Letrozole

Hi Bonnie3351 hopefully these feelings will ease, your body does get used to the lowering oestrogen levels but please don’t suffer in silence, if you feel the need to talk then please do phone the helpline , 0808 808 0000 and speak to one of the nurses on there.

hugs xxx

Thank you Moomy. I will do that this week if this continues. 

I have really struggled too in the last week with very low mood and depression like I have never experienced before triggered by the Letrozole and very low estrogen levels. I have heard that certain brands of letrozole are worse than others. I was on a certain brand and after some research it seems it has been associated with very low mood so I have managed to swap to another brand. I will give it a few months to see if it settles, if not may have to consider medicines to support me. Hope it settles for you soon x 

I am really sorry to hear that you are having your struggles as well. It’s really miserable isn’t it. Do you mind if I ask what brand you were on, which one is associated with low mood and what you have switched to now? I have been given 3 months supply of the Accord brand of Letrozole. It’s the exhaustion that is wiping me out as well. It comes in waves. For a few hours I feel as if I could sleep the clock round but I keep going. Then a few hours later, I’m much more energetic. Not really sure what an earth is going on. Hope it settles or it’s going to be a 5 year struggle! 

I'm on Letrozole for the past five months, I was first on Glenmark, then Sun Pharma and on Rudipharm until recently. I didn't have any side effects while on Glenmark and Sun Pharma, then everything changed while on Rudipharm. At the beginning my sleep patterns got disturbed so I started to take the tablet during the day instead of evening, gradually arms and neck aches started to appear, then everything culminated with headaches and dizziness and got to the point that I couldn't go out anymore due to the dizziness. I contacted the GP who told me to stop the Letrozole and gave me a prescription for the previous brands which didn't give me side effects. At the moment I'm on a Letrozole holiday as it's difficult to find a certain brand and I don't want to go through the side effects I've been through with Rudipharm.

Low mood, anxiety have been associated with a few brands such as Sun Pharma, Cipla, Accord. All brands contain the same active ingredient, but apparently the variations in inactive fillers may cause different reactions to different people. As I said I didn't have any side effects with the first two brands I used but everyone reacts in a different way. Anyway, no matter of brand, common side effects of Letrozole are known: low mood, anxiety, insomnia, joint pain etc.

If your GP can't help you, the best thing will be to contact your BC nurse or oncologist. Hugs xx

Yes, I was on Sun Pharma to begin with and just swapped over to Accord two days ago without any improvement so far (another very tearful day which is just not me) Likewise I have also had at times extreme exhaustion and fatigue but I have never experienced low mood like this. It’s not sustainable. I am meeting my Oncologist tomorrow so will need to mention these debilitating side effects. Not sure if he will swap me so soon as I’ve only been taking it one month. I am also taking Ribo but currently on the scheduled week off from it. Really hope it settles for us all! 

Hi I am reading this with interest I am on letrozole and just began ribociclib …how are you finding the ribo ? I do hope your side effects from letrozole go away … I have to have a nuclear bone scan to check for mets because my alkaline phosphors yes are 178 .. ( the joys of the regular thorough blood tests ) so can’t distinguish if I am low mood from that alone or if it’s being boosted by letrozole and ribo .. good luck x

I really hope you have a productive discussion with your oncologist tomorrow. I’m due to speak to mine next week but I suspect he will tell me to stick with this drug and brand as I will only have been on it for 3 weeks by then. I keep trying to convince myself that these are just teething problems and it may settle. I sincerely hope so! Anyway keep us posted with how you get on tomorrow. Wishing you all the best.