[Laurel]

Lois,

In October I took myself off of my A.I. (Femara) and began taking Tamoxifen again. I had nearly a full bottle left over from when I switched to the A.I. from Tamoxifen 3 years ago. My left knee had swelled in May and remained swollen and painful, although with Bromelein and Tart Cherry Extract it was nearly back to normal in size, but still painful. In fact, my legs and feet were stiff and painful having been so for quite a long time. I called them my Herman Munster feet!

Anyway, I got to thinking that perhaps the knee was exacerbated by the Femara. I figured that I would see what a six week hiatus from an A.I. would do in terms of the sore knee. Knowing I'd see my Onc in early December I opted to switch back to Tamoxifen just to see if it might alleviate the knee pain.

Well, to my surprise it did. Not only the knee pain, but the feet and calf pain, too! I haven't felt this good, or been able to move this well in years, really since chemo! Oddly, I had no idea how miserable I was since this stiffness and soreness had become my baseline.

I am walking briskly for an hour daily. I can spend hours cleaning and not have to hobble to my recliner. I am delighted! I was concerned my Onc. might not be pleased, but she instantly said the pain was from the A.I. and that I had gotten my 3 years in on Femara. She would like to see me do a full 5 years of Tamoxifen therapy, which takes me to 8 years of an anti-hormonal.

My only concern with 10 years of Tamoxifen is the increased incidence of uterine & liver cancer.