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

Update: Soy and Letrozole
Although the pain from taking only 3 doses of Letrozole was getting better after 3 weeks, all at once I had horrible stabbing pains on my arms, neck, more neuropathy, and numbness. It was so bad it kept me up all night. I recently became a vegan and had just switched to soy milk and for the first time, had tofu for 2 nights in a row. (Studies have show that women who eat soy have lower rates of cancer and it's about the only food that helps with triple negative breast cancer which I hav3). Since that was the only significant change I had made in the last 2 days, I googled soy and letrozole and a study was done on taking them together. Bottom line was DON"T TAKE THEM TOGETHER!!

francine6829 This may be a bit ridiculous but I am replying to you THREE years later. I'm sure you've moved on and figured this out by now!! Ha ha. I was distracted by my husband's serious medical issues and cancer diagnosis and am just now getting back to Mayo Connect. Sorry for not replying sooner to you and I hope you are well and coping. Hugs.

I got off it after 3 days. I cheated and only took 3/4 of a pill. Made my neuropathy much worse and numbness on neck and face. It's been almost 3 weeks and the pain has not gone away. Glad though that you're able to take it.

I had terrible joint pain with Anastrozole. My oncologist switched me to Letrozole at half dosage - my choice of a full tab every other day or 1/2 tab everyday. Shortly after I also started taking collagen supplements. I also have osteoarthritis in my knees, but with this change I am relatively pain-free suffering mostly from stiffness when immobile too long.

Just posting for balance here. I and many of my friends did not suffer significant joint pains with letrozole. I told my doctor that if I walked for 10 minutes, I had some pain, but if I kept going past, say, 40 minutes, the pain dissipated. My doc said she had heard this from other patients. I also did tai chi.

I totally respect the experience of those who had significant side effects, but for future readers or lurkers, I want to say that many of us did well with letrozole. I finished my 5 years and wanted to continue but tests showed no further benefit. I enjoyed feeling safer.

Yes, I couldn't tolerate the joint pain and two friends taking als had to have joint surgery.

I have heard that at Sloan Kettering and NYU Lagonne, some doctors are experimenting with having patients take Letrozole every other day. I too am cutting my dose down - 3/4ths but think will go to half. Strange pains in ear lobes and neck.

The insert that comes with letrozole describes studies where 20% of the regular dose is effective. Your doctor should know this. My doctor okayed taking it every other day or taking a half dose, but I never did because my side effects were negligible. Read the info from the company itself on the lower dose!

I have just started taking Letrozole a month ago. So far the only side effects seem to be some joint and muscle pain, especially in the hip area, early in the day. Easing up with movement. Some very rare, very mild, hot flashes. I will see what happens going forward. Just curious regarding half dose - my pills are super tiny, it would be pretty difficult to split them. Also, my oncologist told me that currently there does not seem to be a reliable (or any) test to check estrogen levels, so it would be hard to monitor what effect the Letrozole or any AI has.

I take a multivitamin every day, I have taken biotin but truly it did not change much. I am sure there are some that might help but I am like you, I didn’t want to put too much in the mix. I also don’t really know much about them and didn’t want to end up hurting myself. I did find that using nioxin shampoo once a week helped some, my hairdresser said it would help eliminate any drug buildup on my scalp and hair follicles that might cause thinning. Also because half of my hair ( in patches) came back really curly, I keep it permed which makes it look fuller. I know feeling like you are getting older isn’t really fun. Do you exercise at all? Have other hobbies that can help you stay strong?