I love this form has helped me get through this journey.
I have gone through a mastectomy recovered and on Letrozole and have radiotherapy coming up.
I had an oncology appointment last week and mentioned that I was struggling with Letrozole. Sweating and unable to sleep. My consultant was dismissive and told me she was here to talk about my radiotherapy.
I I felt like I had been told off and just retreated. I will call breast care team for advice but feel sad as up to now my care has been exceptional. Knocked me back and down becof lack of sleep and just made me feel unsupported.
Hi Angel888
I am sorry you felt the consultant was dismissive. It’s worth knowing that there are 2 sorts of oncologists. One sort specialises in radiotherapy and another sort in chemotherapy. They tend to stay in their lanes and focus only on their specialism. You could perhaps talk to your breast care nurse or GP about your concerns?
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Hi Angel888
It's very hard when they dismiss you as almost being a nuisance, isn't it?
As Coddfish says, they do stick to their own areas, but also I think some consultants are a bit like that - and it's far more going to be the nurses where you get the emotional support, so do go back to them.
I hadn't found this forum when I was diagnosed and was scheduled for radiotherapy, but I'd been told I would be on oestrogen suppressant tablets and was worried about side effects. I mentioned it to one of the radiology nurses, who booked me in with the consultant to discuss it.
"I am concerned about taking Tamoxifen"
"You won't be on Tamoxifen, it will be Anastrozole - and I can't make you take them. Is that all?"
That was my conversation - I was astounded how unbelievably unsupportive that consultant was. It was obvious to any idiot that I clearly knew nothing as all I'd heard of was Tamoxifen. So all it needed was a bit of information / support to put my mind at rest.
As it was, when I got the prescription, I decided to give them a go and luckily, I was ok on them. BUT, as zephyr says, only when I stuck to a particular brand. if you Google the brand you have and look at the coatings of the tablets vs others you will find some are remarkably different. Accord and Teva (same for Letrozole) have the same coatings and I was perfectly ok on these brands. The one I got given once was Consillient - it knocked me for six, so I checked the difference in ingredients. The actual tablets are the same, but the coatings were different.
Google "NHS suppliers of Letrozole" and then you can find out the ingredients in the coatings by researching each tablet. Worth trying a different brand that has different ingredients to see if that improves things. If that doesn't help, go back to your team and ask for something else. They can do exemestane, but it's more expensive so they won't necessarily offer it / might not be exactly perfect for you. Do try the coatings experiment first and then pursue other options. Once I knew which brands were ok for me, I got my doctor to put "Accord brand only" on my prescription slip for the pharmacy, so they didn't give the brands I didn't get on with.
Kindest wishes, Lesley
Thank you for detailed reply lots of info for me to follow up. Amazing feel supported 
