Tamoxifen and anastrozole

Oh my !! Bless your heart !
Thank you for your honest testimony. This is actually what I'm worried about. I have degenerative disk disease ,osteo, high blood pressure, up and down cholesterol. And have had a stroke. I went through menopause a few years ago and the vaginal dryness just about drove me insane ! Last week I had my
Lumpectomy , the dye they shot in me set me back in the vaginal issue. So between my other health issues and the set back I just don't know if I just want to for go it or not. I'm 67 and I think ......let me live as well as I can now. I decided a long time go after I saw what my mother and my sisters have gone through with breast cancer that I would decide for me whats best for me, I have been researching these meds and I just haven't made up my mind yet, none of it looks promising. Maybe if I were younger. I would rather live now.
You have given me a lot to think about. I know everyone is different but also not different.
Again thank you for telling me your journey. And I hope God blesses you with peace.

Would you be able to share how much hair loss? I'm super worried about the hair loss aspect of this?

Nothing major heir loss just dimecreceding in where impart my hair. I use seche powder to cover it up. My daughter thought it was a great cover up. Take the anastrazole nothing is worth shorten your life and future is worth the hair loss. After five years you will find me and hug me. Good luck

I read anastrazole stays in your system and keeps working to fight off cancer for several years after you stop st five years

Again many of us did not suffer these awful side effects. It is always hard to read about someone's suffering, and I have a hard time with most medications (and foods). But letrozole was okay for me- and for the friends I know who took an AI. I just hope that people at least try it. And since these are meds that affect hormones, side effects change over time and sometimes ease (sometimes not).

Freebird, we all react differently, but ask yourself if a 76-year-old patient is going to be as "hale and hearty" as, say, my nephew's 40 year old wife, who was put on exactly the same drug and dosage as me for the same b.c. diagnosis? It does not compute that a "mature" (oh, okay: old) person is going to do as well on these toxic substances as some others who are 20, 30 or 40 years younger. I had a decision facing me regarding "to radiate or not to radiate, that is the question." When my tumor was discovered by a good radiologist on Dec. 7, 2021, I asked her what she thought my prognosis was, and she said, "You're going to be fine. You did everything right." She was referencing my faithful annual mammograms. She suggested that I'd have a lumpectomy (which I did on 1/27/2022) and radiation. The Illinois doctor (who only saw me 2x in 8 months) prescribed 33 radiation sessions and I had been tattooed for same and was scheduled to start them in 3 days when I (belatedly) went to Iowa City to the University Hospitals and Clinics, roughly an hour and a half away, and got a second opinion. The Dr. there (who is now my only Midwestern oncologist) said, "If you had had your surgery here, we would not have radiated you." When I asked why (or why not) he said, "Because you're a woman in your 70s." (They pretty much write you off after 69; he also said, "Cancer isn't going to kill you. Something else will kill you first." And he has seen me 3 times but has never examined my breasts at all.) So, I had to go back to my home area in the Illinois Quad Cities and figure out whether to go forward with the radiation sessions or not. I contacted Dr. Goswami, who had been so encouraging and compassionate (she works in Iowa) and, even though she was not working on my case any more, as I had had to move to the Illinois side of the river closer to my home in order to commute a shorter distance for radiation, even though that hospital has been on my "do not use" list since 2018. She called me 3 times and we talked about it and I went through with the radiation because I suspected that things would not go well with the pills. And, indeed, they did not. I did try for a full year to adjust to and learn to tolerate both Anastrozole (7 months) and Tamoxifen (5 months) especially when my Texas oncologist fought to get me the oncotype that my Illinois oncologist refused to order ("You don't need one"). My oncotype score is 29, obtained 17 months too late to guide my treatment at the time. My odds of a recurrence with my 95% positive tumor is 36% if I don't take Tamoxifen for 5 years and 18% if I do. I am counting on my radiation to help protect me from a recurrence. I cannot tolerate the A.I. pills at all because of the excruciating joint pain from it. I cannot tolerate Tamoxifen because of the debilitating fatigue and the non-stop UTIs. When you are diabetic and old, a UTI infection that goes on forever is nothing to sneeze at! I had one about 5 days before New Year's Eve this year that went on forever. I took 2 strong antibiotics. Did nothing but did cause a fungal infection, which I learned can happen if you take strong antibiotics. So, I can't win for losing. I would definitely hold out for Tamoxifen, only if I had ANY bone issues, as it sounds like you have, as it was the better of the two, but, at my age, I'm not going to be told I have to take Tamoxifen until I'm 88 years old! Think about it! It is true that my mom lived to be 96, but still---- And I'm not going to be stuck in a wheelchair as a "preventative" to a possible recurrence, semi-crippled and unable to even take myself to the bathroom. Here is an article that I hope gets all of us some relief from recurrence apprehension, if the powers that be move on it fast. It is a way to determine if any cells are lying dormant in our bodies and to eliminate them, but it is in its infancy.https://www.icr.ac.uk/news-archive/research-uncovers-how-to-target-sleeping-breast-cancer-cells-and-prevent-relapse?fbclid=IwAR30J3Q-rBjOi2h653iqloUDgUD-2TV6B9qUjB2G1uLrSk2Mnxb12SCW4OY_aem_Ac_UcOuM91zMYSJF2X-kEA47-wtYrIKVQjcqT08TocMmdZp6Z-yVPtB2EKZR2x9liFgCGfYbeVjOTOcI-CDMi9za

I read on internet after completing full treatment of five years on anastrazole it continues working for ten more years go on internet you need to follow full five year treatment for this success

I had a partial mastectomy in September 2023. Surgery went well. finished 4 weeks of radiation and I did well thru that too. Then time for Anastrozole....started with headaches which did eventually subside. The mood swings, severe exhaustion, sleepless nights and joint pain are horrible. My dr is working with me to get me on meds to try to soften the affect but to be honest I don't know if you can counteract these side effects. I am now on two-week rest from the medication just to see if it's the meds causing these results, but I am sure it is. Please if anyone can give me any suggestions, I'm up for them. Good luck to you all on your journey....

Which AI are you on? Strange to lose hair so late, I’m sorry you are going through this.

Freebies, I’m totally with you and it’s hard to get the system to discuss trade-offs and percentages of YOUR risk when the momentum is about “following the standards of care” even if some of them reduce risk minimally and the treatments can be brutal. I’m 58 - and with low risk of recurrence with just surgery, I don’t take radiation and AI side effects lightly. Like you, I’ll likely try the AIs, but I’m not going to give up who I am for an extra 2-3% of reduced risk.