I am not a doctor, but I suspect that this depends upon the type and grade of your breast cancer. With certain cancers, surgeons now recommend taking Letrozole for 10 years, instead of 5. Can I ask why you are so keen to stop taking these and how long you have been taking them for?
I took Tamoxifen for 1 year, then had a second primary cancer in the same breast. I then took Letrozole for 6 and a half years. The choice is yours, but I would advise that you talk to your care team about this first, as the outcome varies from one individual to the next. They know your cancer details, as well as those of your general health and are best placed to advise you what the chances of spread or recurrence are.
Please keep in touch and let us know what you decide. We are always here for you.
How long have you been taking the Letrozole for? If you are having problems with Letrozole, there are other hormone replacements that can be prescribed. Did you discuss how you feel about stopping with your oncologist?
There is no problem with stopping it. I stopped it completely in one day, in July 2017. My worry was that I might discover a 3rd bout as soon as I stopped, but so far so good. As I said in my last reply, we are all different and have different outcomes and strains.
It is definitely worth discussing how you feel with your care team. If you don't have an appointment, why not phone your cancer nurse up? You may need to leave a message and wait for her to call you back, but, I'm sure that you'll find her very helpful.
I hadn't really thought about this, but I think it should be alright to just stop without having an Oestrogen spike. I had a blood clot last year that required an urgent visit to A&E and six weeks of treatment When I checked to see if there could have been a link to taking Letrozole it, loosely seemed so, so my breast nurse told me to stop taking it until she could find out. I stopped taking the Letrozole for most of the time I was on the blood thinners, before getting the ok to start again, with caution, regarding a recurrence of the problem. No spike in Oestrogen levels, and thankfully no recurrence of the problem. I don't think I would have been told to stop taking them if there was any risk. Nevertheless it will be a good idea just to check with your breast nurse.
