I think my brain is burning...

Hi Anne. Boy, can I relate! I am taking ZOLADEX shots and ARIMIDEX for my mets. The absolute worst side effect is the hot flashes. It seems like, if I have one in the morning that I am sweating all day long! I got some relief from taking NEURONTIN (generic name: GABAPENTIN), 100mg 3 times daily. The only problem with that is it gave me a mild headache and caused weight gain at the rate of 5 pounds per month! I have now reduced the NEURONTIN to just one at bedtime so I can sleep better at night.

I have been having hot flashes for around 18 months now. They haven't seemed to slow down at all. (I am 40 and was VERY pre-menopausal when starting hormone therapy). I have noticed that I have more problems when the weather is changing from fair and sunny to rain and stormy or vice-versa. I also have more frequent hot flashes when the seasons change. Eating anything also seems to bring on a hot flash.

I carry fold-up hand fans in my purse and a little pump spray bottle filled with witch hazel to spritz on my face and neck if I get exceptionally hot. I dress in layers and try to avoid getting too hot because it seems like there is a domino effect if I do get hot. I also try to wear all cotton if possible. My underclothes and bra are cotton also.

I know that some people have good results using effexor for the hot flashes.  I hope you are able to get some relief!!

(((HUGS))))

Diane 

Anne, I think this is one of the real advantages to having an LCIS forum of our own.



We should be able to find support for ANY of our concerns. People with different diagnoses and backrounds can have different concerns. This thread is about YOU, and YOU should be supported!!



If Diane starts a thread in this forum, I will try to support her,too. I don't mean to speak for Diane, but I think its VERY important that everyone feel like they are supported, no matter what their backround or history.

I was just diagnosed with LCIS and have been taken off my hormones and they want me to take Evista and so afraid of the side effects. 

I did not like taking the hormones but my flashes and mood swings were so bad I had to do something and was scared the whole time I took them and wanted off of them but not for this reason..now I have been told Evista can cause hot flashes and and up your risk of stroke and blood clots...this is just all to much to absorb right now for me.

I am gald there is this spot for women like us....because we sure need a place for info and just to vent and share.

Hi all~ 

I've been on tamoxifen for a month now.........and the side effects are starting!  My oncologist had said if you didn't have many symptoms when going through menopause; you might not have many with taking tamoxifen, either.  I had a surgical menopause~EVERYthing was taken out--started HRT, had my first breast bx a couple of months later...and decided to quit taking the HRT immediately.  Didn't really have any symptoms then....but now, the hot flashes have started and I can cry at almost anything!  This is going to be a LONG five years!

Also,I wanted to let folks know that I have a 2006 article that I'll e-mail to anyone that would like to read it~it's 12 pages, so I hated to copy and paste the whole thing here--it's entitled "Evolving Concepts in the Management of Lobular Neoplasia" and was e-mailed to me by one it's authors.  It's probably one of the more comprehensive/up to date articles I've read. 

However I still feel like my mind is on overload~I guess I just keep reading/researching hoping something will help me make up my mind about BPM....

Again...I'm glad we have each other in this forum~best wishes for the new year!

Since October, I  have undergone 2 surgeries (1) for LCIS and (2) to widen margins. Second surgery biopsy returned clear. BUT, I have had weeping from the site, a staph infection treated with antibiotics and now have been drained twice. My surgeon says it all is not unusual. My next appointment is to discuss radiation treatment. Is all this to be expected? I too have major hot flashes since I have been on Tamoxifin, and I am post menapausal and on Gabapenten (800 mg x4 per day for Neurpathy). I would also like a copy of that article charm@tampabay.rr.com

Charm--I'm wondering did you have any reports of any DCIS or invasive bc along with the LCIS? Because then  any discussion of margins or radiation would make sense, but all the literature says that margins and radiation are not relevant or indicated with LCIS (since it is generally multifocal, multicentric and bilateral in nature--meaning it could be everywhere and anywhere throughout either breast; they wouldn't know where to radiate specifically (like with DCIS) and  it could escape any margin.  The only "real way" to eliminate all the LCIS (or at least 90%) is to undergo bilateral mastectomies. ( a choice I'm not yet ready to make--I was diagnosed with LCIS 4 years ago and I'm very closely monitored with breast exams, mammos alternating with MRIs every 6 months now, and I take tamoxifen for prevention of invasive bc.)  The big problem with LCIS  is the uncertainty---they don't know who will go on to develope invasive bc and who won't. I've read numbers as low as 5% and as high as 25%--recently 17% was the number I saw who would develope an invasive bc within 15 years.  It is an in situ bc; non-invasive bc; there's a LOT of controversy surrounding it; many in the medical community feel it is "just" a marker for future invasive bc, others now feel that in certain circumstances it could be an actual precursor of invasive disease--I tend to believe the latter, but that is JMO; but even with that belief, I'm not going for PBMs at this point.
  Wishing you good luck with your treatments.

Anne 

Maybe the server is temporarily out of service, but I couldn't get the link to open.