It's been a while...question about Zoladex

heavenlee

Hey Everyone,
I do hope everyone is doing good. I have been good. My little Skylar will be 3 in July. I took him with me to the Oncologist yesterday and everyone flipped over him. He is my Miracle.
Anyway...my doc wants me to start the Zoladex shots every 3 months. Can anyone tell me your experience with them? I am concerned of a few of the side effects. I know everyone is different but....I would like to here stories of experience. Thanks so much ladies.
Hope to hear from you (even if you don't have anything to say about Zoladex :-))
Bye for now,
Angel

martyzl

Hey Angel!!! *dances about* SO glad all is well in your world!
Ohhhh, my goodness, Skylar is ***3*** already?? Time flies, time flies!
You'll remember we opted not to carry our pregnancy as we were too early and I needed to get things going very quickly... well, then you might remember that I did manage to get pregnant a year after chemo ended and after only a couple periods. Helena is 5 months old now! My little wonderbabe.
(Pic of her on my webpage)

Hmmm, Zoladex, that's the BB sized pill they pop under your skin using a pointed tube they insist is a needle, right?! *laughs* I had to have it injected into my bum prior to and during chemo to help suspend my ovaries. (Normally it's in the belly but since I had a Tram, the Onc. wasn't going to mess with that!)
Did I mention it's a big needle? *impish grin* Nah, it's do-able... especially after all we've been through, yes?
Sorry sweetie, I cannot tell you about any side effects as I wouldn't know how to differentiate between Zoladex and the chemotherapies. I know I did go through menopause, had hot flashes (great in the winter if there is no heat in your bedroom) and for the first time in my life, since childhood, my face cleared up! I started getting these funny little white highlights in my hair during all of that too. *smirk*
Not sure if the aching was from chemo or Zoladex... Yoga is phenomonal though and helped immensely.
I take it you were ER+, eh? I was Her2Neu+ and so don't have to worry about hormones... this month... seems they change their minds monthly about what we should be doing, doesn't it??

Keep in touch! I lost your email addy when we converted our computer, thus lost touch.
All my best!
Be well!!! *tight hugs*
~marty

Sharon345

Dear Angel,
I was on Zoladex once-a-month shots for about a year. I didn't have chemo and I started the Zoladex 2 months after surgery- the same time I started Tamoxifen. After 1 year and 2 months I started having pelvic pain. After tests it showed I had ovarian cysts and just about everything else that can happen down there except cancer. I had a complete hysterectomy. No one said this was caused by the Zoladex or Tamoxifen so it could have happened anyway. Since I was only going to have the Zoladex for two years I had been already thinking about having a hysterectomy after that time but figured the insurance wouldn't pay for it. So in a way I got lucky.
Now to your question. My only symtoms were hot flashes but I had wondered if using both the Tamoxifen and the Zoladex double the side effects since they both list the menopausal symptoms. There was a time period of about a month from the time I stopped the Zoladex and the time of the hysterectomy. There was no difference in the hot flashes during that time but just a few days after the hysterectomy I had terribly night sweats (which I hadn't had before) and the hot flashes were more intense. This went on for about a month and then got back to the normal pre-hysterectomy intensity. I thought this was interesting. For me, the real menopause caused me more problems than when I was on Zoladex. After the hysterectomy I started having joint aching and sexual problems along with the hot flashes. No more night sweats though thank goodness!

doc424

http://www.zoladex.net/zoladexBC/index.asp?did=0
Here you will find some information.
Mind the depression,its far more often than they say