Good news or meds stopped working?

[Staceyness]

Hi everyone. Just a random question. I was diagnosed in Feb./18. My mets are to my liver (minimal), nodes and abdominal lining. I reached out here and received so much love and encouragement and I am truly thankful for you, especially the regular posters. You guys rock. Anyway, Ibrance/letrozole didn't work for me. I was then put on afinitor and exemestane. Long story short, I got really sick with a major liver abscess while on afinitor and went off of it in January. I went on daily meds to fight this infection and stopped those at the end of February. In April, my oncologist (who is amazing and really lives up to his name, Dr. Joy!) said everything was shrinking! Praise God! Since May, my side effects are disappearing- my hair is growing, I've put on weight, and I feel good overall. My fingers and knees are super sore and stiff in the morning but feel a bit better after I start moving. My question is....if side effects subside, is that a sign the meds have stopped working? I don't go for scans until August and wanted to check with my team here. Thank you so much everyone. I am so thankful that God put you all in my path....not a fun one to be on but He is good and I pray a cure comes soon!

PS: how many lines of treatment have you ladies had? Exemestane is my second one after ibrance failed after 4 months.

[Hidden]

Hmmmm....interesting question. I believe the answer is "no", degree of side-effects is unrelated to efficacy. So I would just enjoy feeling better and feel confident that the drugs are doing their best!

[Julie2233]

I had the same worry. I'm on ibrance and faslodex (17 cycles) and have only had minimal side effects. I asked my oncologist and was told that there was no correlation between drug effectiveness and side effects, it's just how your body reacts to the drugs. Effectiveness is measured using scans and to a lesser extent, blood tests.

[Godbeforme]

really shouldn't say because I'm only on my 2nd cycle of ibrance, but I'm expecting good things because the rotator cuff injury I have endured over a year directly attached to my scapula with lots of mets, is almost totally healed! so I FEEL the cure as I can use my arm again and I'm telling you ladies it is the pits to only use one arm! I am so happy to be two-armed again <grin> To God be the glory for the things He has done, and yet to do! God bless you and heal us all in Jesus name, amen! <3 xo

[kduck]

I too was wondering the same thing, I took shots last week and I was not sore or achey at all. I feel good. Funny because I don't know how I should feel. When I feel good, I get scared and start thinking my treatments have stopped working.

[Have-faith]

Hi. I think side effects and med efficiency are unrelated. I believe our bodies need to adjust to these meds. We are all unique and will react differently to the meds and side effects.

I was DX Oct 2017. I am on the same treatment regime as you since 2 weeks ago. I had to other regimes prior. Letrozole, and faslodex and Ibrance lost their effectiveness so I am on my third line of defense in 20 months since DX.

No one would ever suspect anything looking at me. It is a bummer to hear the meds stopped working but we have to believe that maybe the next treatment will turn out to be the best and most effective for us. Faith