Any long-term success stories from those NOT taking hormone therapy?

@mir123 Thank you for sharing that your bone density is still normal. I truly believed that everyone who took AI's lost bone density. I am on Anastrozole and worry about losing bone density and you have given me hope!
(Dexa scheduled for July 2026)

@chancyb Thank You for responding best of good luck great outcomes on our journeys!!

@mir123 thank you! I’m still considering all facts - great for you no side effects!!! w letrozole good to see this.

Hi, I was in a similar situation, after lumpectomy and radiotherapy I was offered Anatrazole, tried for months and truly was a basket case, couldn't even put a sentence together, I was 64 at the time. Stopped the meds, must say my support team in Ireland were terrible, made me feel bad about refusing. Had to really stand firm and say quality of life was more important to me. I'm almost 4yrs now without drugs and feeling great. All mammogram results are clear. Everyone is different but I happy..clean diet and exercise. Diet little sugary foods, lots of veg and low sugar fruits. Very little fatty foods and virtually no processed food. Hope this is of some support to anyone finding the meds made the ill or in my case suicidal. Best of luck 👍

@siobhanmary thank you so much for sharing your story. Very happy to hear you are doing well. Good advice to eat as clean as possible; I need to continue working on that.

@siobhanmary I also was in a very similar situation. Stage one ER+ H ER2 negative and had a lumpectomy and five intense sessions of radiation. I declined the aromatase inhibitors. We have a lot of medical people in our family who supported the decision. With the advances in AI and medicine, many new treatment options are on the horizon, I too chose quality of life and feel great about my decision. However, I am 69 and not sure if I would have made the same decision earlier. Things are great at almost 2 years out and for me it was without doubt the right decision. It's an individual choice and we all need to be supportive of each person's individual choices. Good luck, everyone.♥️♥️♥️

I've mentioned here t hat I refused aromatase inhibitors after my breast cancer treatments. I'm 5 years out now at the age of 84 and myblood work shows that I have no signs of a tumor.

@raebaby AWESOME and Congratulations!!! May I ask what kind of breast cancer you had? I had invasive lobular and too nervous to refuse AI's although I'd like to. Still hanging in here and taking them to reduce recurrence. : )

So here's an update on me. After 5 months of not wanting to start AI hormone therapy, I finally started Anastrozole. Basically, my oncologist pointed out the this reduces not just new cancer in the other breast, but distant recurrence as well (metastatic cancer-- lungs, brain, bone, etc). That scared me. I am now 7 months into the drug, and I do have side effects-- joint pain (hip, knee), more frequent headaches. But my biggest fear is still the erosion of my bone health. I'm planning on getting my next Dexa scan sooner than 2 years (even if I have to pay for it) to closely track if this drug is damaging my bones. I have advanced osteopenia in my lumbar spine, and really nervous about it progressing to osteoporosis, given that I have several friends with osteoporosis, and they have fallen, broken bones, and needed surgeries. I don't predict that I will stay on this med for the full 5 years, and I am also afraid of Zometa infusion, which I understand isn't tolerated well by some.

In the past, breast cancer was treated with surgery and radiation only. Many women survived. Adding aromatase inhibitors and Tamoxifen increased rates of survival. But AIs & T have side effects. No one is required to take them.
My advice: if one AI gives you bad side effects, try another before giving up altogether. For me, Letrozole was awful and exemestane was OK. If you have bone loss, find out what kind of person doesn't tolerate Zometa before refusing it. After all, you may be fine on it.