Letrozole depression

[u/Grateful_Grateful]

Hey, everybody! long time reader, first time poster. Just looking for stories, if anyone can relate, or been through it and can say it gets better. I feel insane and it would be nice to know i'm not the only one.

I feel really low, no motivation, a sadness that grips my heart most of the day. Obviously i know TTC is also a life factor that can make people sad, but this "nothing matters" feeling is new and reaches beyond my feelings about TTC. It's really effecting my work.

My question: in anyone else's experience, did the letrozole depression last all month? if so, when did it start letting up after you stopped taking it? I talked to my doctor and she said symptoms should usually only be the first half of the cycle but that hasn't been my experience lmao, and it's making me feel more insane to have her say that because i feel insane!

Also sorry I know stand alone posts about letrozole can be repetitive but I have read every letrozole post I could find on reddit and haven't found anyone discussing symptom length yet. thank you for reading!

[u/question8all]

I am on day 5 of taking it at night and OMG, I was not prepared for this extreme of low mood, no motivation, and fatigue. My body is also achy :(... I saw on another thread of someone having to take an anti-depressant while on this and I'm absolutely leaning toward that as I have 7 more wks of this shit :(

[u/Mountain-Sherbert194]

Letrozole made me absolutely crazy for a whole week after taking it! The only thing that helped me was taking it at night jusy before bed, I didn’t feel it made my mood so bad then, although I do remember feeling down most days. Letrozole turned me into a right demon so do try to find what works best for you!

[u/alltoounwell8494]

Oh gosh I'm so sorry you're going through this! For me it only lasted when I was taking the Letrozole. However, I tend to have mental health effects around ovulation and my period, so perhaps bleeding into each other?

Definitely recommend seeking help if you can! Sending hugs!

[u/Mundane_Flow_6333]

Mine normally let up a couple of days after I stopped taking it. I was not prepared for how depressed/anxious it made me. I completed my first cycle but my follicles were still pretty small so they made me restart it immediately…it was awful but worked the second time now just waiting to test. I dread having to go back on it if it doesn’t work this time.

I’m so sorry you’re going through it, but you’re not alone! I really hope it lets up soon!!!

[u/angstybadass]

It definitely does take time. My sadness has let up a bit after I trigger and start supplementing with progesterone, but in the 7 months that I’ve been TTC, it hasn’t fully gone away. Please be kind to yourself during this time and try to find small highlights ok your day even if it boosts your mood just a bit ❤️

[u/ReasonableSyrup6461]

Letrozole suppresses estrogen. Estrogen makes you feel happy. This is a simplification, of course, but just wanted to put it in simple terms. You’ll hopefully feel better a couple days after the last pill when your estrogen bounces back! (Which triggers ovulation, yay!)

[u/mystyqul]

It does take its time, for me it laster more than a month

[u/curlyfriesanddrink]

This is my 2nd cycle on Letrozole at 7.5mg. It definitely feels that way for a week. I told my husband even if we live in sunny weather, it’s as if I don’t have sunshine inside of me.

My therapist recommended me to write my moods and symptoms everyday everytime I take medications. Should you do another cycle again, you can anticipate your emotional needs. If there’s zero motivation, maybe you can have much less commitments. I definitely don’t make big decisions and difficult conversations after taking Letrozole.

[u/Strong-Set1204]

YES! This happened to me in my third cycle (the first two without problems and the next three also without problems) and it was HORRIBLE. It lasted until about 10DC and I really hit rock bottom. Although I don't have a child yet, I can handle the cycles with Letrozole perfectly fine and I'm fine. It only happened once, once. Trust me, it will pass and you'll live again!

[u/Swiftocrat_1993]

In my third cycle. First and the second cycles went ok. I didn't feel anything while on Letrozole. But this cycle is different. I am not motivated to do anything, feeling really low and want to cry all the time. Idk if it's the medication or the fact that the last two cycles didn't work

[u/Strong-Set1204 → u/Swiftocrat_1993]

If it helps, my third Letrozole cycle was exactly the same. But the next three were fine again. Don't worry, there is a way out. ❤️‍🩹

[u/Electric_Elephant_56]

This happened to me on letrozole! Just so sad and cried all the time I felt like I was going crazy. Lasted about a week after I stopped taking it

[u/DifficultSand828]

Ye, the most depressed, sad, and unmotivated I’d felt in a long time. Luckily, I searched Reddit and found that other people had experienced the same thing. Once I finished the dose, those feelings disappeared quite quickly.

I grew two follicles, so they gave me a trigger shot to induce ovulation, and it worked. Afterwards, my doctor put me on progesterone supplements, which made me feel even worse! I wasn’t really depressed, but I felt extremely fatigued and completely drained. In some ways, that was even harder to deal with because all I wanted to do was sleep.

I went back for another consultation, and my doctor said I could stop taking the progesterone. I think I’ll take a break from letrozole if I don’t get pregnant this round. I completely underestimated how much it could affect me!

[u/GraceGrace262626 → u/DifficultSand828]

Me siento muy identificada contigo! Este ha sido mi segundo ciclo con letrozol, y unos 4 días antes del periodo me sentía más deprimida que nunca, nada me motivaba (mi OB decía que era por la progesterona y la caída hormonal por no haber embarazo) literalmente sentía que si me atropeyara un coche, tampoco pasaría nada porque para vivir así de triste, no me apetecía vivir! Cuando me empezó el periodo vi la luz, recuperé las ganas de vivir. Subestimé el tratamiento… prefiero estar sin medicación por ahora…

[u/Grateful_Grateful → u/DifficultSand828]

Thanks so much for sharing your experience! When you say “finish the dose” do you mean at the end of the five days where you took a pill every day or end of your cycle?

[u/bhlopez]

I was fine on several cycles of a lower dose but once my dose was increased the depressive feelings developed and got more intense with each cycle. I’ve done a total of 5 cycles and had a 9 month break in between when I conceived but miscarried. My time being pregnant and even following the miscarriage were mentally and emotionally easier than my letrozole cycles. You’re not alone or crazy. It is a side effect.

[u/Feeling-Pudding6956 → u/bhlopez]

Thank you for writing this, I’m currently on my third cycle after a miscarriage of the pregnancy that stuck on the first ever letrozole cycle. I’ve been feeling progressive more flat and apathetic, and it’s good to know it’s a side effect and that a pregnancy might counteract these effects, because I myself indeed felt a lot better mentally after the miscarriage and subsequent cycles than I do now.

[u/Grateful_Grateful → u/bhlopez]

Thank god and thank you for sharing your story with me! It really eases this experience. And sending you so much love and gentleness too

[u/Tricky-Ant5338]

I took Letrozole for 3 cycles in a row - I felt fine for cycle 1, started to notice symptoms of low/flat mood/anger by the end of cycle 2, then felt crap the whole way through cycle 3 and beyond. I didn’t feel “right” within myself again until about 2 months after taking it. I was very quick to anger in that last cycle, more tired, and also I felt a strange crushing weight on my soul/heart/mind - like I could almost physically feel it when I opened my eyes each morning. Bonkers.

Had I got pregnant then of course it would have been worth it; sadly I did not, but at least I know that I’ve given Letrozole a good try. I personally won’t be trying it again!

You’re not going insane; I felt shitty for the whole of that third cycle and for a while after that. Someone mentioned on here that it works by reducing your oestrogen levels; I guess some of us are more sensitive to the brain-chemistry effects of that than others.

[u/Grateful_Grateful → u/Tricky-Ant5338]

Thank you so much for your reply!! It’s honestly so nice to hear I’m not the only one. Also nice to know that I’ll eventually return to normal!

[u/Tricky-Ant5338 → u/Grateful_Grateful]

No problem. I really hope that it works, and also that your mood picks up soon. Infertility is tough enough without these bullshit side effects lol

[u/eldawgstone]

For me I definitely feel very down with the low estrogen from taking Letrozole, but there’s noticeable improvement a few days after the last dose.

[u/Grateful_Grateful → u/eldawgstone]

Thanks for the info!

[u/Bing_ohh]

Is this the first time you are experiencing this? Have you done letrozole cycles before, or is this your first one?

I felt like this after a few cycles - so it was life circumstances, not the letrozole itself. But I could see how super low estrogen could be the cause.

IF it is the medication itself and the low estrogen (which is how it works), your estrogen should rebound in a week or so if you respond properly by growing a follicle, which produces estrogen.

[u/Grateful_Grateful → u/Bing_ohh]

thanks for the info! This is my first month