I have continued on using AI medications beyond the five-year window. I take anastrozole every day. I have not had any issues with this medication, thankfully! When I met with my oncologist a year ago, shortly before I reached the five-year mark, he asked me if I was having any problems with the anastrozole, and if I had considered continuing it even beyond The five year window. I told him I had thought about that, was not having any problems with it. He told me my risk of recurrence would be less if I continued on it, and if I wasn’t having problems with it, he strongly advised me to continue.

My family has a strong family history of dementia. My mother had dementia, now my older sister has dementia and one of my two younger brothers has dementia. A study done in 2024 from the university of Pittsburgh looked at women taking aromatase, inhibitors and dementia. This was an initial study, but it did find that women who took a romantic taste. Inhibitors were significantly less likely to develop dementia.

I look at it this way, I tolerate the anromotase inhibitor, it lowers a risk of recurrence of my breast cancer, and it very likely is giving me some protection from developing dementia.

If I had issues with aromatase inhibitors I might feel differently. I am 73 years old, and participating in a study, looking at individuals who come from families where dementia is prevalent trying to determine why some family members do not seem to be affected by dementia. It’s a three year study and involves video games on the computer of all things! It’s quite challenging and I am in year three, the final year. My accuracy levels each and every year have been 85% plus.