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Cristy2

687d

Hello! I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer on 2021, Stage 1, lymph nodes clear, Er+ Pr+ My oncotype was 23 because I’m pre menopause I had to do chemotherapy and radiation. I just finished both treatments last month and now doctor want me to start hormonal therapy. She gave me two options one take tamoxifen and the other one is suppressed my ovaries and take AI. I really don’t know what to do, I’m still trying to recover from such a traumatic treatments and now decided for something that I have to take for 10 years and I have been hearing so many negatives side effects with hormonal therapy. Can someone please share their experiences with me and what treatment you think is better? Thank you for sharing with me!

Top reply
    • Cristy2

      672d

      @AlyWare thank you so much for sharing your story. I haven’t start hormonal therapy yet, I think I have to start next week, I’m so scared I hope those side effects will not be for long 🙏

    • AlyWare

      674d

      Hi I was diagnosed with breast cancer 2020. Thankfully I beat it. However, I take letrozole for 10 years and it’s pretty rough. I try to manage the side effects but it’s not easy. However, I also have some other health issues that have me in chronic pain everyday. So, I meditate, and also find that yoga and pool therapy are helpful for managing the symptoms. I also get zometa infusions for the osteoporosis that letrozole can cause. I had a partial hysterectomy for the estrogen. My tumors were 100% estrogen and 99% progesterone positive. So now I am still struggling to manage all the side effects from treatment, menopause, and a host of chronic pain. I just don’t want ti stop letrozole for fear of cancer returning. It’s difficult but if you want to chat I am here. Would love to be able to talk ti someone that gets it . I love this app, I’m new to it and so far find it helpful to hear from others that can relate. Hang in there .

      • Cristy2

        672d

        @AlyWare thank you so much for sharing your story. I haven’t start hormonal therapy yet, I think I have to start next week, I’m so scared I hope those side effects will not be for long 🙏

    • Skylight

      684d

      May I give a few suggestions about the hot flashes you may want to try Black Gosh which has helped me and you can get it at Walmart. The other is Menopause 731 by a company called Life Extension. Let us know how things turn out.

      • Cristy2

        684d

        @Skylight thank You 🙏

    • Krickett

      686d

      Breast Cancer 2021 also ER /PR + BRCA2 +. Bilateral mastectomy in July. Lost expanders due to infection in August. Chemo through December. No radiation thank God!! Will now have ovaries and tubes removed because of BRCA2 mutation. I have been on Tamoxifen for a few months. Not too terrible. Or at least not as bad as the list of side effects sound. Hot flashes are the worst! Makes menopause look like a piece of cake.

      • Cristy2

        684d

        @Krickett thank you for sharing 🙏

        • Krickett

          684d

          @Cristy2 👍❤️

    • Skylight

      686d

      I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021 and had three lymph nodes removed with two having cancer went through radiation and started taking Letrozol because I'm postmenopausal. Yes the side effects are ruff but my Doctor explained that it is the best medicine for my type of cancer to please try and work with the side effects because it will get easier. Yes at first I thought he was crazy but trusted him and little by little I can tell the fatigue, weakness and my hips feeling like they are broke has slowly gotten better. I'm not saying all of the side effects are gone but manageable. I would like to share something that I went through that most people don't talk about. In December 2021 I felt like I had a UTI and tried to get rid of it myself. February I went to get meds to clear it up. Two weeks later went back and still hurting. Two weeks later went back again at this point I was ready to screem. I find out I was dealing with Atrophic Vanginitis. So if you come across anything like this see your OBGYN. Hope this helps.

      • Cristy2

        684d

        @Skylight thank you for sharing 🙏

    • AmyM

      687d

      Hey I was diagnosed stage 1 no lymph nodes involved in 2016 similar treatment. I tried tamaxifin side effects where too many for me. Got a complete hysterectomy since I also had large uterine fibroids tried all the AI have been on leterazole for 6 years. It is the one that causes the least bone and joint pain for me. Never be afraid to speak up and try something else

      • Cristy2

        686d

        @AmyM thank you so much for sharing with me. I’m so scared of all those side effects, I take care of my little boy and I really need so much energy for him and after chemo and radiation, I’m just recovering little by little and now starting hormonal therapy I’m really so frustrated 😟

        • AmyM

          682d

          @Cristy2 it does take awhile to recover from treatment no matter what you are told. Also remember not everyone gets every side effect from meds. Another thing that keeps me taking these hormone blockers even though I'm fairly sure they make my fibromyalgia worse is my Dr told me that without letrozole my rate of reoccurrence is 5percent with it for 10 years almost no risk. My oncotype score was I think 27 it was optional for me to do chemo. We decided to lower the chance of reoccurrence as much as possible but treating as aggressive as possible which was great til Taxol put me in the hospital with an allergic reaction. So if you haven't asked your Dr to weigh those pros and cons please do so. My kids are older but I still enjoy moving and doing things

☝ This content is generated by our users and it is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult with your physician before making any medical decision

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