Why not join the Living with metastatic private group? Access group via the link here.

Is ovary removal a viable option instead of hormone therapy?

Sam09
Sam09 Member Posts: 149 ✭
in Metastatic breast cancer
i have been told I need to stop oestrogen production and offered
a drug to do this called letrozole in which the side effects turn me right off accepting. Has anyone had their ovarys removed instead and is this a better and safe option? 
«1

Comments

  • nikkid
    nikkid Member Posts: 1,769 ✭
    Talk to your oncologist - I had my ovaries removed, but am still on Tamoxifen  :)
  • Sam09
    Sam09 Member Posts: 149 ✭
    I have made an app tomorrow to do so. I am through menopause so I thought it worth a try. Have you had any repercussions from it? And why are you still on hormone therapy then. 
  • nikkid
    nikkid Member Posts: 1,769 ✭
    Don't feel any different funnily enough! Clearly my poor little ovaries (whilst I was peri-menopausal) weren't doing much.

    Oestrogen can still be generated by body fat and we, as women carry more of it....that's why still Tamoxifen. 
  • AllyJay
    AllyJay Member Posts: 959 ✭
    Your body can still make small amounts of oestrogen by changing hormones called androgens into oestrogen. Androgens are produced by the adrenal glands (above the kidneys). Another hormone, called aromatase changes the androgens into oestrogen. The aromatase is produced mainly in fatty tissue.
  • Glemmis
    Glemmis Member Posts: 343 ✭
    Hi @Sam09, after menopause your ovaries stop making oestregen but your body makes it in fat tissues, breast tissues & adrenal glands so that is probably why Letrozole was suggested. I have been on it for 6 months & had bad back pain after 2 months & stiffness but it seems to be settling now.  I think your body needs time to adjust.
  • Sam09
    Sam09 Member Posts: 149 ✭
    Do is what you are saying mean getting my ovarys out will not help
    because the drugs for me are not an option. I read the side effects of both drugs one in needle form to strengthen my bones and then laughable enough this drug to stop the production that has a side effect of thinning brittle bones exposed jaws teeth falling out etc etc
    no thanks not for me 

  • AllyJay
    AllyJay Member Posts: 959 ✭
    Have you read the side effects of Paracetemol?

  • Sam09
    Sam09 Member Posts: 149 ✭
    Yes I don't ever take it so don't have the problem not a lover of toxic drugs. Somehow brittle bones loose teeth exposed jaws don't occur with an occasional Panadol thanks for your opinion but not warranted 
  • AllyJay
    AllyJay Member Posts: 959 ✭
    I am quite aware of that, thank you very much. The point is, if you google the side effects of ANY drug, there will be side effects. However, cancer is not a toothache or a mild headache, and so paracetemol, quite obviously, would not be my drug of choice either! Yes, the drugs used (or not, as the case may be), are strong, are dangerous, have side effects, some mild, some not. Some of us choose to use them on the advice of our professional medical practitioners, who are quite well familiar with all the effects, wanted as well as not. Others choose to refer to Dr Google and then pick and choose which they will or will not use. Their choice, not mine.
  • Sam09
    Sam09 Member Posts: 149 ✭
    Good for you I didn't ask about you or ask for your opinion thanks nor do I want it but thanks for your input I guess
  • AllyJay
    AllyJay Member Posts: 959 ✭
    Oh I do beg your pardon, silly me, I thought you were in fact asking for opinions....specifically, and I quote".....is this a safer and better option?" unquote.
  • Sam09
    Sam09 Member Posts: 149 ✭
    I accept your apology thanks  :) for your input 
  • Zoffiel
    Zoffiel Member Posts: 3,374 ✭
    Sam, there is no easy way out of this.

    I got rid of my ovaries as I was perimenopausal and my best chance of survival was hormone therapy which requires minimal hormone production on my part. Tamoxifen didn't contain my cancer (nothing is guaranteed) and I had a recurrence. The next stage of HT for me is Letrazol. I opted to cut my natural hormone production back as far as possible which meant I didn't have to use Zolodex. I also don't have to worry about ovarian cancer anymore. 

    I  can understand you are stressed, but these are not simple equations. It is up to you to decide what you want to do and which risks you find acceptable. If you have a hormone receptive cancer and you don't want to take drugs to minimise your risk of your cancer progressing, I'd be very surprised if your team would advise against an oophorectomy. Ask them about it.
  • Sam09
    Sam09 Member Posts: 149 ✭
    Thank you I appreciate your post very much and it's wise 

Categories