@katehanni “ I"m having bloodwork today which should show higher estrogen levels, then I'll have bloodwork a few weeks after starting the natural AI's to see if my estradiol levels have dropped. That's the real key to whether they are doing their job or not.”

Your statement above is what I’ve been trying to get doctors to pay attention to. I had a mastectomy in 2019. No nodes involved and I didn’t have to do radiation. I started Anastrozole right away. After taking it for a year+ I asked my oncologist how does he know it is working, as there was not a baseline test of my estrogen/estradiol levels. His answer was “We just take it for granted”. I was not happy with that answer. Flippantly he said ‘I don’t even know if there is a test for estrogen levels. I’ll check on Mayo site”. He did order a blood work estrogen test. Came back “<10”. I didn’t know what that meant. Called office the nurse had to talk with doctor. Came back said that’s good for a person taking AI. I decided to take a test on my own , so saw a Nurse practitioner that focused on women’s hormones. I took a mail in Saliva test - It showed my numbers were low, so meds were doing what they were suppose to do. Unfortunately, the two test are not comparable. Both showed my levels were low like they should be. I was going to follow up when I’ve been off, but have not. I may, as I continue to not take med snd then another saliva test. Maybe.