Concerned about estrogen levels

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anneflorida
anneflorida Member Posts: 59
edited June 2014 in Stage III Breast Cancer

I started on Femara last August and in the 8 months that I have been taking it, I have not had a side effect.  I am 56 years old and my mammogram of my remaining breast shows that it is still heterogenously dense.  I read in the Femara info that it could cause problems with cholesterol levels and when my cholesterol and lipid levels were checked last month my HDL had increased from a very  unhealthy 35 to a 55 and my cholesterol stayed at 170.  I finally decided that my estrogen levels were not decreasing and asked to have my estrogen checked.  Today I received the results and my estrogen is below 10 which is where it should be while on Femara.  I have been walking daily and have lost 17 pounds since my diagnosis so that must be the reason for the good lipids.  I am so happy that my estrogen levels have decreased on Femara!!

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  • swimangel72
    swimangel72 Member Posts: 1,989
    edited April 2011

    Great news about your lower estrogen levels!and weight loss! It's also wonderful that you don't have any SEs yet from the Femara. I've been on Arimidex for 2 + years and my SEs are getting very tiresome (joint pain, especially in the hands and hips). I'm thinking of asking my onc if I could switch to Femara for the remaining 3 years.

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  • diana50
    diana50 Member Posts: 2,134
    edited April 2011

    i was on armidex for five and half years; the side effects seemed to get worse over time. i have been off the arimidex for 2 years and i feel great. all major symptoms have either totally disappeared or lessened greatly. i wish that i would have checked into switching from armidex to femara...but really didn't think about it.  my friend switched and her symptoms decreased significantly.

    the walking is soo good for lipids and bones...and managing weight. glad you are doing so well anneflorida....regular checks with lipids is really important...along with the bone density.  these drugs are really beneficial for those of us with estrogen postive tumors. 

    keep on*

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  • jennyboog
    jennyboog Member Posts: 1,322
    edited April 2011

    Congrats...small victories!  I'm on aromasin and hope I have the same results.

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  • diana50
    diana50 Member Posts: 2,134
    edited April 2011

    just a note; i have very dense breasts....i thought after all the armidex they would "lighten" up. but no, still very very dense.  my doc says that some people just have very dense breasts; it is the way your body is. 

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