Stay on Tamoxifen after Hysterectomy?
My docs cannot give me a straight answer on this. Doctor said as long as I'm tolerating it I could stay on it. Then again, she said otherwise they could switch me to anastrozole. My thoughts are that if I don't have the main body parts that produce estrogen/progesterone then why keep taking anything? (I had a bilateral mastectomy in 2020.)
I was suppose to be on Tamoxifen for 10 years. It will be 5 years in February. The reason I had a hysterectomy was due to the Tamoxifen causing fibroids and uterine lining thickening. I don't want anymore complications or more body parts removed!! Any thoughts would be much appreciated! Thank you!
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Thank you for the clarification! I really appreciate it.
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There is a lot of evidence that tamoxifen and AIs continue to significantly reduce the risk of metastasis for women in menopause. Tamoxifen was used for this first, and the AIs came out a bit later and proved to generally seem even more effective.
Every med is a dice roll though, so I guess that is why your doc is giving you the option to stay on tamoxifen. It is still doing good for you, and it's a known quantity for you, whereas AIs would introduce another set of possible side effects.
I didn't tolerate tamoxifen and my doctor doesn't want to give me the option to stay on toremifene along with OS because I grew a new cancer while on it, so I'm trying the AI class of drugs with ovarian suppression. In your shoes, I guess, I might stay on tamoxifen for a while to let myself undergo the impact of ovarian suppression and figure out those side effects and how to handle them, and maybe let them subside a bit. Then I might be open to experiment with AIs (because they have somewhat greater efficacy), especially during a time when work was less intense etc.
For me, the side effects of OS+AI are worse than toremifene, but way way more tolerable to me than tamoxifen was. Everybody and every body is so different though. It is a good thing that you have a doctor who is willing to offer options to you, though they don't sound like they are doing a great job at counseling you about those options. If your cancer center has a nurse navigator or social worker, maybe they could help. It can be frustrating, but some truly gifted and wonderful doctors are not the greatest communicators.
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