Has anyone on Letrozole had night sweats and poor sleep?

You'll hopefully get some answers here, but I also suggest putting "letrozole and sleep" into the search to find some previous discussions. Can you get that to work?

@mir123 I don’t know how to search this site. Can you direct me to the search link?

@wews Click Great Cancer Support Group.
Then you'll see a Search box right under that.
I'm also going to ask someone better at this than me to chime in!

@wews
It is a know side effect - hot flashes and night sweats. It is because of lower estrogen levels. Just like menopause.

This discussion talks about same symptoms, but with a different drug used during breast cancer treatment, tamoxifen. https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/alternative-medicine/

Sounds like it is affecting your quality of life and you should let your providers know.
Have you talked to your oncologist or care team about?

@roch yes. They suggest stopping Letrozole for three weeks to see if it gets better and then talking with the oncologist to perhaps change drugs. Of course last night I didn’t have any! I had stopped Letrozole for two weeks for surgery that I had to have and went back on it 9/17 so perhaps it is resolving? I am not supposed to stop it until 10/17 and if I no longer have then I will stick on the drug since I believe Letrozole is the drug of choice for jar positive invasive lobular cancer.

I did a search but couldn’t find anything. One person said take primose oil but my research shows that it shouldn’t be taken with letrozole.

@wews Go to the top of this page. You will see a box with a magnifying glass inside a little box that indicates "Search". Type letrozole and sleep in the box. Your results will show up for the discussions and posts with letrozole and sleep on Mayo Clinic Connect.

Does this help?

@wews I've been taking Letrozole for a year now. The main side effect I've experienced is night sweats. They were much worse at the beginning, but over time, I think my body has started to adjust.
Trying different brands might help—though it can vary. I switched brands one month and noticed my night sweats got significantly worse, so it might be worth experimenting to see what works best for you.
I also found a helpful solution on Amazon: a cooling blanket from the brand Amelie Home (Q-Max). When a hot flash hits, I use the blanket to cool down. Since I’m already covered by it when I fall back asleep, I don’t wake up later feeling cold. It’s made a big difference in managing the discomfort at night.
I hope any of this helps!

@angiemal thanks so much for the insight. The hot flashes aren’t too bad but the night sweats are what wake me up because I get cold. I am going to try the blanket though! I have a feeling all three choices of these AI drugs all have hot flash side effects because they all shut down estrogen. There is a drug to stop the night sweats but one of the side effects is insomnia ! And that’s the problem. When I wake up in the middle of the night I can’t fall back asleep!

I take my AI in the morning, precisely because it seemed to make sleep difficult. So far, no hot flashes either. Doc was OK with morning dosing.

So you are sleeping better now that you are taking it in the morning?