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@dmr4ever I agree that adding more meds to counteract the side effects of hormone blockers is common for docs to do. Aside from mood changes this applies to pain in joints for some of us when we're on them. I've decided after trying 3 different types of hormone blockers, 2 of the AI's (gave me labile hypertension), and Fulvestrant (a SERD type of hormone blocker, that gave me terrible leg pain followed by vein insufficiency) and Tamoxifen, I don't think my body can handle H. blockers. I'm considering trying Verzenio, also approved for HR+, Hr2 -, which is a targeted therapy that blocks enzymes that trigger cancer cell growth (NOT with a hormone blocker, as my Doc would like). I want to shrink a tumor that's a recurrence in my chest wall; I may only tolerate its effects a couple of months, I don't know. It hasn't metastasized over the last 30 years. Since I survived a first bout with breast cancer at age 43, with mastectomy + chemo, I feel I gave it my all then. Now I'm 76 and am not willing to be suffering a lot; I'm opting for quality of life as long as I can hold it. This BC Doc is less honest about side effects than I'd like. May make a change.
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@jardinera25
My comment was referring to the original post about anxiety and depression and psych meds being used as a solution.
So adding psych drugs to treat anxiety caused by lack of estrogen is my point.
It’s tough to make decisions about whether or not to take AIs or other cancer drugs.
I also took Verzenio. I couldn’t tolerate the toxicity. It is not the wonder drug Lilly claims it is. For me, it was worse than the doxorubicin (aka Red Devil) and taxol infusions.
I worked for Elsevier, the international medical publishing company. I have worked on editing drug information and studies. The statistical claims Lilly has published for Verzenio are extremely misleading. The public facing information is PR rather than peer reviewed scientific information. In worldwide peer reviewed studies the dropout rates were as high as 90%. That is highly unusual. The statistics end up being skewed by excluding the dropout numbers in the final stats.
For me, Verzenio offered only a 2% reduction in potential recurrence. The toxicity was so damaging and dangerous that it outweighed any potential benefit.