NO hormone therapy allowed because of ER status ?

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bluewillowskys
bluewillowskys Member Posts: 365
edited October 2014 in Hormonal Therapy - Before, During, and After

I found out I am perimenopausal today....symptoms for past 18 months. My DCIS was ER Positive. Dr says I cant take hormone therapy to alleviate symptoms.....anyone else here in this same situation? I am still considering a BMX due to a recent papilloma scare and my high anxiety levels about having a recurrence or new cancer. I had NO family history. If I did the BMX would I then be ok with HT since the ER positive would be a non-issue? or can BC return even with a BMX ?

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  • ruthbru
    ruthbru Member Posts: 57,235
    edited October 2014

    Your chances of BC returning are exactly the same with a mastectomy or lumpectomy plus rads. What kind of surgery you have has nothing to do with estrogen production because estrogen is not made in the breasts. It is produced by the ovaries in pre-menopausal women & still some is produced by the adrenal glands after menopause. So hormone therapy would be a very bad idea no matter what you do!

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  • bluewillowskys
    bluewillowskys Member Posts: 365
    edited October 2014

    i did tamox for a year but couldnt handle the joint pain and weight gain....so are you saying basically because im er Positive I have to suck it as far as menopause symptoms...?  LOL  Thats kind of what the PA told me today but i thought i should ask women here what they had been told.

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  • ruthbru
    ruthbru Member Posts: 57,235
    edited October 2014

    Yes, you are stuck going 'natural'..... buy a bunch of fans, ditch the turtlenecks, keep cold water handy at all times etc. etc. etc.  I was on HRT before diagnosis too....so I feel your pain!!!!!

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  • farmerlucy
    farmerlucy Member Posts: 3,985
    edited October 2014

    Here is a very interesting article

    http://www.breastcancer.org/research-news/effexor-...

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  • Kicks
    Kicks Member Posts: 4,131
    edited October 2014

    Are you talking about HT or HRT?  HT (Hormone Therapy) and HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) are very different.  HT is to keep estrogen from being absorbed when the cancer 'feeds' off of estrogen.   HRT is used with perimenopause and menopause to replace estrogen when needed to control SEs.  Very different.

    Even after natural menopause or surgical menopause, the body still produces some estrogen.  We also get estrogen from many food sources.

    Surgery/Mastectomies does not guarantee that there is no longer a possibility of recurrence.  Not every possible cell can be removed in surgery.  Being ER+ means that the cancer fed off of estrogen so it makes no sense to sense (to me) to not do HT but definately not HRT. 

    Talk to your Dr for clarification about our personal situtation.  No,one,

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