Letrozole: When will I start feeling/seeing side effects?

Posted by francine6829 @francine6829, Mar 8, 2019

I started taking Letrozole (Femura) about a month ago. When will I start feeling/seeing side effects? what are the main side effects you have? Does anyone not have any side effects?

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I did not hve any side effects; took it for 5 years. Although I would very rarely get a day when I was too tired to do anything. Not sure if it was from ~the Letrozole but possibly.

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I started Letrozole just over a year ago. First started taking it in the morning. Few days after around 4pm ish I
passed out at the driving wheel. Completely out! Smashing into empty cars, driving on wrong side of the street. Air bags all went off. Thank god I never hit a human or a dog. Lot of dog walkers in my town. Car was a write off, had only had it a few months. Only thing I remember was a medic putting his head in my window to ask if I was ok. Legs were bruised and cut from air bags is all. My main concern was that no one else had been hurt. The cars I hit were empty. Then I ran into someone’s porch which stopped my car. What a nightmare! Then I read the side effects sheet it said be careful about driving etc. Now I take it at bedtime. Had no problems since. Otherwise that was as it as far as side expects. Thank goodness.

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@ellya

When do most people start side effects from Letrozole? I have a lot of angst about taking it. I started two weeks ago and feel nothing other than fatigue, which in my case could be coming from a couple things. I take it at noon with other meds.

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I've been taking Letrozole for about 3 months. I have some joint pain in my fingers and toes which seem to come and go. With the help of CBD ointment at night it seems to help. I am a quilter and a watercolor artist so I use my hands a lot. I also have experienced some night hot flashes nothing severe.
Everyone tolerates medicine differently but for me so far not bad. Hope this helps!

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@jackiefo

I started Letrozole just over a year ago. First started taking it in the morning. Few days after around 4pm ish I
passed out at the driving wheel. Completely out! Smashing into empty cars, driving on wrong side of the street. Air bags all went off. Thank god I never hit a human or a dog. Lot of dog walkers in my town. Car was a write off, had only had it a few months. Only thing I remember was a medic putting his head in my window to ask if I was ok. Legs were bruised and cut from air bags is all. My main concern was that no one else had been hurt. The cars I hit were empty. Then I ran into someone’s porch which stopped my car. What a nightmare! Then I read the side effects sheet it said be careful about driving etc. Now I take it at bedtime. Had no problems since. Otherwise that was as it as far as side expects. Thank goodness.

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I stopped taking it. I had such bad back aches and also terrible joint aches. Now they put me on the Faslodex shot. And now I am a cripple. No more for me. I still Ibrance. That’s it.

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@jackiefo

I started Letrozole just over a year ago. First started taking it in the morning. Few days after around 4pm ish I
passed out at the driving wheel. Completely out! Smashing into empty cars, driving on wrong side of the street. Air bags all went off. Thank god I never hit a human or a dog. Lot of dog walkers in my town. Car was a write off, had only had it a few months. Only thing I remember was a medic putting his head in my window to ask if I was ok. Legs were bruised and cut from air bags is all. My main concern was that no one else had been hurt. The cars I hit were empty. Then I ran into someone’s porch which stopped my car. What a nightmare! Then I read the side effects sheet it said be careful about driving etc. Now I take it at bedtime. Had no problems since. Otherwise that was as it as far as side expects. Thank goodness.

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Good Lord!! So happy you are safe!!

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@pampurr

I stopped taking it. I had such bad back aches and also terrible joint aches. Now they put me on the Faslodex shot. And now I am a cripple. No more for me. I still Ibrance. That’s it.

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I am so sorry to hear about the journey you have had with Letrozole and Faslodex. Are you taking any meds at all for your breast cancer/remission? Are you slowly getting movement back?

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Letrozole makes my joints ache—knees, hands worst. I take arthritis strength acetaminophen which helps a lot. I deal with it. It’s been almost 6 mos now. Could be worse.

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@ppat4pr

I did not hve any side effects; took it for 5 years. Although I would very rarely get a day when I was too tired to do anything. Not sure if it was from ~the Letrozole but possibly.

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Same here. Certainly a lot more fatigue than before chemo and radio, but other things to blame - peripheral neuropathy and just getting older.

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@ymadrian

I've been taking Letrozole for about 3 months. I have some joint pain in my fingers and toes which seem to come and go. With the help of CBD ointment at night it seems to help. I am a quilter and a watercolor artist so I use my hands a lot. I also have experienced some night hot flashes nothing severe.
Everyone tolerates medicine differently but for me so far not bad. Hope this helps!

Jump to this post

When I was on letrozole the first month was great ! Then by the end of third month felt horrible.. body aches, joint pain & severe hand pain had to see a hand surgeon… stopped all these pills entirely.. even my oncologist radiologist said most not all people can’t tolerate these pills also said they do have bad side effects .. I’m off for now not sure I am going to start back if I do only going to take either every other day or probably 3 X a week.. ❤️

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I very seldom have hot flashes. My main side effect is joint stiffness which took several months to manifest. It's especially bad when I first wake up in the morning. Sometimes I lie awake for a while summoning the strength to move, but once I am up and about moving around the stiffness nearly goes away.

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