HORMONAL THERAPY

lolad
lolad Member Posts: 670
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
I have a couple of questions reguarding hormonal therapy and hope that someone will help.
I have to start on this treatment and was wondering if someone could tell me the side effects on it and how they feel while taking it. Also will it cause me to go into menopause. I have an appointment this week with the onc, but i would like to find out what its like from someone who has actually taken it.

thank you
laura

Comments

  • tasha_111
    tasha_111 Member Posts: 2,072
    #2
    Laura
    Hi and welcome. I have been on Tamoxifen Hormone tablets for a year now....I am prescribed them for 5 years total......
    At first I got night sweats...keep a towel on top of your pillows..
    Now they have gone away almost completely.....No towel now.
    Now my biggest problem is remembering to take them everyday!.....No Other side effects whatsoever.
    Hope this helps.......Take care.......Jxxxxxxxxx
  • cabbott
    cabbott Member Posts: 1,039 Member
    #3
    Keep using the birth control!
    There are several different kinds of hormone therapy for breast cancer. Since you are not already in menopause, I would assume that you are about to start Tamoxifen. It is the usual gold standard for premenopausal women. The AI's (aromatase inhibitors) can only be given after your ovaries stop working. Tamoxfen was first used as a fertility drug to increase the chance of babies. It didn't work terribly well, but by all means keep using your birth control methods while you take it even if your periods skip or stop for awhile. The gyn can do a blood test to determine if you are into menopause once things seemed to have stopped. I noticed some changes (skipped cycles, shorter periods), but not all women experience that. Hot flashes are very common. The hotter they are the more responsive you probably are to tamoxifen. I had a headache the first two days with it, but tylenol solved that problem pronto. The hot flashes came on gradually and a glass of cool water and/or a wet washcloth solved most of that problem. In the winter they keep my feet from getting cold on the way to the bathroom! In other words, the drug didn't cause many bothersome side effects for me. Good luck!

    C. Abbott
  • lolad
    lolad Member Posts: 670
    #4
    tasha_111 said:

    Laura
    Hi and welcome. I have been on Tamoxifen Hormone tablets for a year now....I am prescribed them for 5 years total......
    At first I got night sweats...keep a towel on top of your pillows..
    Now they have gone away almost completely.....No towel now.
    Now my biggest problem is remembering to take them everyday!.....No Other side effects whatsoever.
    Hope this helps.......Take care.......Jxxxxxxxxx

    a big thank you for
    a big thank you for responding. All this stuff is sooooo confusing.
    Thanks also for the welcome. Its comforting to know i can share with others
    who are going the same thing i am. Some days i just feel hopeless.

    thanks again.
    laura
  • survivorbc09
    survivorbc09 Member Posts: 4,374 Member
    #5
    cabbott said:

    Keep using the birth control!
    There are several different kinds of hormone therapy for breast cancer. Since you are not already in menopause, I would assume that you are about to start Tamoxifen. It is the usual gold standard for premenopausal women. The AI's (aromatase inhibitors) can only be given after your ovaries stop working. Tamoxfen was first used as a fertility drug to increase the chance of babies. It didn't work terribly well, but by all means keep using your birth control methods while you take it even if your periods skip or stop for awhile. The gyn can do a blood test to determine if you are into menopause once things seemed to have stopped. I noticed some changes (skipped cycles, shorter periods), but not all women experience that. Hot flashes are very common. The hotter they are the more responsive you probably are to tamoxifen. I had a headache the first two days with it, but tylenol solved that problem pronto. The hot flashes came on gradually and a glass of cool water and/or a wet washcloth solved most of that problem. In the winter they keep my feet from getting cold on the way to the bathroom! In other words, the drug didn't cause many bothersome side effects for me. Good luck!

    C. Abbott

    I wouldn't think she should
    I wouldn't think she should stay on birth control pills. They have estrogen in them! You better ask your oncologist before you take tamoxifen about them.

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