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stop the madness

Breast Cancer | Last Active: Mar 17 7:19pm | Replies (132)

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@callalloo

I don't know about the blood draw frequency but there are multiple studies addressing the breast cancer 'non-compliance' issue. Because approximately 50% of the women who begin taking aromatase inhibitors quit taking them with 5 years. The estimate is that 75% or so of that 50% actually quit taking them with the first two years. These numbers don't include the woman who are prescribed them but never start taking them. [I've posted links to articles elsewhere here. And anyone can search on Google Scholar for more.]

Also these numbers don't include the women who fill the prescriptions but don't take the drug but don't want their doctors to know.

My point is that there are a lot of women who suffer side effects that just are too difficult to add to their lives for any number of reasons. I hope that everyone who can benefit from them tries them, seriously and for a fair period of time. But I also hope that those who do and find the drugs intolerable know that they are not alone in that place.

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Replies to "I don't know about the blood draw frequency but there are multiple studies addressing the breast..."

None of the women I know personally had significant side effects, and I found that walking more than 40 minutes greatly reduced joint pain. This is not to dismiss the experience of those who do have problems with the meds.

I think we need to keep in mind that risk of cancer recurrence may justify enduring a certain level of side effects. I fear that online forums tend toward the negative and may even contribute to the non-compliance statistics. I am 7 years out and grateful for Femara.