Treatment decisions

I have been taking Femara, an aromatase inhibitor (an anti-estrogen drug; my breast cancer type feeds on estrogen, so I've gone to great lengths to eliminate estrogen from my body) for about 15 months now. At first it was no big deal, without noticeable side effects, and then the side effects really peaked (and it was hard to get out of bed each day, literally) and then they subsided again, and I thought I was in the clear.

But those nasty side effects are back. My bones and joints just ache and ache, and nothing seems to relieve the pain. Last time I visited Dr. Rinn (oncologist), she said that I could take a one month break from Femara to see if that helped. I refused, because this is supposed to be one of my wonder-drugs, and of course I worry about the "what if's" of going off the drug - after all, I don't take it for the joy of it, I take it to fight cancer!

I have to decide whether to take a break, to switch drugs (there are two other AIs on the market to choose from, but they are not side-effect free, either), or to keep going.

I suspect I'll keep going, but the quality of life issues are driving me nuts. Can I deal with 3.5+ more years of this?

Right now I'm not running or exercising much because of the side effects, and it's making me crazy. Marathon '07 is important to me, but how am I going to do it if WALKING hurts?!

I'll figure it out, and I'll be okay. But it's stuff like this that keeps cancer in the forefront of my brain. It's hard not to think about it when my entire body reminds me of it every minute. This cancer journey isn't over.