Topic: Zoladex (Goserelin), good or not?

Andrew,

I am fairly certain that Zoladex is covered by most insurances and if not, maybe trillium foundation/cancer care ontario will cover it.

Why not an oophorectomy if shutting down the ovaries is the goal? A couple of years ago I was faced with either zoladex injections monthly or total hyst and I chose the latter.

good luck, Tina

HI I have been taking Zoladex shots for 3 years, but I get them once every 3 months.  It is a little capsule that they inject near you belly button under the skin.  There are little or no side effects with it.

They are fully covered by my insurance from work, but am not sure if they are under other plans.  They have been very effective in my case.  I have mets and have been static and a little better in some areas.

Hope this helps

lazeechic

Hi Andrew,

I am in Canada and Zoladex is covered by most benefit plans.  The cost of the injection for the 3 month supply is $1262.00 not sure how much the one month injection costs.

Zoladex is effective in chemically shutting down the ovaries and therefore reducing the amount of estrogen in one's body.  If the cancer is estrogen positive this is a good course of action in helping to reduce reoccurances.

There are really little side effects of the injection except for "menopausal symptons" - insomina, hotflashes.  I did find that Zoladex made me fatigued.

I am 44 and had my ovaries removed 2 weeks ago so longer get the injections.

Michele 

Hi Andrew,

I will be starting on Zoladex this week, the one-month injections, so I have been following this thread with interest.  I am 40, had surgery one year ago, radiation ended in Sept. and I have not had hormone treatment yet, except for a brief trial of Tamox.  It had depressive side-effects for me so I stopped taking it.  My doctor has now recommended that I try Zoladex.  I went to Google and entered "Zoladex effectiveness" and came up with some studies that concluded that it does help prevent a recurrence.  I know these decisions can be hard to make - so many things to consider.  I wish you and your wife the best. 

Sonrisa

Hi Andrew,

I'm getting the shot every month.  From my experience it isn't really painful -- more like someone jabbing you in the guy hard with their finger.  I find the IVs much worse!

My sister in Canada is a doc and she thinks it's a good part of my treatment and I know she wouldn't steer me wrong. 

I wish you and your wife all the best,

Eliza

Has anyone been using zoladex for at least a year and how are you doing on it?  Once you stop using, will your ovaries function again and release small levels of hormones?  Is anyone using zoladex AND zometa together?

Hi Lexis,

 I'm so glad you're doing really well on this combination and it encourages me to get more information from my oncologist.  I hope he is open and receptive to my trying it. 

 I used Lupron years ago for infertility treatments.  I do remember the mood swings :)   Is there a reason your doctor went with that instead of zoladex?  Are you in a study?

 When you say that it IS reversible, do you mean that once we stop, then our ovaries will start producing small amounts of hormones again?  I would prefer to keep my ovaries and allow them to function again down the road.

 I'm sending my oncologist the study I read about using Zometa and Zoladex together to reduce recurrence by 35%.  That seems significant!  I hope to hear back from him soon.

Thanks for the input!!

Zoladex is good if you have ER positive cancer, are pre-menopausal and are at high risk of recurrence.  That's me! I get it in addition to tamoxifen. Zoladex (or Lupron) gives us the chance to "try on" menopause without committing in the way that an oophorectomy does. Having said that, I'm 39, so I would be looking at up to 10 years of monthly shots, so I will probably get an ooph this summer but at least I know what I'm getting into and I have some control over the timing of the surgery.

Hi Lilise,

 i've been looking for someone who has a similar case as mine and im glad i found you.  i am 32 years old, never had kids but planning to have kids in the future after treatment.  i am on tamoxifen right now and my onco advised me to add zoladex and zometa to my treatment.  did u do these treatments and what are d effects on you?  im just scared the 2 injections are going to affect my reproductive system.  so im still thinkin whether i should do these additional treatment.

hope to hear from u soon!

Thx,

mo