femara side effects

I have been on Femara since January of 2005 and am experiencing some oddities that I am pretty sure are related to Femara....my vision has blurred and my mouth constantly feels sore...also, I am having alot of pelvic pain, but I am not sure it is related to Femara...is anyone else experiencing these symptoms??

I am experiencing some blurred vision. My hair is also getting thinner. My worst symptom is bladder irritaion, pressure, frequent urination. I have been on it for about a year and a half. Would love to go off it, but am worried aabout getting sick. Anyone else experiecing hair loss and urinary problems?

I've been on Femara for 1-1/2 years after being on Tamoxifin for 5 years for breast cancer. Started noticing hairloss last November. Seen 2 dermatologists - one said it was female pattern baldness and the other said it was stress. Both parents and siblings have very thick hair and have never had problems with hairloss. I'm under a lot of stress so I think it's stress thats causing my hairloss or Femara. They're not sure if its the medication. I called 2 pharmacies and they both said the side effects are less than 5%. Well, I think I'm one of the less than 5%'s. I've always had thin hair but I'm shedding excessively. My hair is thining mostly in front and the crown area. My thyroid and iron were tested and that's fine. I've started taking Rogaine 2 days ago - I'm getting desperate!!!

July 14/06
Had breast surgery March 2003. Was on Tamoxifin Nov.03 to June 06 (experienced bitter taste in mouth, tiredness/a bit depressed, thinning of hair in front)
I started on Femara July 1/06 - as at this date July 14/06 I have experienced slight headache, eyes feel strained and hurt somewhat. I am hoping to be one of the lucky ones to tolerate this drug with minimum side effects.
Good luck to all of you lovely ladies!!!

I am taking Femara for infertility-I am experiencing several side-effects after only two days: Hot flashes, nausea, bloating (lots of that!) and tiredness. However, emotionally I feel much more stable than when I was taking Chlomid!
good luck to all taking this and any other drug for health purposes-hopefully it brings us peace and health!

I just picked up my prescription for Femara from the pharmacy today. My doctor has perscribed if for infertility. Once I got over the price shock (holy cow!!), I decided to sit down and find out what I could on this drug. I have to admit I'm a little nervous about taking this drug right now. There are just as many bad things on line as there are good...the scariest to me is the birth defects people are writting about. I trust my doctor so...I guess we need to go on that. Anyone else out there have any updates or using this drug for the same purpose?

Kathy wrote:

I am experiencing some blurred vision. My hair is also getting thinner. My worst symptom is bladder irritaion, pressure, frequent urination. I have been on it for about a year and a half. Would love to go off it, but am worried aabout getting sick. Anyone else experiecing hair loss and urinary problems?

My hair is also thining a lot and don't know what to do. Been on femara for 2 years and would like to get off to see what happens.

maryb wrote:

I have been on Femara since January of 2005 and am experiencing some oddities that I am pretty sure are related to Femara....my vision has blurred and my mouth constantly feels sore...also, I am having alot of pelvic pain, but I am not sure it is related to Femara...is anyone else experiencing these symptoms??

I was only on Femara for 3 wks, for post breast cancer treatment. The side effects are debilitating for me..joint pain, pelvic pain, back pain, bladder infection. They say on 20% of women have severe problems. Guess I'm in that 20%. I don't have blurred vision or mounth pain, but do have the pelvic pain. If you stop taking it, it takes ages to get it out of your system.

Charlotte,
Did you stop taking Femara and change to something else?

Julie, I was wondering if you did use this drug and how are things going so far? I picked mine up yesterday and almost fainted from the price also. I start taking it tomorrow and am very nervous too.

I just picked up my prescription for Femara today and have taken the first pill. I've been instructed to take two a day, one in the a.m., one in the p.m. I, also, am concerned with the birth defects associated with this medication. I've also seen the recommendation NOT to take this drug for infertility. I'm thoroughly confused and wondering why my doctor would prescribe this when I'm being treated strictly infertility. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks. :-)

I am being treated for infertility also. (Luteal Phase Defect). I have had two miscarriages. I asked my Doc about all the negative side effects and he said to stop reading all the bad stuff and trust him, so thats what I am trying to do. I have experienced a lot of nausea and mild stomach pain so far. I hope this goes away, but I only have one more dose after today.

I have been taking Femara for a year. I have had hair loss, vaginal dryness, bladder infection, shingles, and pain in joints of hands. I feel like I am very tired--which is very unusual for me before taking this drug.

Elizabeth wrote:

I am taking Femara for infertility-I am experiencing several side-effects after only two days: Hot flashes, nausea, bloating (lots of that!) and tiredness. However, emotionally I feel much more stable than when I was taking Chlomid!
good luck to all taking this and any other drug for health purposes-hopefully it brings us peace and health!

Please go to this site and read http://www.weitzlux.com/femara/sideeffects_15...

Elizabeth wrote:

I am taking Femara for infertility-I am experiencing several side-effects after only two days: Hot flashes, nausea, bloating (lots of that!) and tiredness. However, emotionally I feel much more stable than when I was taking Chlomid!
good luck to all taking this and any other drug for health purposes-hopefully it brings us peace and health!

Please read this site http://www.weitzlux.com/femara/sideeffects_15...

I politely disagree with the advice of consulting a legal website for information on a drug. I am scientist and I am taking femara for infertility, there many scientific articles backing this application up and the damage to the fetus is done ONLY if you take it when you are pregnant NOT to get pregnant. Use the search engine
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi...
and find relevant scientific literature. I am also experiencing some side effects but Clomid was much worse!

I am taking Femara and have been for 5 months. I have blurred vision, severe pain in the muscles of the left arm, neck and shoulder. It is so bad that I can't lie down on that side. I also gained weight which I am fighting back by doing Yoga. My hair has thinned a lot. I am most concerned with the pain in the muscles?

Has anyone else had this concern?

I have many of the symptoms (hair loss, pain in joints, weight gain, etc.) after taking Femara for about a year (after 5 years on Tamoxifin). I was curious if anyone has gone off Femara and what the results were?

Peggy wrote:

I have many of the symptoms (hair loss, pain in joints, weight gain, etc.) after taking Femara for about a year (after 5 years on Tamoxifin). I was curious if anyone has gone off Femara and what the results were?

I was on Tamoxifen for 2 1/2 years and have now been on Femara for about 1 year -- I have increasing pain and stiffness in my ness and particularly in my feet especially any time I sit or lie still for any period of time -- after I am up and moving it gets better. I actually found this site in an effort to decide if I should ask my dr. to let me try Arimidex. My surgeon who just saw me for a check-up thought it might be worth a try - that i just might react a little differently to the Arimidex.

When you have pain in your joints, does it feel like your shoulder is being twisted out of its joint and burning? Or was it just a real achey joint? Does one joint hurt more than the others? Don't know why but my left shoulder is worse than anywhere else.

Anyone out there have anything like this?