Feeling atrocious / letrozole

Poor you. Do you have a breast care nurse you can speak to , I have found mine to be extremely helpful whenever I contact them with any concerns or little niggles I have.    I take anastrozole and initially had a lot of pain in my lower legs and feet, my nurse suggested I tried taking them at a different time of day.....and that worked for me.

I do hope things soon start to improve for you.  Best wishes

Hi there, sorry to hear your feeling so awful. I finished radiotherapy on the 22nd March, my breast is very red and sore and so are my scars. The worse part for me is my nipple it’s very burnt and painful. I too cannot sleep well and wake up early hours of the morning in pain. 
I was prescribed Letrozole and took it for 7 weeks, the bone pain and other aches were unbearable. I’ve been on a two week break from it and the bone pain has subsided. I’m seeing my breast surgeon on Tuesday and will find out what else they can give me in place of the Letrozole. 
The Oncologist I saw was not very good and I’ve since been informed she has left the trust. It’s hard to know who to get the best advice from, but I hope you can get help and support to get through the tough time your having

I’ve been on letrozole since 1st December 2022 and was aching/swollen in knees, legs and shoulders. Today, most of it has disappeared but my oncologist did say, persevere for at least 6 moths. My breast area/ribs are sore but I exercise and rub soothing cream in regularly which helps. I guess after what we’ve been through it’s expected to feel rough for a while…I wish you well xx

Hiya 

Thanks for replying . My BCN has been off work for weeks now , so no I can’t speak to her unfortunately( there’s only one ) 

I’ll try changing the time of day and see if it helps , when do you take your anastrazole ?.  I was taking tamoxifen before this and had some side effects but nothing like this ! 
Maybe it’s just me and somethings wrong with me now 

Thanks again xx

Hi there . 
oh no I’m sorry you’ve been suffering after radiotherapy, that sounds very painful , can you put burn gel on your nipple ? 
You sound similar to me with the letrozole ! If it is that for me , it’s hard to know what’s causing what !

I hope the oncologist can give you something that you can tolerate , it’s just like a constant uphill battle 

Hugs xx

Hi  

Thank you , 6 months though eek , I’m glad it has settled for you , that’s very encouraging and helps me 

Which soothing cream so you use if you don’t mind me asking ? 
Thanks again , I appreciate you replying 

xx

Oh that is a pain.....there are nurses available on the Macmillan helpline here, maybe they can advise.  I used to take my Anastrazole in the morning....I was in so much pain I was going to give up on it....but when I started taking in the evening the pain went..... very odd.   It is a long road you get over one thing and then something  else seems to come up. Be kind to yourself x

I've been on Letrozole since November and have had similar issues. Feeling your pain. My breast care nurse has said that I should try taking the tablets at night just before I go to sleep as I previously used to take them in the morning. I have just started so fingers crossed. She has also said that I can take a joint care supplement - glucosamine so I am trying that too. Maybe ask if you can try something similar. 

Good luck I hope it gets better for you.

E45..love it! X

There are nurses on a helpline with breast cancer now charity if your BCN is away. Am sorry you are struggling with awful pain. I can only think of pain relief, changing your brand of letrozole, or even changing to a different aromatase inhibitor. I find my pain is less with exercise, even if just a walk. And I find that anything sugary/sweet makes mine worse. I hope you find something that works for you very soon xx