Has anyone on ibrance have to stop working?

[Mcangel11]

I am a nurse and 60 years old and have good days and bad days. The bad days are so weak and sleep 18 hours . I have been out of work and am deciding not to go back when I really can't afford it.My labs go so low that I am afraid a stupid cold will kill me over stage 4 cancer..

[JoolzD]

I am totally with you on the fatigue with Ibrance. I find I rarely get out of bed before 11 am these days. Then I am still ready for bed at 9. It is hard though, to know if it is the cancer or the meds that cause the exhaustion. can you work part time?

[Mcangel11 in reply to JoolzD]

Thank you..they wont let me work part time my job is for 40 hours.The big problem is I am a nurse and sickness all over the place and white gets very low.. The fatigue is so bad.. I have had 4 major cancers during my life and my body is tired.Hope you are stable

[JoolzD in reply to Mcangel11]

I am not too bad atm thanks. Just muscle pain from the meds I think.

[mariootsi in reply to Mcangel11]

You may want to think about retiring especially now with covid. You need to take care of yourself especially with low counts.

[KMBL_]

Mcangel11, if you are Stage IV and you have enough credits for Social Security, there is a compassionate allowance, and you should be able to be approved for SSDI. If you were aware, please forgive me. I also know that some of the women here live outside of the United States as well.

[Mcangel11 in reply to KMBL_]

Thank you so much! I have been working with long term disability from work and they automatically set me up with ssdi .I was wondering if anyone has horrible days then better days on Ibrance..one day I got up was si weak and slept 20 hours . Just rea Hong out to see if ibrance does that

[KMBL_ in reply to Mcangel11]

Oh, that’s good. I have stopped working because in my line of work, I never know when I’m going to have a good day or not, and there is no rhyme or reason why one day is better or worse than another. I had to be on top of my game and just felt I couldn’t do it any longer. Yes, I have some days I feel okay and others I can barely function.

[Mcangel11 in reply to KMBL_]

I am sorry to hear it but si relieved !! I have been a nurse 38 years and you can't sleep through that and our labs go so low we are bound to die of pneumonia not our cancer..i have never NOT worked but this sucks.I can't tell you the day before how I am going to feel..Thank you for Confirming my symptoms

[KMBL_ in reply to Mcangel11]

I was in my field for 36 years. I loved my job but knew it was time to stop. I felt it was time to take care of me. I understand where you’re coming from. It’s hard to stop doing the only thing we’ve known for so long.

[hdhonda]

The MBC came after the retirement. If you are in the U.S., you should be able to get disability and Social Security. I tire easily on it too. I don't think I could work and take it.

Blessings, Hannah

[Hidden]

My wife is very fatigued (she has MBC and also had a stroke in February) and I've noticed a rolling cycle that gets worse when she is on Ibrance week 3 and into the 'off' week. She then regains energy for the following two weeks (Ibrance weeks 1 and 2) before the whole cycle seems to start again. Some days she just can't get out of bed.

[birdwatcher3 in reply to Hidden]

I have the same rolling cycle. At the moment I am in week 3 and yesterday seriously considered stopping Ibrance. However, today things look better!

[worldtravel75]

I am a 71` year old RN who just retired in May - I have worked a busy Labor and delivery unit while on Ibrance for the past 2 years without problem. That is also with a very low white count - I have also continued to travel the world.

[Sunny2020 in reply to worldtravel75]

How low does your anc get? Does your oncologist approve?

[worldtravel75 in reply to Sunny2020]

My oncologist said to be work as long as I could -better than sitting at home getting depressed ! My ANC would go from 0.6 - 0.8 so I would always have to take an extra week off the Ibrance

[Hidden]

I also have good days and not so good days . Sometimes laying down for 10 minutes helps . I worked 6 -7 days a week before retiring a year ago , I was is bad shape physically when i finally sold my business. I feel better than I did when working , But I would like 2-3 days a week , is all I think I could handle working now. I am 56 .

Nursing is a very physical & mentally demanding job , I don’t know how you do it .

[Hidden]

Hi, I have Stage 4 mets in my bones and lungs. I have been on Ibrance, Letrozole and Denosumab injection (monthly).

After a weeks break from Ibrance and going back on it again I feel tired, low and down. I soon recover from that feeling. I have more tired days than not but then the weather here hasn’t really allowed us to go out in the fresh air like we are used to. We also have this virus to contend with and that doesn’t help us.

I don’t think it’s anything unusual to feel that way but I would speak to your Consultant who I’m sure will give you good advice. Maybe your blood count needs adjusting.

Hope this helps.

Cheryl

[Hidden]

Hi Mcangel11 -

I have to admit, I only scanned the responses, but did want to chime in with two thoughts.

First, if your job/employer provides or offers disability insurance (e.g. as an employee benefit, for which you would likely pay the premiums) I'd suggest you take that into consideration. If you have the coverage, I'd imagine you're aware of that. If it's offered, but you opted out during the last benefits enrollment period, it might make sense to hang in there until January, if you can enroll in November/December (whenever the enrollment period is..).

If this is an option, it typically pays a portion of your salary or compensation (e.g. if you are paid a bonus that could be included in the calculation) for disability, and as MBC patients, we often qualify, especially if we make it known to our doc that we are unable to work. This could provide some ongoing money, in addition to the SSDI (if you're in the US), although disability insurance typically deducts the SSDI payments from the % calculation they do...

Second, you could ask your place of employment to "accommodate" your disability, e.g. lighter workload, fewer hours, etc.

I know that many of us would not have considered ourselves "disabled" in the general sense, but oftentimes legally/from an insurance perspective we are, e.g. neutropenia (sp?) and fatigue can qualify some people.

Good luck with it...

Lynn

[Mcangel11 in reply to Hidden]

Already on disability, only let me come back full time .my neutrophils are 400 almost non existing and critical and I am a nurse lol bound to get some thing at work that would kill me not the cancer.Now applied to long term disability its medical insurance .cobra 866 a month . Going to try to get on my husband's crappy plan ..but all is good take one day at a time and now that I have decided to not work i am relieved It is hard to leave 38 hours of nursing.

[Hidden in reply to Mcangel11]

Glad to hear you have disability insurance...I've benefited (spellcheck says this is not spelled with two t's? ) from this coverage for more than five years. So grateful for the financial support and, yes, learned to live with the 40% pay cut but am so happy to be able to focus on my health/happiness, vs. working like 70 hour weeks! I hope you find it beneficial, especially since - as long as you continue to qualify (probably forever) - it will continue to pay out.

Be well, take care!

Lynn

[Mcangel11 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you

[Hidden]

I encountered fatigue too. It’s not unusual to receive a lower dose of Ibrance for that reason. I went tom75 mg from 125 mg over a year ago and it helped. Good luck n

[Dragonfly2]

Same here...it seems that reducing the dosage from125 to 100 worked well for me... but endurance is still a problem. A long walk, some active house keeping chores, 9 holes of golf leave me tired and ready to sit on the couch. I was diagnosed the day I retired...🥺 but every day I feel blessed that I am retired and can focus on doing the things that bring me pleasure. I loved teaching but could not/ would not be able to tolerate the pace and physical exposure to illness and covid. Keep an open dialogue with your onc. Let her know how you are feeling and need for intervention.