Femera Update for Aztec

aztec45
aztec45 Member Posts: 757
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
Hey, Gang,

I had chemo yesterday and saw my Onc. She is so great when it comes to Women's Health. Anyway...we talked about Femera and how it made me feel. It made my bones ache so bad and it made me feel uncontrolable aggression. The onc says this is because Femera stops the production of estrogen completely and you need estrogen for your bones, for you mental health, and for a number of other things. Arimedix and Aromasin also work like Femera does. They are in the same family. Estrogen also helps keep your skin hydrated and your Hoo-Ha lubricated. I just learned this. I was drying out pretty bad to where it hurt to bathe. The soap hurt when I washed my body and my Hoo-Ha. So here is what my onc did for me. She put me on Tamoxifin for 5 years. This drug is not as hard on the bones and even menopausel women can take this. Now, you have to watch-out for blood clots and uterin cancer but this only effects 1% of women. I will be on Estring for the rest of my life. This is a ring that has a low dose of estrogen and will keep your Hoo-Ha lubricated and help your bones and dried skin. After 5 years, I will be switched to Aromasin.

I have to monitor my blood pressure. The Avastin I am on causes your blood pressure to fluctuate and run high at times. I have to get through 3 more months of it and then I will be done. Oh, and I have to have a uterin sonigram because I am Tamoxifin.

Other than that, I am in good health. So it you want to private message me to ask questions, feel free to do so. Just wanted to share what my Onc said.

She also recommended I see a bone specialist. She thinks I may need ortho on my knees. Sucks having cancer and getting old. Oh well, I am alive and enjoying the spring weather.

Take care,

P

Comments

  • New Flower
    New Flower Member Posts: 4,294
    #2
    Thanks for the news
    P, Good info. I am sure it will help other to make a write decision.
    Good luck with Tamoxifen,
    New Flower
  • jnl
    jnl Member Posts: 3,869 Member
    #3
    Wishing you good luck on
    Wishing you good luck on tamoxifen!


    Hugs, Leeza
  • DianeBC
    DianeBC Member Posts: 3,881 Member
    #4
    jnl said:

    Wishing you good luck on
    Wishing you good luck on tamoxifen!


    Hugs, Leeza

    Aztec, good luck with tamox!
    Aztec, good luck with tamox! Keep us posted on how you are doing!
  • arbojenn
    arbojenn Member Posts: 118
    #5
    Thank you!
    Thank you so much for the information that even postmenopausal women can take tamoxifen. I was on an aromatose inhibitor but stopped because I have done research on how estrogren affects the brain and I fear Alzheimers or other forms of dementia more than death from cancer. (There is no research on how aromatose inhibitors affect the brain: just on how ESTROGEN affects the brain. I made the bridge because my brother did his PhD dissertation on the effects of hormones on the brain. I got to visit him in this laboratory at Yale and saw how the trials ran. He isn't researching that anymore, but some of his colleagues are leading the frontier on estrogen action on the brain.) I need to ask him, though, if the brain cells affected have the estrogen receptor that tamoxifen blocks. I realize my onc's job is to keep me cancer free. But since both my parents suffered from Alzheimer's, I NOT want to go there. I wish there were more research on this.
  • Different Ballgame
    Different Ballgame Member Posts: 868
    #6
    arbojenn said:

    Thank you!
    Thank you so much for the information that even postmenopausal women can take tamoxifen. I was on an aromatose inhibitor but stopped because I have done research on how estrogren affects the brain and I fear Alzheimers or other forms of dementia more than death from cancer. (There is no research on how aromatose inhibitors affect the brain: just on how ESTROGEN affects the brain. I made the bridge because my brother did his PhD dissertation on the effects of hormones on the brain. I got to visit him in this laboratory at Yale and saw how the trials ran. He isn't researching that anymore, but some of his colleagues are leading the frontier on estrogen action on the brain.) I need to ask him, though, if the brain cells affected have the estrogen receptor that tamoxifen blocks. I realize my onc's job is to keep me cancer free. But since both my parents suffered from Alzheimer's, I NOT want to go there. I wish there were more research on this.

    How fast can you find out
    How fast can you find out if the brain cells affected have the estrogen receptor that tamoxifen blocks. Right now I am taking Arimidex. I started Thursday, March 18, 2010 at 8:00 a.m.

    I do not like the idea of not having any estrogen in my body. I also am concerned about my brain.

    Hugs,
    Janelle
  • Christine Louise
    Christine Louise Member Posts: 426 Member
    #7
    Thanks for information
    This looms as a bigger decision in my mind than my other decisions of single or double mastectomy, chemo or not, genetic testing or not. Arimedix versus Tamoxifen is the question that really scares and perplexes me. Thanks, everyone, for this information.

    My original hesitation about the aromatase inhibitors was the cost. Even with Arimedix going generic in July, I'm now leaning toward the Tamoxifen.

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