I was started on letrozole in January 2019. Apart from the usual hot flushes it was fine until a few months in I was getting leg pains which became excruciating after a particularly long walk. My oncology consultant told me that this was a known side effect of letrozole. He suggested I could change to tamoxifen which is gentler. However the downside is that I will need to stay on it for 10 years as opposed to the 5 for letrozole. Although I haven't experienced the excruciating pain again I can't say I am free from pain either. I'm feeling very upset that I will have another 9 years of this as opposed to the 3 and a half I would have had on letrozole.
Has anyone else had a similar experience?
Hi all, I’ve been on Tamoxifen and zoladex since January and I can definitely feel the difference in my joints but I’m back running 4K now after finishing chemo in Jan and I must say it’s made my aches and pains much better. I’ve always suffered with bad knees so that just continues but the rest of me feels so much better for it! Now if I can sort out the night sweats I’ll be fabulous!!
Hi , yes I feel ok actually, I’m a nurse and due to the covid situation I’ve even given myself my last 3 injections which is quite scary!! but generally I feel ok!
Its hard to know what are side effects and what are menopause ! I don’t get hot flushes but I do get night sweats really badly , I’ve not experienced any mood issues or anxiety but I think the whole experience of breast cancer has left me a bit numb really and so apart from worrying about it coming back, i don’t really worry about anything else !!
Without going into too much detail, I did recently start to get a bit sore in the lady garden area 
which I was really worried about. The oncologist warned me about this , so I got my GP to prescribe ‘Yes VM ‘ , which the oncologist recommended, and it’s been a game changer , she did say I could use oestrogen pessaries but I’m not keen on that really.
So apart from feeling like I’ve got the joints of an 80 year old once I get going I feel good, it’s 5 months now since my chemo ended and I feel like I’m getting back to feeling fitter and more like me!
Ive got an appointment with the oncologist on 22nd of June to discuss how I’ve been getting on, so it will be interesting to find out what she suggests will be the next steps as I’ve not really spoken to her about the zoladex at all, so not sure of the plan really??
Claire ( popular name in 1974 )
You may find this Hormonal Therapy comparison chart of interest ? Click image to enlarge.
From the US Breast Cancer.Org website.
G n' J
