side effects of Femara

[bertha49]

I have been on Femara since May 2,2008. Does anyone else have all of these aches and pains that going along with this medication? My hips hurt if I walk too much, my fingers and arms hurt if I pull weeds or crochet and I have neuroapthy in my feet that keeps me up half of the night. I'm on an antidepressant but I still get down days. I also have some weight gain. How can I keep the weight off it I hurt so bad when I exercise? The Doctor said I should take Advil for the pain and that things will get better. Everyone that I know has taken themselves off of this med due to the side effects. I am 58 yrs old. and I feel like a 100 lately being on this medication.


This discussion is related to Femara.

[bluebutterfly2222]

Hi and welcome to our community.

Just a hint: you will be more likely to get replies  if you start a new thread by posting your own question. People tend to overlook questions or comments tacked on to the end of old threads, because they assume it's just another reply to the original poster..

Best wishes...

[Liberachie]

Hi, I am 35 yrs old diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer August 2009, mets to bones... have been on femara for about 5 months now and I can tell you that my quality of life has declined dramatically on this drug... I was asymptomatic when I found my tumor in my rt breast and went to my doctor. Now I live in constant pain from taking this medicine... It is helping though. My oncologist can no longer find the tumor to measure but I feel like I am 80 yrs old! The pain is mostly in my hips, spine, and scapula area. Some mornings I can't even lean my head down to see my toes. I am stubborn and pain or not I still keep up with my 11 yr old, and am determined to keep getting on my motorcycle... I dread if this gets worse though I don't know how much more pain I can tolerate everyone has a breaking point.

Libby

[Greta_L]

I haven't used Femara yet.  I started on Arimidex and after 6 months had to switch to Aromasin because with Arimidex moving my thumbs became extremely painful and it was moving into my elbow and then my hip.  Things improved dramatically, then after a year on Aromasin my hips started aching and I dreaded getting out of bed and standing up. I am convinced it is due to the Aromasin.  I'm just 53 so that seemed ridiculous.  When I told the oncololgist she said several of her patients liked using Glocosamine Chondroitin.  Then we realized that pain started right around the time that I stopped taking a daily naproxen (Aleve) and daily Glucosamine Chondroitin.  So I started taking them again and am feeling some improvement.  I was told it might take a few weeks to feel the benefits from the Glocosamine. I asked about switching to Femara and she said I'd probably have the same issues with it as they are so closely related to what I am taking.

[PaulMD]

Hi there.

Femara and similar drugs in its class really have musculo-skeletal symptoms as the main side effects.  This drug can cause decrease in bone density and bone mass leading to osteoporosis and sometimes increased tendency to have fractures.  If standard pain medications are not helping with these symptoms, I believe that you may discuss with your doctor regarding shifting to a different drug class such as tamoxifen (though tamoxifen has a different side effect profile, mainly from cardiac and vascular side effects).

Calcium and Vitamin D supplementation is also warranted as well as regular exposure to the sun.  For some patients, this would aid in lessening bone pains while on femara.

Regards.