Hello. I am new to this forum. The end of January 2015, I underwent a bilateral mastectomy. I was diagnosed with stage 4+ breast cancer. I received the formal diagnosis the middle of December on my wedding anniversary just prior to my husband and I preparing to go out to celebrate. Well, let me tell you this put a grey cloud over things for our outing, and then for the holidays. At any rate, following all of my chemotherapy and radiation treatments, as well as Herceptin infusions, I was initially placed on Arimidex. It was horrid! I was told the effects would be little different than the effects of menopause. Menopause for me was a non-issue peice of cake! On the Arimidex, I had mega hot flashes, insomnia, painful achey bones and joints,.... I weighed my quality of life and quit taking it. I told my medical oncologist and he recommended changing my medication to Letrozole (Femara).  At first it seemed to be alright. The side effects were not so severe, and honestly, continue not to be as severe as with the Arimidex. Still, there are major side effects with Letrozole that have made me decide that I do not wish to take this medication any longer. I weigh my quality of life against it. On this medication, I have gained over 30 pounds. My clothes no longer fit, or fit well. I have a little round tummy that I refer to as my "chemo baby". (My chest is nearly flat. I did not have reconstruction, so one can imagine my form.) In addition, I constantly HURT! - My joints and muscles are always achey. My feet are always sore and numb. Sometimes it feels as if my feet are broken. There are times that I feel as if a knife is being shoved into the bottom of my feet, or shards of glass. I have electric shocks in my feet at times. When I sit for even 5 minutes time and go to stand, I have difficulty standing and walking. It is painful! I work in a hospital as a housekeeper. I must be on my feet at least 7 hours a day. Because of the constant pain in my feet, I find myself always walking on the sides of my feet, limping. shuffling, holding handrails at times to walk.... It is awful! I have tried several different types of shoes to help. None have. I went to a pediatrist and paid $300 for shoe inserts/supports. They help a little. I also received steroid shots. They did nothing. My medical oncologist atributes the pain in my feet to neuropathy. I am taking 600mg gabopintin, but my recent last appointment he increased my dosage to 800mg.. The gabopentin helps some, but..., not enough.. Adtionally, on the letrozole, I have experienced extreme blurred vision, extreme fatigue (some days off work I end up sleeping most of the day away!), and cognitive issues. I have researched what percentage of "help" Letrozole provides and have discovered from published medical studies that it has only 32% effectiveness. "If" that is truly the case and that is ALL I am getting - not 70%, or 80%, or higher, then I must ask myself "why" am I allowing myself to suffer even more?! Wasn't the pain I endured during chemotherapy enough??? On this medication, do I REALLY want to continue "this" quality of life - fat, blurred vision, memory loss, extreme bone and joint pain ??? I am taking my life back!

Anyone want to comment? What do you think?

I forgot to mention the tendenitis in  my hands and arms, my shoulder pain, and my back pain. I CANNOT remember going to bed or waking in the  morning and NOT being in pain. It has become a constant in my life now. Researching, i have discovered that it will take approximately 6 months for my estrogen levels to rebuild and for the Letrozole to be out of my system. This is awful stuff! I truly wonder "IF" these oncologist have any clues as to just how horrid this stuff truly is? First hand experience? // Also, I read soe posts on here earlier, which I cannot find now, about individuals stressing about how this stuff MAJORLLY increases one's appetite. OH YEAH!!! I could eat a full steak dinner with huge baked potato and chef salad, then 5 minutes later be starving and ready to order a large pizza, or eat an entire bucket of chocolate icecream in one setting! Soooooooooo, NOT worth it for ONLY 32% effectiveness!!!