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Looking for research re: taking AI drugs vs not taking them

Posted by celestebradham @celestebradham, Jan 4 10:38am

I am currently taking Exemestane. I’m 61. Took a while but I’m doing well on it (doing yoga, pranayama and acupuncture). I now have osteopenia after taking it six months. I’m trying to find research on taking AIs vs not taking. What I’m finding there is not much difference between taking and not taking. But more likely to get arthritis and osteoporosis.
Can anyone post links. .

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vkroger | @vkroger | 5 hours ago
In reply to @sequoia "@jillianb when I was prescribed Anastrozole following my mastectomy, I had taken for a year with..." + (show)
@sequoia

@jillianb when I was prescribed Anastrozole following my mastectomy, I had taken for a year with my oncologist just asking mundane questions how ya feeling etc. When I asked him ‘ How do you know this AI is even working- as there was not a baseline of my estrogen level before I started AI and no testing following a period of time taking.’ My oncologist’s answer was “We just take it for granted “. OMG! I was out of there to never go back to him. That is not the correct response! Doctors need to be more in tuned with their breast cancer patients that they are prescribing meds to - IMHO

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My doctor loves the word “empiric/empirically”. They empirically know the AI’s work, they empirically give AI’s to all breast cancer patients, the empiric fuse is 1 mg of Anastrazole even though they don’t do blood work to monitor you. I have her a big NO THANK YOU to the AI’s. No one is giving me a med that they cannot prove that I need and cannot prove is or isn’t working. There is a blood test to check your estrogen level lower that 5 but they won’t order it.

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vkroger | @vkroger | 5 hours ago
In reply to @lilacs777 "You can run Predict calc yourself here https://breast.predict.cam/ altho keep in mind this is just 1..." + (show)
@lilacs777

You can run Predict calc yourself here https://breast.predict.cam/ altho keep in mind this is just 1 calculator and there are other models, I dont think anyone (including the docs) really know which is the most accurate. The benefits of an AI are greater than tamoxifen for lobular than ductal (in general) from what I was told. However, as mentioned above, it really comes down to a solid discussion with your onco. If your onco has not yet directly told you the percent benefit in survival you would get with an AI, then they need to do that. If they refuse, get a new onco. They should be open to an honest discussion about risk/benefits of the cancer recurrence vs other disease and life expectancy so you can make the best decision for your situation.

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My 70 year old friend got breast cancer 27 years ago. She had a single mastectomy and refused the AI. It just came back in the other breast but it took 27 years. She is extremely glad that she didn’t take an AI. She lives with no regrets.

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