How Long Until You Feel The Effects Of Letrozol

Hi

ive been taking it for nearly a year and my experience was that the side effects took some time before I noticed them. I found they built up over time, for example I didn’t notice the aching for a long while.

I really hope your wife gets through the 2 weeks not noticing any  effects. I hope she gets the rest of her treatment quickly and all goes well xx 

Hello Dedalus,

Welcome to the Group none of us wanted to join, however, this forum is filled with so many kind, caring and knowledge Fruit Loops - hopefully between us we can offer you are options and knowledge - of course these are only our opinions and not meant to be taken as a medical fact.

I believe your wife will of been put on the letrozol 'before' the surgery to 'hold things or to even shrink the BC' - I was put on in it 'before' my operation 'whilst various surgery was been looked in to'.  I think it was approximately 2 weeks and I had 'shrinkage'.  I continued with letrozle 'after' operation.  The follow up medication takes into account age etc. 

I would think your wife will of had a 'clip' fitted to show the location of the BC .... dependant on the size, so that they 'know where it is or where it was'.

As far as 'side effects' - these vary from person to person, and I believe they take a while to build up in the system.  I know when I first went on mine I was so scare - thinking I would wake up the following morning with two heads or the like..... in truth I woke up 'no different'.

Dependant on what your wife's treatment plan is, if they have said 'lumpectomy followed by daily radiotherapy treatment for 'x' amount of weeks' with the current situation how it is at present  'if your wife fits the criteria' (one BC) you could ask if they do Targit IORT at their hospital, or,  if they will refer you to a hospital that does the 'combined lumpectomy and radiotherapy' - this is all done 'in one operation' - finish.   This treatment is called TAGIT IORT - it is now available on the NHS, however it is often 'hidden' and not readily offered to suitable patients. Most hospitals are London based, however there are a few around the country.  In my opion if you can have this treatment although it feels nervous stepping out the box and travelling to a different area to where you live - the fact that the operation and radiotherapy is done in one go amazing.

(The problem is most of us get straight on this roller coaster of a ride and unless we know about 'all' treatments than we don't even know this type of surgery exists).

So you can understand what I am on about, I have put a link below to the main website.  I had this treatment before it became approved by NICE to be carried out on the NHS - I will continue forever more to let everyone know about this type of treatment.  Of course some are not suitable candidates - however, 'every doctor/consultant' is suppose to tell their patents about 'every type of treatment that is out there' suitable or not, so the patent can make up their own mind.

https://www.targit.org.uk

Back to your question, I think the letrozole will help your wife over the two weeks and she may well see some 'shrinkage' in the size of the BC.  

If any side effects pop up during the two weeks - I am sure they will be bearable and the benefits given by taking it will far outway any side effect.

I hope this helps a bit.

Kind Regards x

Thanks Lucy and WhatHappened

It is useful to get some personal experience.

The reason I asked is because on top of everything else my wife is a bit uptight about the possible effects of the Letrozole and then the Tamoxifen.  She worries about a double whammy because in the past she had a surgical menopause.

Thanks Whathappened for your reply re IORT.  We were aware of it and wanted my wife to get it, but found that due to COVID it was not available, even privately, anywhere in the country.  We found one clinic in London, but it was extremely expensive, and we didn't want to risk London at the moment.

We are trying to find out if partial breast radiotherapy something like APBI is a possibility, post-surgery.  I think they give it to a smaller area of the breast over a shorter period.  This is something else we have to research.  The surgeon believes radiotherapy may not be necessary.  It seems to confer some protection against recurrence but we have to weigh up the risks and benefits,

My wife's breast cancer is on the left side, and we know that a neighbour had to have a triple heart bypass due to the effects of her radiotherapy, so that is worrying.

x