What Estrogen?

lemonjello · July 2009

I've been told my onc and path report, my cancer was estrogen driven. Ok. So let me get this straight, i had floppy boobs, thinning hair, poor muscle tone, heart disease, diabetes, low thyroid, overweight, no period, no hot flashes, no evidence of estrogen. So where did this estrogen come from and where did it go? I was not ovulating, i did not have any of the protections from the estrogen and/or the benefits of looking young, feeling younger, no heart protection, my cholestrol was out of sight, where is this beneficial estrogen that was oozing into my breasts and killing me slowly with DCIS and IDC? What is this estrogen, from HELL? Can they or should they have done tests to determine if this estrogen was present during my routine GYN visits and if it was friendly or low or high or absent? Why was this hormonal problem not treated from the start when i stopped menstruating at age 56? When i got my first breast benign cyst in 2003, no panel of tests were ever given! I think there is some sloppy work going on in the health care of women that needs to be reconciled with. I think maybe the women that go into menapause need further evaluation and careful hormonal panels done to track their risks. I was always told that a mammogram shows a tumor after its been there for awhile, so do we have any other flags we should be looking for before the tumor gets to grow and invade, as mine did? Would there be flags in your estrogen panels if blood work is done?

EWB · July 2009

estrogen also comes from the adrenal gland and from what I understand excess body fat. This is the estrogen that is addressed by the use of the AIs

There is no one good method of screening which is why all are important- mammos, self exams, yr gyn appointments.

spar2 · July 2009

I got my estrogen to increase my risk of bc from premarin unfortunately

candie1971 · July 2009

so is that why they say heavy people get breast cancer quicker...cause i have excess fat..lol

AnnNYC · July 2009

Yep, fat's a big reason -- and hard to ward off, too, because our bodies tend to WANT estrogen -- I think there's a whole hormonal feedback cycle when your estrogen levels fall after menopause -- the body is screaming "Where the hell is my estrogen?????", inducing metabolic changes so we store more food as fat, and turning muscle to fat, so our aromatase enzyme has some raw material (FAT!!!) to make some more estrogen...

That's why us post-menopausal women need those aromatase inhibitors...

josette · September 2009

Cancers take a long time to develop. Most, from ten to 25 years depending on the type. Cervical cancer for example takes 15-25 years.

Unless you've been castrated (had your ovaries removed) your ovaries do still make some estrogen. Very little, but just enough to keep our body systems healthy.You cannot remove all estrogen from your body, nor would it be desirable to do so, even for someone like you. The minute amounts you have post-menopause help you in many ways.

bcamnb · October 2009

and there is a TON of phytoestrogens in food and beverages - soy, flax, licorice....

frostyiris · August 2010

Oh, and SO many ingredients in what we eat and what we put ON our skin will mimic estrogen in our bodies.

swimangel72 · September 2010

Hi LemonJello - back when I was first dx'd, I had the exact same thoughts as you............when my doctor said that estrogen causes the endometrium lining to grow (not a good thing in post-menopausal women) and also causes BC, I asked, "What estrogen??" She answered my question with three words, "from body fat". I was furious then at my PCP for not warning me to lose my post-menopausal weight........I carry the extra weight well since I'm tall and large-boned - but my own internet research showed me studies where it proved that extra weight can increase a woman's risk of bc by 50%!! I mentioned this study to the oncological nurse practitioner (who was my infusion nurse) and she nearly fell off her chair..........she was a bit overweight herself and NEVER KNEW! So all this talk about screening mammo's and "c atching cancer early" makes me think, "Yeah, close the barn door AFTER the horse got out!" Money mouth So I try to educate other women about the risk of post-menopausal weight gain with regard to BC since obviously our doctors are NOT saying too much - my PCP was always so happy that I have very low blood pressure, and no cholesterol - as if the only thing we have to worry about is heart disease, sigh. Anyway - thanks for posting this thread LemonJello...........

P.S. I want to add that after taking Arimidex for two years, my endometrial lining SHRUNK from 5 mm to 2 mm.........and my fibroid shrunk considerably as well. My ob/gyn was very happy about that - and I told her it's a measurable effect of the Arimidex. I then asked my gf who has Stage 3 endometrial cancer why her onc didn't make her go on Arimidex (or a similar drug) - so she emailed him and he said they DO prescribe Arimidex for women with early stage endometrial cancer - but there aren't a lot of studies proving the benefit with Stage 3 and beyond, but he was going to research it more. Shows me that post-menopausal Estrogen is the ENEMY.......now if only I could lose this weight.........seems starvation isn't as effective as it was when I was younger, sigh...... Frown

sam52 · September 2010

Hi lemonjello!

By the very fact that your periods continued until you were 56, you were exposed to more estrogen than normal, since most women go into menopause around the age of 51/52. I believe I was also exposed to more estrogen as my periods came every 3 weeks for about 10 years before I was dx with bc.

BTW - I never had any hot flashes,when I went into chemo-induced menopause at age almost 51. I never had any hot flashes when I took tamoxifen, or aromasin either.This I attribute to my higher than normal levels of estrogen.

The fact that you had estrogen receptors in your bc tumor is actually good news, since the ERnegative ones are more aggressive.

What Estrogen?

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