5-years of Zoladex...Now what?

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TwinMamaHeather
TwinMamaHeather Member Posts: 141
edited November 2018 in Hormonal Therapy - Before, During, and After

Hi All! I haven't written here in a REALLY long time, to be honest, getting on this site sends me into a panic spiral.

Anyway, I just had my HOPEFULLY LAST EVER Zoladex injection after 5-years and I am happy to be done with it, yet really nervous about what this might mean. My onc has told me repeatedly that studies do not show benefit for taking Zoladex past 5-years and that it can actually be a detriment to health, but I'm still nervous about it. I'll still be on Tamoxifen daily.

What if my body becomes flooded with estrogen and I have little cells left and they LOVE it and decide to grow and hang out?

What if my period comes back and it's TERRIBLE??

What am I going to do for birth control? Condoms suck, diaphragms seems so 1920s and Copper has been linked to cancer spread so not sure I want to use an IUD.

I guess I am just here looking for people who have done their five year {or whatever} on Zoladex. What has your experience been? How do you get past the fear of flooding your body with estrogen? What are you doing for birth control if you are in a sexual relationship with a person of the opposite sex?

Thanks in advance for calming my stressed out mind.

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  • Cpeachymom
    Cpeachymom Member Posts: 518
    edited October 2018

    Heather- Hi! I’m not going to be too much help probably, but here’s what I know. I have read that after as little as two years on ovarian suppression, your ovaries may never wake up. I wish I could point you to where I found that, but it was a long while ago. I was getting Lupron shots for less than a year, 39 when I started, nowhere near menopause. My MO stopped them 3 months ago because my side effects were getting worse. I expected my periods to come roaring back. Nope. Nada. Yet. Now she has switched me to zoladex to see if things go better. First shot was today.

    I don’t know if there is a way to find out if you’re in permanent menopause other than wait and see. I don’t have an answer for the birth control either, because that is at least a good side effect of this mess!

    The fear... well I see Tamoxifen as my insurance policy. The OS is more of a boost. I would feel ok going without it. I think it only improves our odds by like 5%.

    Good luck to you!

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  • TwinMamaHeather
    TwinMamaHeather Member Posts: 141
    edited October 2018

    Thank you so much for your response! I have also read about the 2-3 year benefit thing, I think most of the ladies in the SOFT and TEXT trials had OS for an average of 2-3 years.

    That's true about the Tamoxifen, I need to think of it like that I guess and I need to trust what my doctors say. I just don't do well with change and this is a big one! haha!

    Again, thank you for taking the time to respond and good luck with the Zoladex!

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  • Michelle_in_cornland
    Michelle_in_cornland Member Posts: 1,689
    edited October 2018

    Not sure how old you are, but the ovaries can be removed if they cause any issues. But, you will be on Tamoxifen, and that is a really good medication. Good luck.

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  • Palesa2018
    Palesa2018 Member Posts: 140
    edited November 2018

    Bump

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