Hormone Therapy

Hi Kate13,

My story has been similar to yours,diagnosis in November 2015 then lumpectomy, clear margins, 20 sessions of radiation therapy.  Arimidex was prescribed to begin 2 weeks after rads completed.  I was  already suffering up to 18 bad hot flushes in a 24 hour period after stopping HRT and my surgeon said to wait as the meds would make this worse (!!!)  Managed to last 5 weeks on Arimidex but just felt soooo awful that I stopped and went to see my oncologist to discuss.  She said she was happy for me not to take any hormone therapy as she felt, with the size and type cancer I had, it was Ok for me not to take this medication.  I am sure a different oncologist may have had different advice but I was happy with that.

I am 63 years old and wonder if my age may have had some influence on her decision, maybe if I had been younger she would have advised me to stay on the meds? Who Knows.

Re the hot flushes, I tried Effexor but that was no help and decided to try acupuncture.  Have had this treatment over the last 4 months and the flushes are much reduced and my sleep quality is much better.

All the best with your decision.

Gerry

Thank you for taking the time to respond.  I too am heading overseas in a few months, so there are concerns about taking 'side effects' with me.  I have been really well and feel reluctant to change that!

I will be seeing my medical oncologist this week and  will make my decision then.

Thank you for your suggestions. I will continue mulling it over, but I guess I stop taking the medication if it proves to have an obviously negative impact. 

Hi,

I too was one of the "lucky" ones. Lumpectomy, clear margins and radiotherapy. Now on anti hormone therapy and have thought very seriously about the pros and cons. 

I do know of women who couldn't handle the side effects and have stopped taking them. I have decided to give it a good go. The side effects were horrible in the beginning but are settling down now, after 6 weeks. 

I had genetic testing done to assess the need for chemo and was lucky there! It also assessed the chance of recurrence of the cancer and with anti hormone therapy it has halved the risk, so I am persevering. 

Give it a go. Everyone is different. I was scared stiff of hair loss as I don't have that much to lose, but it hasn't happened. My oncologists thinks no new side effects will occur now, so I am trusting him.

Trust your oncologist and I am sure you will make the right decision for you.

All the best.

San-Dee

I am currently in my last round of Chemo then looking at raciation for probably 6 weeks and 5 to 10 years of Hormone suppressants...

I am one of those women that Hormone therapy is already considered questionable for as any past attempts to moderate my hormones (I am about to turn 45) have been a disaster as my body rejects everything and reacts oretry badly. Plus what I need to go on is connected to higher chance of uterine cancer which aready runs in my family with bith my mum and her mum having had radical hystorectomies plus my 1st cousin on mum's side just 18 months older than me also now being advised uterine cell changes have been detected and looking like she is going to have to have hystorectomy...

My Gyno who is a reproductive Endicrinologyst has already stated maybe if Chemo pushes me into menopause I could skip hormones but I have mo intention of going down that path.

Obviously I can speak for myself only and we are all different but maybe because I have had to have Chemo due to an agressive type of BC and yet to face the radiation etc I really want to do everything in my power in avoid a recurrence... If my nastard BC is hormone receptive then why not fight the hormones that feed it. Well... Yes it may cause me to gain weight and will give me hot flushes and I will have to monitor my uterus and all/any changes and my immune system may reject the drugs BUT I plan to give it a damn good go.

That fact is that until I do try it I will not know how my body will handle it. If I try it and cannot handle it or it causes problems then I can look for alternatives. But to simply reject it out of fear of sideeffects that may not ever happen is not an option. Plus there are ways of dealing with many if not all potential sideffects that hormone suppresants may bring on.

I am really happy for you that you have not had to dealnwith more severe surgery, Chemo or extensive radiation. I hope it is all now gone and done with but please remeber that tour medical team would not be reccomending hormone therapy unless your type of cancer was hormone responsive. They would only recommend what is the best solution for yourself giving you the best possible outcome. 

It is because they want you on these meds I would strongly suggest you talk to them and about your fears and worries and especially about your prognosis / chance of reccurence if you do or do not take it.

You need to do the right thing by you and give yourself the best possible outcome so please make sure tou consider all the possible.options and do not let fear of unknown cut off tour options as something like taking tablets can easly be changed / stopped / type of drug altered/substituted for another should you run into difficulties with it but a BC recurrence is not necessarily something any one of us would wish to deal with.

All the best

Jel.

Hi Kate

I have been on Femara for three and a half years ( I was 67 when diagnosed). I have had none of the arthritis-like or menopausal symptoms. I do have vaginal dryness and find inventive ways around this, and my bone density has declined a bit, but I started off with very good bone density for my age, it's not going to improve with age, some decline is inevitable and my oncologist seems reasonably happy that I will get to the end of my five years on Femara without any serious bone density loss.

I had a significantly sized tumour, one affected lymph node and so a mastectomy. I feel better taking this treatment as the cancer was quite fast growing. I have now got to the stage where breast cancer seems rather a long time ago, however cancer, and its treatment, is something I would prefer not to go through again if possible. I am still working, feel well and and planning my second longish overseas trip post cancer next month.

But you are wise to get some opinions as some people find the side effects close to unbearable. You can always stop the treatment if the side effects are too difficult, others have done this.

Good luck whatever you decide.

Not everyone has bad symptoms from this medication. It might be worthwhile trialing it out for 6 months. ..if unbearable then reconsider. If no issues then continue on. Sometimes those symptoms appear initially then your body adjusts (just like during menopause ... it does get better). At least then you are making a decision on how it affects your quality of life...not just that it might. Kath