HER2 Support Group Forums - View Single Post - anyone having trouble taking aromatase inhibitors?

Kim in CA · 01-02-2008, 10:53 AM

I certainly find this topic to be of great interest. I have been on Femara almost 6 years and have never had all that much discomfort. I do find that staying phsically active is a huge plus. With all the holiday hustle and bustle I hadn't been able to ride for 3 weeks and was starting to wake up with terrible stiffness. Yesterday I got out there and rode for an hour and feel much better already. Slept like a baby too!

I am also wondering about the correlation of being strongly ER+ and being only slightly ER+ (as is the case with me) and the level of pain you experience. I am only less than 10% ER+, but the oncologist that I consulted back in 2002 at UCSF thought that because of my poor prognosis, it certainly couldn't hurt to be on Femara. I am wondering if you ladies who are more strongly ER+ are the ones who experience more difficulty with the AI's. Just a thought...... But would be interesting to see if there is a connection.

Kim

01-02-2008, 10:53 AM	#15
Kim in CA Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: California's Gold Country Posts: 404	I certainly find this topic to be of great interest. I have been on Femara almost 6 years and have never had all that much discomfort. I do find that staying phsically active is a huge plus. With all the holiday hustle and bustle I hadn't been able to ride for 3 weeks and was starting to wake up with terrible stiffness. Yesterday I got out there and rode for an hour and feel much better already. Slept like a baby too! I am also wondering about the correlation of being strongly ER+ and being only slightly ER+ (as is the case with me) and the level of pain you experience. I am only less than 10% ER+, but the oncologist that I consulted back in 2002 at UCSF thought that because of my poor prognosis, it certainly couldn't hurt to be on Femara. I am wondering if you ladies who are more strongly ER+ are the ones who experience more difficulty with the AI's. Just a thought...... But would be interesting to see if there is a connection. Kim __________________ Diag. Feb 1997 4.5cm IDC <10%ER+, PR-. 5 out of 36 nodes +. Mastectomy followed by 3 rounds Adriamycin/Cytoxin. 5/1997 Hi Dose Chemo w/ Stem cell rescue. Spent 4 weeks in isolation ward. Then 6 weeks radiation. 9/2001 widespread mets to liver. 8 mos Taxotere/Herceptin brought me almost to NED. Stop Taxotere & add Femara . 11/2002 liver resection to remove spot that turned out to be necrosis. Officially NED! 7/2003 Tumor markers rising add Xeloda Disastrous reaction, 8 days hospital, but tumor markers came back to normal! June -Dec 2004 UW Vaccine Trial. 7/2005 MRI single 11mm brain met 8/2005 Gamma Knife. Brain MRI @3 months NED! 2006-2011 brain/body still NED 8/04/11 Taking Herceptin break, will monitor with tumor markers. 6/20/12 Tumor markers begin to rise. CA15-3 is 31.3 and Her2 Serum is at 17.1 Decide to repeat in one month. 7/23/12 CA15-3 now 49.3 Her2 Serum 26.8 8/6/12 Back on Herceptin CA15-3 now 76 Her2 Serum now 49 11/7/12 Add weekly Taxotere for 4 cycles 2/2013 Stopped Taxotere added Perjeta. MRI shows approx. 50% reduction liver mets. CA15-3 still elevated @ 55. Will continue on just Herceptin & Perjeta. November 2014 Continuing on Herceptin, Perjeta, and Femara indefinitely. Guess I'm NED again, but watching those tumor markers carefully! Dec. 2015 PET scan reveals mass in perirectal area of abdomen.biopsy confirms. Still Her2+, but no longer ER+. Bye bye Femara Jan 2016 Begin Kadcyla March 2016 PET scan shows tumor now barely visible, still NED everywhere else. 2016/2017 continue Kadcyla November 2017 brain MRI reveals small focus of T2 hyperintensity with possible 4mm enhancing nodule. Short term follow up MRI suggested. Stay tuned...