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Hormone therapy - thoughts

FloraM
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Dear all,

I'm meeting with my oncologist on Friday and just looking for advice/thoughts/insights prior to meeting 

I was diagnosed with lobular cancer June 2020. It was stage 1 multi-focal - no lymph node involvement. I had a mastectomy. I did not have chemo or radiotherapy. It was 100% ER positive.

I began taking Tamoxifen August 2020 and tolerated it pretty well. However, two months ago I began to get yellowish discharge with a little bleeding. My oncologist told me to immediately stop taking Tamoxifen and come back to see him in 8 weeks. 

Investigations were carried out re discharge/bleeding but, thankfully, all came back normal. The discharge/bleeding has now gone completely. I can only assume it was a side effect of Tamoxifen.

My oncologist will now do blood tests to determine whether I am post-menopausal and give me the option of now switching to Letrozole for the next two years.

My experience with Tamoxifen and the side effects has made me a little worried about taking another drug. 

I just wondered if anyone has found themselves in the same/similar position.

Thanks for any advice/thoughts/insights.

xxx

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    Hi FloraM,

    I am sorry to hear that you had this problem with Tamoxifen. I have had 2 bouts of breast cancer within a year of one another. The first time I had a lumpectomy and I had a double mastectomy with the second bout. When the second bout was diagnosed, I was advised to stop taking Tamoxifen and prescribed Letrozole instead. I had a lot of emotional problems, along with terrible night sweats with Tamoxifen. With Letrozole, I had the night sweats, a lot of joint problems and sight complications. However, I managed to finish the course and am still leading a busy and fulfilling life, seven years after finishing them. I didn't have radiotherapy or chemo either.

    We all react differently to hormone treatment. I hope that you can take Letrozole and that these don't cause you any problems.

    Please keep in touch and let us know how you get on. We are always here for you.

    Kind regards,

    Jolamine xx

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