Alcohol and breast cancer question!!!

Beesie............... reading your posts, all these years...... have really taught me a lot!

You're the real deal sister! Thank you!

Hi Annie..... (( hug))

Okay, I talked to my onc. about this last Thursday. She said she had just come back from a world-wide breast cancer conference the week before and the latest findings shared at that conference were that "one glass of wine a day REDUCES risk of recurrence".  But I don't have the evidential support to back it up. And not two glasses or three...However, she also said if you don't drink anyway, don't start. And I'm assuming this means that you also can't save up your daily glasses and drink them all at once on a weekend night but that was exactly what she told me.

Nevertheless, I'm not going to drink---maybe a glass at a wedding.  But I lost the weight around my middle that I didn't like anyway when I stopped right after dx, and I like not having it there. I think it was cutting out all alcohol that helped me lose it.

I also was one who had one (sometimes two) glasses of red wine every evening, and I swear it was the secret to maintaining my weight and with the red wine supposedly being heart-healthy, I figured it was pretty much like taking a vitamin!  I asked my nurse navigator about alcohol when I had my very first chemo, and she told me that alcohol in moderation is OK, but she predicted that I would lose my taste for it.  She was absolutely right.  I have tried three different times, with three different kinds, and it all tastes bitter and metallic - even the syrupy reisling that my in-laws like.  I had my last treatment 2 weeks ago, and I am hoping that my palate recovers in time to toast the New Year!   

I encourage all of you to take a look at the Komen site's risk evaluator.  Fascinating stuff. http://ww5.komen.org/BreastCancer/BreastCancerRiskFactorsTable.html

There are no easy answers here.  You'll find, for instance, that physical activity apparently does squat for recurrence in premenopausal women.  I get awfully tired of the one-size-fits-all oncologist speak.  It really is so much more nuanced.

What I learned was, those things in my control, like diet, alcohol, and exercise are but a scant help against my major risk factors:  already having had BC once, being young at diagnosis, dense breasts, etc.

I worry about alcohol consumption.  But I'm not willing to cut it out completely.  I feel pretty sure I've got much bigger issues than the occasional glass of wine.

I was told during chemo I could have one 4 oz glass wine a day.. Now that chemo is done and I am on a clinical trial program for metformin/placebo. it clearly stated in my instructions to limit my alcohol intake to three a day... So I enjoy a glass of wine about 4-5 days a week. Cheeres ladies

Momof 3

Yes they did ask if and what I drink. I told them a glass of wine 3-4 times a week.. oo the paperwork I got for the trial study it clearly said.. limit your alcohol intake to three or less beverages a day..

Wow! So, theoretically they're okay with a BC patient having up to 21 alcoholic drinks per week... That sounds suspicious to be. I wonder if part of the study is to compare non-drinkers to drinkers? Hmmmm

I have always enjoyed wine or a mixed drink (martini,,etc). Butvsince being diagnosed, I've only had (wanted) 2 glasses of wine-,Thanksgiving and Christmas. Right after I was diagnosed all those news shows featured the link between alcohol and BC..... And I think I feel guilty about it. I have absolutely no other risk factors, other than being a woman, so I think that news kinda spoiled the pleasure I got out of a glass of wine.

Maybe when I'm further out (I start chemo tomorrow) I'll feel differently.,

fitz33: I don't think they differentiate between wine and hard alcohol when it comes to limits, other than volume.  I, myself, love an occasional vodka and tonic. Perhaps the emphasis on wine has to do with the other benefits that have been mentioned (heart benefits), but I don't think there is much of a difference in terms of alcohol consumption.

I think in general, women are limited to 7 or fewer drinks a week (1 a day), so I figure with a history of BC, I limit it further...usually don't drink anything during the week and either wine or a cocktail (or 2) on weekend nights.

*subject

Ah ha! It's the chocolate! I knew it! Thanks for the laugh and the positive comments about Tamoxifin. You hear so many negative things said about it here, it's daunting. My aunt took it for many years and (I was very young) I asked my Mom if she complained about it, and she said she didn't remember her complaining about anything, she was just happy to be getting a promising drug.

:-)

bdavis, it seems they're always learning something new about Tamoxifen, but in very general terms -- Tamox tends to build bone in postmenopausal women and tends to weaken it in pre-menopausal women. (Not sure what it does to men, who are also prescribed it for male BC.)

It doesn't decrease estrogen per se, but instead what it does is bind to the estrogen receptors in the breast and other tissues. That's the basic therapeutic effect vis-a-vis cancer, but there are a zillion other effects as well.