Surgical Menopause and Femara

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Variable
Variable Member Posts: 77
edited January 2018 in Hormonal Therapy - Before, During, and After

Does anyone have experience with Surgical Menopause and Femara? I have been fighting hormonal treatment recommendations for some deep gut feeling of dread. Tamoxifen was recommended before surgery, but the idea of taking a preventative medication that could cause death as a side effect did not seem like a good idea to me. I am the queen of what ifs, and feel like I have been practicing risk management my entire life. I am exhausted! I recently had a complete hysterectomy and am about to take my first pill this weekend. Is it really necessary to get rid of every bit of estrogen in my body? Any thoughts, experiences, suggestions?

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  • Lula73
    Lula73 Member Posts: 1,824
    edited January 2018

    Hi Variable- welcome to the club. I had ovaries out with hysterectomy in Nov. Just started the Femara and haven’t really noticed any differences/side effects yet. To answer your question, yes it is important to stop any/all estrogen from being made/getting into your cells if your BC was ER+. That ER+ means that the cancer feeds on estrogen. Since surgery/chemo/rads can’t guarantee every single microscopic cancer cell has been removed/eradicated they give us the anti-hormonals like tamoxifen and femara. Anti-hormonals basically starve/deprive the cells of the estrogen they need to survive and multiply. Starving them for 5 or 10 years should take care of those remaining cells. I say should because it’s not a guarantee that you won’t have a recurrence or metastasis but the odds are much more in your favor by taking them. I hope this helps!

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  • Variable
    Variable Member Posts: 77
    edited January 2018

    Thanks Lula!

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  • MexicoHeather
    MexicoHeather Member Posts: 365
    edited January 2018

    I chose the ovary/everything removal with some of the same thoughts: Why take tamoxifen considering the SEs and what if I couldn't tolerate the meds long term? But I suppose the Femara is okay. I will stay the course. Hot flashing all over the place.

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  • Variable
    Variable Member Posts: 77
    edited January 2018

    Thanks for your comment MexicoHeather! I will give the Femara a try. Hotflashing already, hope the drug doesn't make it worse :/

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  • Variable
    Variable Member Posts: 77
    edited January 2018

    As another of my many wonderments...if I am ER+ PR+, and I am directed to get rid of all my estrogen, how is the PR+ being treated? It is never mentioned in any appointment. Is this why recurrence happens even while on AIs??

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  • nightcrawler
    nightcrawler Member Posts: 54
    edited January 2018

    Hi Variable.

    I had a supracervical abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy on November 8. This was due not only to very strongly ER/PR breast cancer but severe endometriosis.

    I, too, was scared of Femara, but I started it on 12/21 and haven't noticed any negative effects. Granted, I work out a lot -- I'm a marathon runner -- and I was released back to exercising literally the day after I started the Femara. So, I have joint pain all the time. LOL

    My gyn gave me Effexor to control hot flashes post-surgery, and apparently, it's working beautifully. I haven't had any hot flashes, nor do I have any SE's from the Effexor other than I have to take it with food to prevent stomach upset; a couple of spoonfuls of yogurt is sufficient. She told me that if I start having hot flashes to let her know, as I'm on a really, really low dose, and she can always up it.

    I definitely recommend that any ladies getting hot flashes ask about Effexor.

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  • Variable
    Variable Member Posts: 77
    edited January 2018

    Thanks Nightcrawler! Glad it is working out for you!

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  • exercise_guru
    exercise_guru Member Posts: 716
    edited January 2018

    I have heard that paxil works better with arimidex and femara. You have a lot of options on AI compared to tamoxifen.


    what time do you take your effexor to be able to sleep at night without hotflashes.

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  • nightcrawler
    nightcrawler Member Posts: 54
    edited January 2018

    I take the Effexor in the morning.

    My lack of hot flashes may partially due to a weird genetic thing. My mother had a radical hysterectomy in her 30s due to cervical cancer. I asked her if she'd had hot flashes, and she said she couldn't remember -- which probably means she either didn't have them, or they were extremely minimal, because they aren't the sort of thing you'd forget.

    Ironically, I had lots and lots of hot flashes in my teens and twenties ... because of severe endometriosis. For that reason, I also had them during the ~5 month-period between having to cease my birth control pills post breast cancer diagnosis and my hysterectomy.

    All that said, I think I get mini hot flashes every now and then. I'll feel warm for maybe 5 to 10 seconds, but then it just goes away. I don't get the sweating and the sick feeling I did during the endo-related flashes.

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  • TanyaSteen
    TanyaSteen Member Posts: 1
    edited January 2018

    Hi there :) after radiation, a few months later had a total hysterectomy. I am on Femera, knock on wood I have not had any bad side effects. Pretty much for me, its keeping my hair thin I think but my thin hair could be that I was given taxotere which has caused some permanent hair loss. The jury is still out there. Yes, I believe for us that are ER+ and PR+ it is important to get rid of all estrogen. I am Femera for 10 years, I am not happy about it, but if it helps prevent reoccurrence then I will do it. I have minimal hot flashes, chemo threw me in to early menopause that's when I went through the night sweats as well. The things we go through, only other survivors understand. 

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