Alcohol and breast cancer question!!!

My oncologist said everything in moderation.  You need to live your life.  I was in Vegas this weekend and had 3 cocktails, broke out into a horrible sweat and was pretty buzzed.  Maybe from the Tamoxifen?

brilliance2, it's a personal choice and I have certainly reduced my alcohol intake. But I had ILC which studies have shown has a greater link with alcohol consumption, and I believe it was THE factor in my case. Nonetheless, my onc has no problem with me drinking and even makes little jokes to encourage me. He is a very experienced doc.



Just want to suggest that you may want to consider something other than an 'all or nothing' scenario. For example limit drinks to one drink once or twice a week or just on special occasions.



I mainly drink red wine, which is reputed to potentially have health benefits, and is indicated in the Anti Cancer diet book.



I'm not giving advice, just sharing what I have done. Definitely ask what your onc thinks.

Brilliance -- I agree with the others in that it's a personal choice/decision.  My onco did tell me that there are 3 things that will increase my survival rate/decrease my recurrence chances:  Increase exercise, decrease alcohol, and maintain ideal body weight.  I'm trying hard to work on all 3, but it's not easy.  I did lose 30 pounds since my diagnosis and haven't gained it back, but I would like to lose another 20.  I'm also trying to walk and bike ride more, but work often gets in the way.  I have definitely cut back on my alcohol consumption, but I haven't been able to give it up entirely.  The onco said half to one glass of wine a night is okay.  Well, what fun is half a glass of wine??  I'm trying hard to stick to the one glass or less per night.  It's not always easy when everyone else is having 3 or 4 glasses.  Anyway, just thought I'd share my thoughts on the subject.  Good luck with your treatments and welcome to the site, although I wish you (and I....and everyone else) didn't have to be here.  I just had rad #21 of 30 today and am really looking forward to being finished with it all before Christimas.

I have tried having two drinks in the last year since my diagnosis. I didn't get anywhere near finishing them, since they made me sick. Not throw-up sick, but churning, acid stomach, man-I-wish-I-didn't-do-that sick. The appeal of liquor is certainly less than before, but then I've been on a boatload of liver-trashing chemo pretty much non-stop all year.

Longer term, I plan to limit myself to a few drinks a year. And yeah, that's a total drag for an oenophile (lover of wine) who used to partake of a luscious glass of decent wine with nearly every dinner. Not it's going to be special occasions, and even then, limited to two glasses.

I am struggling with this too. Before diagnosis I was an infrequent drinker. I could go a month or two and not have a drink, then go out with colleagues and want to have 2-3 beers or wine. The only other time I drank was on vacation, and then it was every day with meals for maybe 10 days. I really have no interest in being able to drink a small glass every day. I know I could give it up completely, but now I am trying basically to avoid it as much as I can, but allow myself more than a small glass on the odd occasion, or my birthday for example. I wish the studies would indicate whether drinking 2-3 glasses of wine or beer on a single occasion once or twice a month would be equivalent to the tiny daily amount. One ray of hope. I was at a conference and the radiologist at the breast center mentioned maybe we would learn that folic acid cancelled the problem, so you could pop a pill and have a drink. If you Google folic acid, alcohol, and breast cancer you will see some research. I just don't know if I trust it enough to rely on that escape hatch. All my adult life I rarely drank, now when I really could use the buzz now and again, I feel I shouldn't. Too bad pot isn't legal. That might even help breast cancer. What a &*^%ed up society we live in.Last thing, sorry for the spam. One reason the alcohol thing counts so much for me is I know I can cut back drastically and/or give it up. So out of the 3 advised things to prevent recurrence, it is the only one I have succeeded at. I have been a total failure at the lose weight and exercise part. I was already overweight at diagnosis and since I have been on Tamoxifen for almost 2 years, I have gained.

PAs, with all due respect, are not medical oncologists, and should not be handing out lifestyle changing orders to patients. If such changes are needed, it should come straight from the horse's mouth, not from a surrogate. 

AZA

I lift a theoretical glass to all of us trying to figure out how to just move forward...

(I say that as person who rarely drank, but liked the idea that once and a rare while, I could go and get smashed...like once every two or three years...and has given up the thought that I would occasionally go and have that drink or those drinks.)  I know that once in a great while would probably be okay...but I also know that since I know it is linked to recurrence that I will never choose to.  It is the idea I am giving up, more than the actual drink.  Sigh.  So...I lift that theoretical glass to us all...

I agree with the fact that its'a personal choice.  When I was diagnosed I poured my wine down the drain.  I didn't touch it until probably 8 months later.  I am a social drinker, I like to have a glass while I cook dinner, while sitting around a campfire chatting with friends.  There are so many women who have never had a drink, eat perfectly, exercise- maintain the perfect weight etc and they got BC.  So I decided to not be such a nervous Nelly about it.  I enjoy my wine, life is meant to be enjoyed and if I never had a drink again it would kind of suck- for lack of a better way to put it.  I don't feel guilty about it when I do it. 

I may be the one person who has replied so far that can simply say, cheers!  You are not alone in the way that you feel.

Hi Brillance, I am a 6 year survivor and you bet your booty I drink.  I drink beer whenever I want it, after work of course.  Over the last 6 years I have met several women that have never drank and recurred and women that quit drinking and recurred.  So my montra is do what you want to do!  You can be the healthiest person in the world and get cancer, it is a game of chance.  They say alcohol increases chances because of sugar but next week they will be saying something else, right?

In my youth I drank a lot... and then once I had my kids, starting 20 years ago, I cut way back... but still had some nights where I had more than 2 drink... Even during chemo, I had a couple of drinks... my MO said not too much so as not to tax the liver... Now that I am past chemo (7 months) my desire for alcohol has decreased. So I am going with whatever I feel like... I may chill 3 Coronas and drink one... or go to book club and have 4 glasses of wine. I drink maybe 2-3 nights a week, and usually very lightly, one beer... Do I think drinking in my twenties caused cancer? I have no idea. But if it did, then that explains why there is so much BC, as MOST people over indulge in their youth... And I have plenty of friends who drank more than me and are BC-free... I think its more likely the plastic or the pesticides.

I drink. Then again, if I stopped drinking, I wouldn't have any risk factors to fret over. Normal weight, excellent blood pressure, not diabetic, exercise, no family history.





CHEERS! Anyone want to join me in toasting our sisters? May next year be a good year for all of us!

 I am with Brenda69 and Voraciousre !  They are ALWAYS changing their mind about what is good and bad.Also Some people that drink also do NOT exercise and that is NOT in the studies... Several people I know quite well with BC.. did not drink and eat and excersie right.. but they still got it.. So CHEERS !

My onc said 'two glasses of wine per month.'  She said that amount wouldn't affect my estrogen levels.

Er... this translates in real life to five ounces every two weeks.  WHAAAT?

So the way I have handled this is I have utterly convinced myself that she meant to say "two glasses a week."  Yup.  Sure of it.  :-O  

Well, anyway.  Cheers! 

Hi, Brilliance.  Great subject, especially with the new guidelines on alcohol.  Since the emphasis on this is how alcohol affects estrogen levels, there's a question whether I need to be as concerned about this since I'm triple negative.  But in any event I'm a very modest drinker -- maybe a glass or two of wine a week, but on an occasion like an evening out with friends I might have have a bit more.  My oncologist is fine with "everything in moderation" and I'm going with him since he makes sense on so many subjects and is with one of the top cancer hospitals in the country.  But I know everyone must come to their own decision on this, just as they do with diet and exercise.  These all all risk factors and there are some of us, god bless them, who after a breast cancer diagnosis go macrobiotic, exercise for an hour or more every day and never drink again.  But that's just not for me.  I need to be able to lead a healthy life that I can still enjoy.  And that includes some moderate drinking of wine.  I think Laurie08 said it very well....so A Votre Sante all!