Switch to AI?

Kimmer33

Hi Ladies

Just wondering if anyone has any info or experience. I have been on tamoxifen for just over 2 years, and results from blood tests indicate that I am post-menopausal. At initial diagnosis and testing, had MRI which indicated endometrium growth, but no worries about that. So I am concerned staying on Tamoxifen now that I'm post menopausal could cause uterine cancer. I don't see my oncologist until next February (2019) which was when she was going to see about my menopausal status and switch me then, but I am just wondering if I need to be concerned for the next 10 months of staying on Tamox. Wondering if I should visit my doc and ask to switch sooner. Any thoughts?

Ingerp

Kimmer--have a look at these:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15347435

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC29627...

I'd definitely check in with your MO sooner than next Feb. A switch might be in order.

Kimmer33

Thanks Ingerp, made an appointment with my oncologist today, we'll get to the bottom of this!

jojo9999

I was on tamox for 2.5 yrs. Started at age 51. I had numerous estrogren measurements done (blood tests), and my numbers were all over the map. The MO was waiting for them to fall so that I could switch to AI, but every time the fell, the next test showed them up. It is fairly well known that tamox can mess with estrogen and cause ovarian cysts (generally benign). At the 2.5 yr mark, my numbers were low and I stopped tamox - asked for a short break before switching to AI. 7 weeks later I started cycling again so certainly not post-meno. Decided to have ovaries removed. When first developed, tamo used as an infertility drug, as well as a birth control drug! So I would ask a lot of questions concerning your menopause status - one year with low estrogram levels while on tamox was not a good standard for me.....and I don't think my case was unusual.

Kimmer33

Well, saw my Onc today and she agrees, and will switch me to Femara on Monday - will get some bloodwork to confirm that I am post menopausal, but she was very much in agreement and was quite excited for my being so pro-active. As I always say, no one cares about my health as much as I do. Not too excited about going through all this again, looking for new and more intense SEs, I was just getting used to the Tamoxifen SEs. Let's pray they aren't as bad as I've read on these boards.