Best Of

I have been doing extensive research on this very subject as I am ERPR + and I just had my Hysterectomy to rid my body of my estrogen as my Tamoxifen failed and started to cause Uterine Cancer as a result. The Onc wants me to take Arimidex, which is an aromatase inhibitor and will benefit you as well. Dropping the weight too will help as estrogen hides out in the adipose tissue's and this is my next plan of attack as my ER assay show's that I was a 99% estrogen status. If you have any type of cancer that is ER driven, the priority would be to rid your body of as much production as possible. The only bad thing about any AI is it cause's bone loss from lack of estrogen so taking Strontium or a calcium plan of mag, pot, Vit D and calcium glucarate will decrease the bone loss activity.
What is estrogen?
Estrogen is an entire class of related hormones. They include estriol, estradiol, and estrone.
Estriol is made from the placenta. It's produced during pregnancy.
Estradiol is the primary sex hormone of childbearing women. It is formed from developing ovarian follicles. Estradiol is responsible for female characteristics and sexual functioning. Also, estradiol is important to women's bone health. Estradiol contributes to most gynecologic problems such as endometriosis and fibroids and even female cancers.
Estrone is widespread throughout the body. It is the only one of the estrogens that's present in any amount in women after menopause.
Estrone (E1) is found in adipose tissue/body fat, (E2) Estrodiol, Estriol (E3)-confirm this as could be inaccurate-Progesterone (pg) DHEA-S (DS) and Cortisol (c)
Estrone is synthesized via aromatase from androstenedione, a derivative of progesterone. The conversion consists of the de-methylation of C-19 and the aromaticity of the 'A' ring. This reaction is similar to the conversion of testosterone to estradiol.
http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/summary/summary.cgi?cid=5870&loc=ec_rcs
I'm not sure about AI's or Bisphosphonates. I'm fresh out the gate with diagnosis in Aug 2011, did all the adjunct stuff, now Total Hysterectomy and I'm suppose to be back on my Arimidex but it gives me terrible SE's; My Onc wants to move on but I'm stalling-I had reaction to Tamoxifen which led to the Hysterectomy and Arimidex say's on pkg if your sensitive to T then A not going to work either. I'm a poor metabolizer and I feel if the little left Estrone (E1) in my adipose tissue can be addressed then I can slim down a lot-from what I understand estrogen lives in fat tissue, there's is nothing I can do about the estrone that the adrenals make but without any estrogen the body will just convert testosterone (Estrodiol) so your never going to be without any estrogen in your body. Aromatase, an enzyme in the body, turns the androgen testosterone into the estrogen estradiol. Estrogen converting cells in the adrenal glands, ovaries, placenta, testicles, adipose tissues, testicles, and brain contain this enzyme-too little androgen can cause several health problems-Arimidex cause's many SE's. I am in experimental mode right now. I am doing lab work on the estrogen panel giving me a baseline with no Arimidex then in 3 months, I will take the Arimidex-3 months from then, I will compare. If there is no huge drop in the estrogen panels then I do not see why I would need to take Arimidex, remember, I am a poor metabolizer of drugs and what doesn't work for me may work for you. This is just how I choose to gauge it.
Also, if your postmenopausal, your more than likely to be prescribed the Arimidex or some other AI-this is a paragraph from the prescribing sheet of Arimidex; 12.2 Pharmacodynamics it states: Effect on Estrodiol: Because aromoitization of adrenal androgens is not a significant source of Estrodiol in pre-menopausal women, Arimidex would not be expected to lower Estrodiol levels in pre-menopausal women"; so chemically, they are two different drugs-Tamoxifen is blocking the predominant source of Estrogen from the Ovary's while the Arimidex is inhibiting manufacturer through the adrenal glands and other areas of the body. Also noted in pkg info is that Arimidex blocks only 70% so it is certain that at least 30% of estrogen will remain in the body so if your doing panels with your ND, you will still have trace amounts show up, I did however read a study on Arimidex that it keeps lung mets at bay as the lungs require hormones to neccessitate their function. The reason I'm doing this is I took Arimidex offf/on for a few months now and every time the bone pain is horrible.....