Letrozole

Hello ,

First, sorry you find yourself at the place none of us wanted to come to - however, now you are here you will see we are really nice and look out for each other.  There is virtually always some one here that can help.  If you have any nights where you can't sleep or even days when you feel the need to reach out have a look out for the 'AWAKE' thread - it is where most of us go and have general chit-chat and of course there is always questions and concerns, together we seem to help each other though it.

Try not to be too hard on Letrozole as really it is your friend and the aches and pains shows its doing its jog (as such).  

We are prescribed letrozole to take out the hormone 'oestrogen' - which given the diagnoses is not good for us to have - as 'it' can feed from it (can't think of better words - sorry).  'It' feeds on the oestrogen - letrozole helps rid out body of oestrogen.  .....

Oestrogen is our 'lubricant' for the want of a better word, it acts like it oils all our joints, etc ....... and letrozole takes this away - thus causing/creating the aches and pains - as our body holds on to less oestrogen.

So in a way 'yes' it is normal..... however, you can also suffer from added side effects due to the make up of the tablet, each company that makes this tablet seem to have their own little additions added that can create extra side effects and pain.  For these such pains you can take various pain relief that should help this.

I had a side effect of 'trigger finger .... although mine was in both thumbs... this literally came on over night.  My Doctor said I could have an operation for it, or I could sit it out and see if it goes..... I did the latter along with some added exercises and it cleared.

You would be best to look into the brands what you can get - the Best is the founding maker Femera - then after this there are a few more, Acord is one the other brand names escape me for the now.......

....  Brain fog is another side effect that you might notice) - however, if you can ride it out it is worth it for the peace of mind that comes with it.

I am sure other ladies will come along and help further.

Hopefully, you may find things start to level off for you as you settle onto the treatment.

I hope this helps xxx

Link to AWAKE thread....

https://community.macmillan.org.uk/cancer_types/chat-breast-cancer/f/breast-cancer-forum/128753/awake/1679927#1679927

Macmillan Support Line - 0808 808 00 00, 7 days a week between 8am-8pm

Hi

having been on letrozole, but since changed drugs I can’t thank you enough for explaining the effects of the drug so simply in a way I could understand. The symptoms you described were very pertinent to me.. thankfully I’ve not had the same side effects since on a new drug :-) :-)  

Hi Betsy001,  

Thank you - I do hope it helps, it's the way I look at it - although, we don't want any of us to suffer I think this helps us to see it in not 'just' the letrozole doing this - it is our body reacting to not having so much oestrogen.  

If the pain gets too much, then none of us want to suffer so seeking further advice is always advisable.

Plus, like you have said since changing your drug you are now not having the same side effects.  
Different brands can make all the difference to us.

I have even heard, if things get really bad that the antihistamine medication Loratadine can help ease a lot of the pains (Claritin is one brand names) - knowing this information as least can seek their own medical advice to see if this would help them/not effect any other medications, etc.

(I am not in the medical profession). 

Thank you for this explanation, in particular for providing a name - trigger finger - for something I've been experiencing for the last couple of weeks.  In my case, it's affecting my right thumb. Giving it a name doesn't necessarily help with the pain, but at least I now understand more about what it is and have a way of describing it!

Hello Zappa,

Having a name does help - I googled various 'exercises' and 'movements' that I could do in hope of stopping this.

The one I did that I feel helped was to rub/slide my thumb joint up and down the edge of the table - it did hurt, but, I also think it did help in clearing it a lot quicker than if I had left it.  

I still find it so strange/mysterious on how quick it actually came on - it was literally 'over night - well, in the middle of the night' - I just felt my thumb jump/snap.  I hope you find a way to get rid of yours sooner than later as I know how painful this can be.

Sending love and hugs to all xxx

Thank you for those tips WhatHappened,  It did seem to come on very suddenly.  And before that one day my wrists were fine, the next day very painful.  That does seem to be becoming less painful, or not happening as frequently.  The BCN advised me to take two paracetamol when I wake up to start working on the pain.  But it's not just pain - it's the fact that my hands don't really work first thing in the morning. I find pushing the fingertips of opposite hands together seems to help.  But the thumb thing just feels plain odd!