Anyone experience sore feet or heel pain from Letrozole?

@lifetraveler
Thank you so much for your uplifting message.

I guess my main goal in writing this was to see if any one else has experienced these side effects for this length of time.

I’ve been beating my head against the wall for 15 years. I’ve been to so many doctors trying to figure out why I am in so much pain and have such fatigue. I am not accepting that I have fibromyalgia not that I have a problem with it I just don’t feel like that’s what it is but I have been told that by two separate rheumatologist. The other two said I didn’t have that, but they didn’t know what I had. I tested negative for rheumatoid arthritis.

Another thing I would like to share is even though I had a bilateral mastectomy and my ovaries removed and even though I stayed on the Famara for almost 5 years, I did still develop breast cancer on my right side. My first cancer was on the left side.

And even though I didn’t have a breast, my new cancer found just enough breast tissue that was left behind to get going again. I caught it very early and I had my third mastectomy 😜lol but I just like to remind people that you can never ever let your guard down when it comes to breast cancer.

It wasn’t an estrogen fuel cancer, and I don’t even remember what it is, but it had nothing to do with the other cancer. I went through the surgery and chemo and I am fine now no radiation or any type of after treatment.

Once again, thank you for your uplifting message and maybe you can share how important it is for women, even though they may have had a bilateral mastectomy you can let your guard down.

Keeping up on your check-ups is the most important advice I can give to our breast cancer survivor sisters ♥️

@mimistu12 :

Hi! mimi:

I am so sorry that you went through mastectomy 3 times:((! My heart simply aches upon reading this; however, your wisdom and perseverance still inspires me greatly! Thank God you are fine now!

As you said, we can never ever let our guard down when it comes to breast cancer! A good friend of mine went through her first BC surgery and radiation treatment without any AI medication afterward, developed recurrence on the same side a few years later and found out that she, too, carries the abnormal mutation gene; so she decided to have bilateral mastectomy and take Letrozole following that. These heart-broken experiences saddened me greatly, but we strive to overcome any challenges in life.

Thanks again, my friend, for reminding us the importance of keeping up on our check-ups and never letting our guard down!

I took Letrozole for 21/4,years.
At the 2 years point , I had heel pain and plantar fasciitis.

It also destroyed the muscles in my legs which would give out both above and below the knees of both legs.
Ended up with neuropathy from it.

I had to stop taking it.
One leg gave out and I ended up at Orthopedic urgent care and had to use a walker.
Now using a cane.
Was afraid to go on Exesmestane and end up with carpal tunnel syndrome and not be able to use a walker or cane.

Am trying hard to rebuild muscles.
No more AI’s.
Had to choose quality of life and walking.

@sassega
If it is on your Achilles tendon, on the back of your ankle, it is probably Haglund deformity.
I had an injury years before my cancer diagnosis but a bump developed after treatment.
I went to PT and that helps with the pain. (It looks like a small golf ball on the back of my ankle).
The PT exercises and walking help.
I won’t lie - when it acts up, the sudden pain is debilitating.

Yes, I have been on letrozole for 16 months. I started having foot pain a few months ago. It started out just in the morning, but now anytime I sit for 20 mins or more, when I get up the pain is bad. I walk like a duck because it hurts to let my feet bend until it eases up. I also now have heel pain. My wrist pain is also bad. I use ibuprofen and tramadol with minimal relief.

@ndozier Hi - not on Letrozole but Anastrozole. Over past 5 weeks have developed bad pain across top of toes left foot Am 18 months into AI therapy. Have quite a noticeable limp which is embarrassing. Only one foot affected thus far and hope the other does not follow suit. I’m hoping this will settle as I cannot take strong pain killers due to a pre existing kidney issue.

Tell your doctor at the next oncologist appointment or make an appointment to tell the doctor.
I used the patient portal where I could contact my oncologist about ALL my complaints. And I got feedback with PT to help work past the pain of ankle, foot and back pains.
It is better to address little aches and pains before they develop into another critical health situation.

I started taking Letrozole in August 2025, and started getting dry skin on my feet quite quickly, but that was it. The only noticeable ”side effect” was chills. I had expected menopause symptoms, but got none of them, so I was grateful for that. In December I noticed that my right foot was purple, on the side of my big toe plus on the front half of the sole. And sore. I got really scared and went to the A&E, but was only told that it wasn't life threatening, but needed investigating. So I have been to my GP about 4 times now, trying to get help. The symptoms come and go. I have had severe tingling in both feet, burning sensations. The purple calms down occasionally and I only have a bit of stinging and pain in my bones in my foot. After a terrible night of pain and soreness, I googled Letrozole and circulation, and got a hit ”can restrict bloodflow to extremities”. This scared me so much that I called the cancer clinic. They said ”Take a 6 week break and see what happens”. It has now been over 3 weeks since I stopped and though the chills have disappeared, I still get these flare ups. Went for a walk today after having 2 quite ”good” days, and when I came in my foot was sore and purple again, the pain and stinging was worse. I also have flaky skin in several spots under my foot. I have found a diagnosis that fits my symptoms very well: Hand-foot syndrome, also known as palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia. But is does not mention Letrozole, so when I spoke to the cancer clinic again on Friday about this, they were quite dismissive and suggested I might have diabetes, which I think I would know if I did. I am very scared. Wondering if anyone has had these particular symptoms? I want to know if it can get better or if this is permanent and even progressive.

Please don’t take for granted that you do not have Diabetes. For many yrs my glucose levels from my yearly blood work was normal. I had noticed that every Saturday after hip going to lunch and lots of walking that my feet and legs would itch and sting horribly in the evenings. Then my toes started yo go numb. My Do tor said my glucose was normal still. I continued that way for a few years. Then I felt like I was dragging myself across the parking lot into my place of work every day. I just felt soooo tired. She then decided to to another blood test and my glucose has raised up but not dangerously. She put me on Metformin meds and I continued using the meds until one day I got a rash from a new med I had started and had to go to ER. They found that my A1C blood test which tells them your blood sugars over a 3 month period was and behold 8.8! Which was not good. Big time type 2 I then had to start on on insulin. No one ever told me to stop eating sugars and bad carbs. My feet have gotten worse over time and my chemo treatments didn’t help. Motto: ask doctor to script for an AIC test. I am finally on Glp1 Mo journo for Diabetic and my blood sugar is now down to 6.0. Not excellent but much safer. Good luck!

@dinnamm - Thank you for your comment. Yes, I am not going to rule anything out since this is not getting better. I get flare ups every day, red, blue stinging feet, sore skin... God knows what is going on.