How soon did you start Hormone Therapy after radiation?

Anonymous

How soon did you start Hormone Therapy after radiation?

berries

I have completed 6/16 radiation sessions and have scheduled a follow up with my Onc. I am wondering how soon I should expect to start HT after radiation?

I am done with radiation on 4/13, but my appointment with my Onc is not until 4/22 I would like to start as soon as possible.

Thank you

Beaverntx

I finished rads in April but did not start on Tamoxifen until June. My pelvic ultrasound showed a thickened endometrium which turned out to be benign. My gyn was willing to do surgery, especially since I was at least two decades menopause. I opted for a total hysterectomy, including tubes and ovaries. Good thing I did as uterine pathology showed some premalignant cells. That took one big worry away and since it was robot assisted surgery, healing went well. Started the Tamoxifen after first post op visit with the surgeon.I

Would it be helpful to call your MO and ask about starting? With the current virus concerns many physicians in my area are encouraging the use of telemedicine so a phone call could be the most efficient way of getting an answer.

Best of wishes to you.

Spookiesmom

Seems like both times it was about a month in between. Gives you a chance to recover a bit from all the other tx.

Betrayal

My MO insisted that I could not start AI until 30 days post-radiation.

berries

Very interesting! Thank you all.

NancyD

Ok, this was ten years ago, so I don't know if the protocol was changed, but I actually started my HT just before my rads, and continued it through them.

gb2115

I think I waited 2-3 weeks.

Moxie32

I will have a 2 week break between radiation and starting AI. MO said to start on the first day of the month following rads.

Daylightdancer666

I has emergency radiotherapy admin patient in hospital ans weeks or two after discharge met my oncologist started lethzole ans got zoladex injection but got diagnosed straight away with stage four breast cancer mets to bones

ThreeTree

I finished proton radiation last mid November and about a month later the oncologist wanted me to start the AI. I told her I did not want to risk unknown side effects over Christmas and New Year, and that I would wait until January to start. She did not object, and then I started it (letrozole) on Jan 15, taking it every other day, rather than the usual every day. I have continued with the every other day regimen, and don't know that I will change that. I do have side effects, but am doing OK - don't want to rock the boat.

AliceBastable

I also waited until after the holidays instead of starting in mid-December when I finished radiation. My oncologist said it was fine to give myself a break.

KayaRose

I started anastrozole while I was doing my radiation. It was actually the radiation oncologist who said it would be best to start as soon as possible. I mentioned his comments to my medical oncologist and she agreed and I started on it immediately. Best of luck to you. And everyone stay safe during these frightening times!

berries

The reason my MO suggested starting after radiation was that radiation attacks quickly growing cells. If you halt the growth with HT, you cannot kill them effectively. At least this is what I understood... I could have misconstrued that though.

letsgogolf

I began the day after completing radiation.

ThreeTree

I was glad that I did wait the two months after radiation before starting the AI. Not only did I want to enjoy the holidays without having to deal with the unknown side effects, but also, the radiation had caused some fatigue and I was tired. It was about Christmastime (about a month after I was done with radiation), that I began to feel the fatigue from the radiation lift. I wound up feeling better and better throughout the holidays and much more like my old self again. Subsequently, however, since I did start the letrozole, I am back to feeling blah and fatigued all the time, along with having all the body aches and warm spells and more that you hear about. As far as I can tell this will go on for the duration I am on the drug.

I would strongly recommend taking a break if you think you can. Once you start, I doubt that things will be the same again, even if you find the drug relatively tolerable.

momof2winsplus

I started Tamoxifen during radiation. Day 6/33 I added the HT.

JLBinPDX

These are interesting comments. I started Letrozole the day after I finished radiation. My MO even said I could start during radiation but we decided I'd wait so I wouldn't mix up side effects. My MO nor RO said anything about a time lapse between radiation and the AI.

JLBinPDX

Can anyone here speak to slight nausea with Letrozole. It's only been two days but it's been fairly constant--not bad but slightly noticeable. Thoughts or ideas to lessen or eliminate this?

ThreeTree

I started taking Letrozole in mid January on an every other day basis. Only last week did I experience any nausea, and it was very mild. Since it was not strong, I just put up with it, and now have experienced the same thing about one more time. I do take it in the evening, so maybe if it got worse, I just slept through it - it started about an hour after I took it. I have found that the side effects from this drug are many and varied and they come and go, as do their intensities. I'll experience sore eyes for a couple of days, then not again for a month. Some days are more severe than others. Other days, I'll have muscle aches and those will vary in intensity and from day to day. Once in a great while I get a headache and like the nausea, it can be mild, or a bit more than mild. I've only had them on about 5 different days throughout the 2 1/2 months I've been taking it. There are probably 100 side effects associated with this drug and I've seemed to get a number of them off and on, some continue and vary in intensity and duration, and others appear once or twice and then never again. New and different ones then seem to pop up out of nowhere. Very hard to gauge or "get used to".