their side effects were reduced when taking Femara branded Letrozole. I also said that it would be hard for me to do the follow up exercises for the knee replacement with painful legs. She agreed to giving me a three month trial to see how if it made a difference - however, I had to have a long conversation with the practice pharmacist who controls the budget, to convince him that he should fund the Femara. He was reluctant until I said I would pay for it myself - which he seemed to find quite difficult to agree to- and then I said I was considering stopping taking Letrozole altogether if I didn't have at least an outside chance of the side effects being relieved at least to some degree. In the end he agreed to give me a three month trial to help me over the knee replacement and then to see how I was coping. 

I have been taking the Femara brand for almost 2 weeks and while I haven't lost the side effects altogether, I am sleeping for longer between waking up, and have more comfortable legs at night. I am not hobbling like an old lady so much, and have found I can stand at the cooker for more than 5 minutes without having to move.  I still take it the co codamol at night - but paracetamol during the day less often. So, I feel there is an improvement - in fact, if I had had a rapid improvement after taking the Femara for just a few days, I could well have considered it to be a placebo effect. Having to justify myself to the practice pharmacist I felt should not have had to happen - especially when the doctor had agreed - I was shocked when she said that even when she prescribes, she doesn't have the final say - it's the practice pharmacist who has the final word and he admitted time that he "holds the purse strings" and would give my Doctor a telling off if she goes over her budget!

I have a lot to be greateful to the NHS for - my excellent cancer treatment and my husbands excellent emergency treatment when he had a heart attack three weeks ago - it seems to be a " quality of life" issue that we face - and it seems a travesty when so much is spent on us to keep us  alive in the first place - only to fall down on the kind of life we can live afterwards!!!

Good luck with all your battles with your local pharmacists - I suspect mine are not yet finished either.....

Arrogant ill informed prat.  Has he not heard of fillers in his long shining career?  

I completely know what you've been through.  My local pharmacy has been taken over by Boots so when they give me shit I complain to their headquarters and immediately they behave.  Trouble is that it doesn't last long. 

I was almost reduced to tears by one counter assistant with attitude once when I refused to take a changed brand that I had previously had a bad experience with (CIPLA). 

Local GPS also have talked down to me and told me they're all the same.  Crap.  On my last GP visit to beg for Femara (just wanted to try it to see if it would help) he talked about taking me off Letrozole all together which I don't want to do before trying out the options of brands.  Clearly thought I was an imbecile.  Rant over.  Good luck.

I wish someone would bloody well research this. Hey! MacMillan what do you think about this?

Zelie....good luck with the knee replacement I had mine June 2016 due to an assault at work ....if you'd like to ask anything please pm me 

Hugs and Rainbows 

Debs xxx

Any advice re the knee replacement would be very welcome - especially how you coped with the post op and Letrozole side effects of the bone/muscle pain.

Hi Zelie I'll friend request you now x

Way to go Sally