Scared about hormone blocking treatment
Hi everyone, I am 40 years old and have 7 year old twins. I have just been diagnosed and positive for both oestrogen (80%) and progesterone (40%). I have been told I will have to take hormone block...
Forum Discussion
Hi @TamiOc
I finished 10 years of Letrozole early this year. I am happy to be through it, happier to
be 11 years post diagnosis and NED (no evidence of disease). I too was post menopausal so I can’t help you with early menopause (other than I had practically no menopausal symptoms, one heavy bleed, that was it!). My point is that cancers are different, reactions to treatment are different and you simply don’t know from the experiences of others how it will go for you. Letrozole is often associated with joint pain, achy bones, hot flushes. I had none of those. I did have some side effects but as I am much older than you, natural ageing may have played a part. None involved pain, none stopped me working or travelling! Remember you can always stop. These drugs work, I continued Letrozole for ten years because, in my particular case, research showed ten years to be more effective than five. But nothing is guaranteed! We all want to do whatever we can to never go through it all again, but if the side effects are messing with your life, you do as much as you can and then stop and/or consider alternatives. Best wishes.
I finished 10 years of Letrozole early this year. I am happy to be through it, happier to
be 11 years post diagnosis and NED (no evidence of disease). I too was post menopausal so I can’t help you with early menopause (other than I had practically no menopausal symptoms, one heavy bleed, that was it!). My point is that cancers are different, reactions to treatment are different and you simply don’t know from the experiences of others how it will go for you. Letrozole is often associated with joint pain, achy bones, hot flushes. I had none of those. I did have some side effects but as I am much older than you, natural ageing may have played a part. None involved pain, none stopped me working or travelling! Remember you can always stop. These drugs work, I continued Letrozole for ten years because, in my particular case, research showed ten years to be more effective than five. But nothing is guaranteed! We all want to do whatever we can to never go through it all again, but if the side effects are messing with your life, you do as much as you can and then stop and/or consider alternatives. Best wishes.