Coming off Tamoxifen early to become pregnant?

slg76

Teema,

I'm so glad that your oncologist is supportive about preserving your fertility. I have heard good outcomes from people who used medication to protect ovaries. I'm so hopeful that you will have your family once you are healthy again!

It is hard not to notice and worry about every little thing at this stage. I hope that lump is just a muscle knot but mention it to your doctor to be sure and for peace of mind.

I hope you get lots of good, healthy eggs to tuck away into the freezer.

Good luck!

Mandy85

Slg76 Am happy to tell you that my onc is ok with with me coming off tamoxifen early for a baby. He told me that all I need to do is wait 3 months and go ahead to try for a baby, last month is my three months but during this three month I only had one menstrual cycle. Which come to my fear that I might not be able to ovulate and my onc didn't recommend fertility medication for me. What should I do? Wait couple more months before jumping to conclusion?

Mandy

Tamox-in-Toronto

Hi Mandy85,

I went off tamoxifen after 1.5 years in April of this year to try to have a baby. I did FEC chemo 2 years ago. My period was a bit irregular as I was coming off tamoxifen. We have not been able to conceive naturally and my oncologist advised me that for me, short term IVF was safe. I have multiple immune issues that are preventing me from becoming pregnant and I am currently being treated for this. I have a very low AMH, which is a blood test that measures how many eggs you have left. My AMH was 5 before chemo, and is now .6, and our fertility doc doesn't give u great odds with such low AMH, but I am willing to try. Donor eggs have been presented as an option and I'm still deciding. Donor eggs or donor embryos may be an option for you to consider. I would suggest that your AMH level be tested to give you information about how many eggs you have left as this will give you an idea of your chances. Also, a high quality pre-conception vitamin will help with egg quality. Remember that it takes 3 months to produce each egg so if you only went off tamoxifen 3 months ago it may still be affecting your eggs. You should see a reproductive endocrinologist (fertility doc) to do a work up and identify any problems as you want to have a baby as soon as possible and get back in tamoxifen. Also, they should measure your day 3 hormones to see where your FSH is at. The higher it is, the more problems you may have conceiving.

We are hopeful to do IVF next month but I also purchased a clearblue fertility monitor to try and conceive naturally when I ovulate although they haven't given us great chance of that.

Good luck to you and I really sympathize with what you are going through. Wishing you lots of luck and good health.

Youngwithbc

Hi everyone - can you get your AMH tested while still on tamoxifen, or does it somehow skew the results? I am wondering what damage chemo did to my fertility. I was tested before but not since finishing. I am still on tamox and herceptin, and finished chemo end of March. Anyone have any idea if I could get any type of testing that would be accurate, or does more time have to pass?

slg76

Hi Everyone,

So pleased for you, Mandy, that you got the go ahead to try to conceive. Your cycles can be funny for a little while. If your cycles stop during tamoxifen treatment it takes an average of 7 months for them to return; so says my fertility specialist. I would give it a couple months to try and even out. I tried acupuncture and I think it helped a lot. I would say if you aren't having regular cycles in six months to talk to a fertility doctor.

I was told that you had to have the tamoxifen out of your system to get an accurate AMH reading. I don't know of any other testing that gives a measure of fertility. My AMH was so low they could not detect it on the test!! But, I actually was able to get pregnant a few months ago!!! Sadly I miscarried but it is good news that I made an egg and it implanted. It seems that this was just one of those pregnancies that ended up with a chromosomal problem; nothing to do with my cancer. Although I got pregnant on a natural cycle, we have been using fertility meds some cycles and my oncologist is fine with that. She says that the amount of hormone they use to get you pregnant is insignificant compared to what is in your system once you are pregnant.

Good luck with your IVF tamoxintoronto! I hope you get an excellent result. And don't give up on conceiving in the meantime! I did three months of oral fertility meds and they seem to have rebooted my system and caused me to ovulate naturally the following month.

Good luck to all of us and I hope we are all holding a newborn next year!

Mandy85

Hello everyone, it's getting cold here in Michigan now, boo...

Anyway, Tamoxintornoto, i haven't tested for the AMH yet, I believe. The first time I went to see my fertility specialize, she did a number of blood test on me, my FSH is normal. Hopefully everything is ok and going well for you with the IVF, good luck.

Slg76, I'm sorry to hear that, at less now you know you can conceive in a natural cycle. Good luck with your next try for a baby.. Like I said, I don't know my AMH, or that I don't remember I did that test.. as for fertility medication, my onc doesn't recommended it and my husband want to try natural before going into med. You know what my fertility specialize, actually told me that tamoxifen was use to be fertility drug. Well I hope we all good luck and wait to see. I will wait couple of months and then I'll go see a doc again.

Good luck ladies!

Mandy

Momafterbc-Toronto

Hey

I also had a difficult experience with Dr Greenblatt. After testing she sat down with my husband and I and told us there was very little chance of us having a child. I began to cry and she just got up and left without saying a thing. I found her very cold. Three months later learned I was pregnant. My daughter was born in August.

Wishing you luck

stephaniegee

Hi Tamox in Toronto,

I just have to tell you we have similar stories. I too was diagnosed just before my wedding (4 weeks) and we were planning to conceive. Finding out about the cancer was bad, but for me the worst part was what it would it mean for conceiving. I am also BRCA + and had Bilateral mast, and starting chemo now, followed by rad and Tamoxifen.

My husband and I have frozen embryos and we are now trying to decide between surrogacy or delaying Tamoxifen. It makes me nervous to think I could have a recurrence but it seems like many women are doing it successfully.

My doctor dismissed the idea when I asked him saying it is not recommended but I know ultimately it will be my decision.

Needless to say I am torn!

Mandy85

Hello my lovely girls, long time haven't been back, was on vocation for over a month in China. OMG that was hard. Anyway,  good news from me, I am currently 5 months pregnant. Hopefully I'll hear some good news from some of you. Wishing everyone good luck.

Anonymous

Mandy, that is great! I want to have babies after treatment so I love hearing this good news!

Lolis197138

Hi all,

hope you are doing well.  

I got diagnosed this March with IDC and DCIS at 33. My husband and I were trying to get pregnant again (had a miscarriage in november '13 and it was my first pregnancy) when I found the lumps in my left breast. 

I had a mastectomy and currently going through FEC-D chemo with radiation to follow. We did a round of IVF at Mount Sinai in Toronto and we have 6 embryos. 

This whole experience has been hard as I so desperately want a child and the idea of not being pregnant has been so hard to accept. My sister has offered to be my surrogate but now I kind of want to carry a child myself. My MO hasn't pronounced herself if it is recommended for me to become pregnant. She said that she had patients who went on Tamofixen for 2 years and then got off it to get pregnant. My ER/PR pos are 95%/85% respectively and I am stage 3 grade 2.

I am considering to be on Tamoxifen for 2 years and then get off to try and get pregnant. My FSH was at 7 before chemo and I just had my 3rd period during chemo (going for my second last round on August 7th) so I am hoping my ovaries are still okay if not we have the 6 embryos. However, if I decide to go thru with the pregnancy my whole family with be against it and to tell you the truth I don't know if I should go thru it given my diagnosis. I know I should focus of my current situation but I want a child so bad and going thru the miscarriage was kind of one of the worst experience in my life (sort of worse than cancer treatments). 

Hope you all are expecting a healthy baby!!!

stepangel

Lolis, so sorry to hear of your struggles with wanting to conceive during your cancer tx. This disease robs us of so many things in life! I truly hope you and your MO figure out the best course of action to take care of you from a cancer standpoint as well as your need to carry a baby! Also I hope your family can be understanding and supportive. 

I was upfront with my MO about my wish to avoid hormone tx. My husband of only a year and a half had his vasectomy reversed shortly after we got married. We are both 40, so the odds of conceiving are slim already, but I couldn't face grieving the loss of my breasts AND the loss of any hope that I could conceive. My cancer was as hormone receptive as it could possibly be but only stage 0 so with BMX my MO was ok with my decision.