Estrogen Blockers ... To Take Or Not To Take

I had my first bout of bc 11 years ago when I was 38.  Even though I was ER and PR neg my onc suggested I take tamoxifen.  I was on it for 2 months when I started bleeding heavily.  I was also very depressed.  The bleeding continued daily for several months until I was able to get a uterine ablation done.  The onc said he understood why I wanted to quite taking it.  I was comfortable with my decision as well.  My rad onc was not so supportive.  She gave me quite a lecture on how I would not likely live for two years without tamoxifen.  In any case, I lasted 11 years before my recurrance.  This time it is ER+ and PR+.  The onc suggested Zoladex and Arimidex.  Unfortunately, the s/es for the Zoladex were just too much for me to handle.  These treatments cause me to become too depressed to function.  I've regrettably decided I need to quit this treatment too.  It's a very difficult decision to make and I'm not making it lightly, but I really don't have a choice if I want to be able to continue working etc.

Good luck to you in your journey.

I was on Tamox for a couple of years. One SE is blood clots. I ended up with a huge DVT after breaking my ankle when I dumped my Harley. Spent 7 days in the hospital over that.

Onc put me on Femara & I started taking calcium & D. My fingers went stiff. I couldn't bend them. After struggling for nearly a year, I stopped taking the fish oil, mutli-vitamin & the calcium. It took about 5 days & I had relief in the the fingers. I did a little research and come to find out there is more than one kind of calcuim and the type I was taking had an SE of arthritic joints. I switched to a different kind of calcium and SURPRISE, no more arthritic fingers.

My sister takes Arimidex and doesn't have much if any of the SE's.

Try eliminating everything except the AI for about 5 days and see if things are better. Then, introduce one thing at a time.

I was on Effexor for the *power surges* that would melt paint off the walls. I felt like I was in a fuzzy cloud & conecnetration was non existant. Not having Effexor just wasn't an option. But, I worked with my onc and we cut the dosage back to a sub-clinical level. Worked like a champ.

I have to admit that for both the Tamox & the Femara, it takes about a month of being on them before the body chemicals balance out.

You can also adjust when you take them. I was told to take them in the am. Bull hockey on that. I took the Tamox at night. I'm doing the same thing with the Femara... at night.

Try doing your AI with some mild, non-acidic food. I tried the Tamox in the am with orange juice. That didn't work for me either.

Make sure you are drinking enough water. Both Tamox & Femara need lots of water.

And don't forget the old pregnancy trick for morning sickness. A couple of soda crackers with your meds might be enough to get you over the nausea.

The choice of meds or not is an individual decision. My humble $0.02 is do whatever you can to stay above ground. Adjust when, how, where on your meds & I'll bet you'll find the right balance.

 Good luck.

bonny

Lie.

I have signed up several times on Adjuvant online without any sucess, I can't log in.. Does any one else have this problem?

Cancermath has a disclaimer for tumors over 5cm and more than 10 nodes:

Note: The tumor size and/or number of positive nodes entered exceeds the values against which the calculator has been validated, 50mm and 10 nodes respectively. 

I had a 1.1 cm IDC, very low oncotype score.  I had surgery, 1 node, was convinced I HAD to have radiation but no chemo.  I tried all 3 AIs but couldn't tolerate any of them.  They made me feel like a 99-year-old arthritic with level 8 - 9 pain all the time.  Some days I couldn't get out of bed without help.

After about 9 months of trying really hard to take the drugs my oncologist said I could stop.  That was a year ago.  If I could have just had the dose reduced I could probably have gone on, but it's one dose no matter how big or small you are, no matter if you have estrogen or not in your system. 

The last med, Aromasin, made my hands so bad I got trigger fingers - after only 3 pills!  I tried every treatment, but ended up with surgery after suffering 8 months.

I'm feeling much better now, off the meds, but it took months to recover.

Which foods produce estogen?  Does anyone know?  I always was told to stay off Soy but did not know there was others.  Thanks if you have any info.

Odd that they're using giving it as a treatment for some mets.

Is there a list of labs online?