alcohol and breast cancer reoccurence

LibbyB

Hi everyone, just wondering everyone's thoughts on this topic. It was splashed all over the news yesterday in Melbourne. That having more than 60mls per day-the equivalent of 1/2 a bottle or less a week can increase our chances of reoccurrence!

I know we all want to do everything we can to reduce this risk but at the same time live our lives to the fullest!
After only finishing chemo in August and having my final surgery 4 weeks ago it is still fresh on my mind and I still feel nervous about drinking, although I have always loved a glass of wine!
what are your thoughts?
how much do you now drink since finishing treatment?
Libby

onemargie

I saw that too on the news last night and it also said at the end it was inconclusive, so yes we all need to be healthy but I wont be giving up the pissy amount I drink like you said got to live as well!!! I only drink friday and saturday nights and only 1 or 2 UDLs tops and or  only 1 glass of wine and 1 UDL, I eat well nothing from a packet and  exercise every day so FFS if I want a glass of wine with my dinner on the weekend Im going to have it!  Seriously cant be any worse for you than that bloody toxic waste chemo shit they pump through your veins! Enjoy your wine love. Margie

Deanne

I was diagnosed 4 years ago. For me it was enough to know that:
1. Alcohol is a Group 1 Carcinogen (cancer causing to humans)
2. It is a risk factor for getting bc in the first place
3. It has no nutritional benefits
4. I can drink other things that have no link to cancer and are actually good for me!
5. I can relax and enjoy myself without it.

Have never had a drink since diagnosis. This decision was part of many healthy lifestyle changes I have made to try and reduce my risk of recurrence. I have done far harder things to try and reduce my risk of recurrence than giving up alcohol.
If I do have a recurrence I don't want any what if thoughts.
This research just reinforces my original decision.
xxx
Ps It actually says not to drink alcohol on my anti-hormone therapy medications too!

Harlee

Interestingly one of my side effects from chemo was that I no longer liked the taste of wine!!!
I didn't drink at all during my treatment and even 3 years since finishing I still only like the occasional champagne (I think the bubbles make it taste different to wine?) I can't drink red wine at all and most whites taste like they're off to me. I can tolerate sweet cocktails or mixed drinks as long as they are very weak. I only ever drink on special occasions (holidays, weddings, special dinners) and only ever 1 small glass - anymore and I'm likely to pass out.
Initially I did miss the aahhhh from a glass of wine as I relax after a busy day - but I can now get the same feeling from a glass of soda water with a twist of lime. It's the relaxation that matters - not the alcohol. 
At first I was sad about not drinking and had plans how to slowly reintroduce alcohol and get my taste for wine back but fortunately I realised that alcohol was a risk factor that I could easily eliminate from my life. I no longer miss it but I do enjoy my occasional glass of champagne. Over a year I probably average just over 1 unit of alcohol per month. 

AineG

Having realised just how unhealthy I was pre diagnosis I've had to make lots of changes to try and loose weight, improve diet etc etc.  Given that if I even look sideways at a drink I can gain a kilo, I've had to cut it out.  This is just another reason to steer clear.  

onemargie

hi there Deanne all due respect to you for giving up alcohol since your diagnosis, and I too could easily give it up all together and did quite fine without it during my treatment,  and you may very well correct in your assumptions, but I would be very careful about posting info like you have without the source of its whereabouts and as a nurse I have never read anything about alcohol being a group 1 carcinogenic and that alcohol of any consumption is a totally proven risk factor for breast cancer. There is evidence to say that excessive alcohol over a lifetime can lead to cirrhosis of the liver which then can  or may increase the risk of liver cancer or smoking has been proven to increase your chance of lung cancer but the research you talk about is inconclusive. As a health care professional we are encouraged to only read and review research that has been peer reviewed and from a reliable source, as I said I'm not saying yours is or isn't, but I don't think you should put the fear of god into every woman who chooses to have a glass of wine or two in moderation of course. Both my parents never drank or smoked and one died from endometrial cancer aged 69 and Dad from a rare neurological disease called Multi System Atrophy, and please don't think I'm having a dig because that is not my intention. Margie:)

Tracey62

"If you drink alcohol, you risk cancer"
"If you smoke, you risk cancer"
"If you are overweight, you risk cancer"
heck! I'm at risk of cancer simply because I've already had it!
i wonder if any of these "studies" have looked at whether those with recurrence drank, smoked or ate comfort food as a way of dealing with stress? I've endured surgery, chemo, rads and the joys of Femara, then battled to get back to full time work and IM STRESSED. If I enjoy an occasional glass of wine or piece of chocolate instead of little blue happy pills, then let me pull from life all the joy I can find - cheers big ears 

onemargie

Im hearing you girl! I'm about to eat a huge rump steak with sweet baby rays brown sugar hickory sauce, chips and homemade coleslaw and a glass of wine! Cheers right  back at you lovey! Like I said in my earlier post cant be any bloody worse than that shitty toxic waste chemo and all the other crap you've mentioned hey and totally agree with you ! Margie

primek

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4299758/

This is at least a well studued article but not conclusive.

I decided my stress was giving me higher risks than my 1 glass of red 4 days a week.

melclarity

I don't know ladies, how do you explain all the ladies who did not drink or never drank and got Breast Cancer?? they are all minority studies, there is no definitive answer. I too lost the taste for wine thanks to my concoction of chemo but its something I enjoyed. Nothing I ATE or DRANK contributed in anyway to either of my diagnosis. It is personal ladies, do what feels right for you, for me, Im going to live and not deny a thing LOL. I sat through a presentation at the Epworth and they said...eat a balanced diet enjoy a glass of alcohol if you like....there is no more strenuous guidelines than any other illness. No evidence at all. Be happy ladies if that means no alcohol so be it...I hardly drink anymore can't but Id like to LOL. M x 

PS I hardly drank after my 1st diagnosis, so how did it cause my recurrence? 

Nadi

I have never wondered why I got cancer, or what I did that caused me to get it. It is what it is. And going forward it will be what it will be. I don't let cancer change my life. I choose to change my life because of other reasons (like losing weight to help my arthritis). I say f**k cancer. It will NOT define me in that way. For me I wanna live how I wanna live and for however long I live. I get to choose. Cancer, or fear of cancer coming back, doesn't get to choose for me. 

Michelle_W

Don't think we will ever really know what causes most breast cancers. I have never drunk alcohol  or smoked my whole life. I had trained for months and ran two half marathons in six weeks, all the while having breast cancer (unknown to me). I then needed all treatments and still have just over another five years of Tamoxifen to go. So just don't know?

Zoffiel

I don't give a rat's. Kudos to the virtuous who still share my dilemma; at least they have some idea of what didnt cause it.

primek

Well my sister who passed from bc never drank her whole life. I still think it's the grey hair that causes it. 

angg66

Ladies I think some of these studies (like this one) are crap! I've never been a drinker, smoker & had a very healthy Mediterranean diet, YET I have metastatic breast cancer!!! Enjoy life. 

Deanne

I simply listed and explained my thoughts on alcohol. Alcohol is listed and identified as a Group 1 Carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) which is part of the World Health Organization. It is listed as a Carcinogen on the Cancer Australia website and the American Cancer Society website to name just a couple of reputable sites. 

As for it being a risk factor for getting breast cancer in the first place, this is also well documented so I never felt that I needed to justify what I wrote. 

Yes we know that many people lead very healthy lives (including not ever drinking alcohol) and yet still get this terrible disease. But research has indicated that drinking alcohol could be a contributing factor for some of us. I choose to eliminate this possibility for myself because not drinking alcohol is an easy thing to do. It does not negatively effect my quality of life and I believe it is a healthy choice to make.

It makes me very sad that by explaining my thoughts and choices I feel attacked by others on this site. Read my comment, do your own research if need be and then make up your own mind. The question mark over alcohol is enough for me. This is the one place I thought I might get some understanding over my choice. It appears not.