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[SharonDerby]

Hello all
I have posted on here once before about a year or so ago and rec some great advice re HRT.
Doc prescribed premique for me low dose then double and i got on brilliantly with it, flushes stopped, hair was fantastic and for the first time in forever i was able to sleep and carry on living, all good so far......
Fast forward a year to March this year and i found a lump, turned out to be breast cancer, no one blamed HRT (apart from my husband and daughter) but after surgery and grueling radiotherapy i was told it was Estrogen responsive breast cancer and so i can NEVER have HRT again, i cant even begin to tell you how the symptoms have come back with a vengeance, the misery is too much for me to bear i cant cope at all and am desperate for any advice or guidance.

I feel like i am running on chemicals at the moment.
I have rheumatoid arthritis and have Methotrexate injections weekly and folic acid weekly
I have no thyroid (removed 4 years ago) so have all the joys of that and levothyroxine, also left with a calcium deficiency so have to take calcium tabs twice a day.
Have to take a months course of steroids for a flare of rheumatoid and now because i cant cope with the menopause the doc has prescribed beta blockers to try to quell the anxiety aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh i am slowly going crazy.

I know people suffer but i just feel so vulnerable at the moment i am affraid of all the pills, i'm afraid this is never going to end, my quality of life is so poor i am thinking of quitting my job just so that i can be at home rather than at work where i feel exposed and humiliated because i constantly look like death 

I'm open to any ideas suggestions and any guidance
Thanks for listening all
Hope i have posted in the right area

Bestest
Sharon x

[Maryjane]

I can offer you no advice, but just to say life can be a real b....... Sometimes.

I am suffering at the moment from something and that feeling of not knowing where to turn next is awful.

The knowledgable ones will be along later I am sure. CLKD will be a good listening post.

[Greyhoundgal]

I can't offer advice either other to say hang on in there - someone will be along soon I'm sure who can offer suggestions.  In the meantime use us as a sounding board as much as you like, that's partly what we're here for.

[CLKD]

 

Firstly -  and 

Your body has been through 'a lot' and now you have cancer followed by treatment on top.  You are bound to feel under par, desperate etc..  I would take the beta-blockas.  They saved my Life.  I take 40mg Propranalol at night and if necessary another tablet in the morning.  I also have anti-depressant medication to keep me ticking over.

My breast disease was oestrogen dominant.  4 years prior to finding the lump I had taken 4/5 months of HRT - can't remember what it was but I wanted to boost my sexual desire - didn't work for that!  I never gave much thought to the connection between HRT and the lump. I'd taken the HRT, had a gap, found the lump ......... >shrug<

That was in 1995 and I had a lump removed, it was the lump that tested the breast etc. was clean.   I had 2 surgeries on the breast, during the 2nd op lymph glands were removed which were clean.  So I didn't require chemo therapy and had a precautionary course of radiation treatment - 4 weeks of 12 min. sessions daily  and ended up with a slightly 'sun burnt' breast.  The whole process of finding the lump, diangosis, treatment etc. made me tired .......... but during treatment I felt like I was taking on 'the beast' and getting rid of future problems.

So it will depend on how spread your disease was - who has told you that you can't take HRT? 

Has it been suggested that, in order to be able to take HRT, the other breast could be removed?  That would be the route I would be discussing with the Surgeon if I was having bad meno symptoms, as I believe in quality ! we need to function regardless of a certain amount of risk!  I wouldn't necessary have surgery straight away but knowing that there is an option of removing an apparently healthy breast in order to gain a quality of Life would give me hope!

Do the injections ease RA symptoms?  Have you required the weekly injections prior to the breast treatment or have syptoms been exacerbated by the stress etc.? 

Who is in 'charge' of your various health regimes, i.e. how often do you see the Consultant who removed your thyroid and could the various Consultants contact each other with a view to all being 'on the same page' with regards the various treatments you already receive? 

You keep venting here!  that's what we are for, to share, listen, advise ..........

[Ju Ju]

Just sending you a virtual hug! Ju Ju xx

[Patientone]

I'm sorry for all you've been through. I hear frequently that ladies are on antidepressants to help with the hot flashes. Is that a possibility?

[thorntrees]

My problems are nothing compared to what you are going through but for various reasons I too couldn't have HRT and was suffering with sweats day and night plus anxiety etc and my GP offered citalopram to try. I was really reluctant but it has helped with the flushes and I do feel generally better so may be worth a try if nothing else on offer. Do hope you feel better soon.

[tiger74]

Just to say 'Hi'. 

I had mastectomy and node clearance, chemo and radiotherapy for ER+, node positive breast cancer in 2009/10, am on ongoing hormone therapy  for 10 years hence also have to take calcium & Vit D3, also had thyroid disease (Graves Disease - dealt with by radio-active iodine treatment a few months before BC diagnosis), now on thyroxine, had oophorectomy in 2011 because of family genetics so, as regards menopausal symptoms, what the chemo started the oophorectomy just added to.  So I can identify with a lot of what you say as I don't take HRT either.     

All I can say is that I felt pretty hopeless, vulnerable, fatigued, but have improved and with a few adjustments to my lifestyle (including a change of job) I have become accustomed to the new 'normality'.

BTW, further to a previous suggestion, you don't say what surgery you have had but I think it would be very unlikely that having recently had ER+ breast cancer your oncologist would sanction prescribing of HRT even if you did have a double mastectomy, especially if your cancer was strongly ER+.  Any health professional willing to prescribe it without referring to your oncologist would, IMHO, be negligent.  What it really boils down to is your attitude to risk of recurrence/metastasis vs intolerability of menopausal symptoms.   

I wish you all the best. 

[sharon1958]

Hi Sharon

I'm sorry that I can't offer you much advice but I do sympathise with you and hope that things settle down in time. All I can add is try and keep healthy - easier said than done especially when you're feeling rough to begin with but a healthy diet and lots of fresh air can only help you feel better. Have you tried any herbal remedies that people on here have found beneficial like Menopace? Definitely worth a try.
Hope you start to turn the corner soon and feel better.

Sharon

[tiger74]

Menopace and some other 'herbal' remedies contain phytoestrogens.  Results of research are conflicting but I'd advise you to check with your oncologist before taking phytoestrogens.  Personally, having had ER+ cancer I have opted to avoid rich sources of phytoestrogens.

[RebeccaTM]

Hello Sharon

I'm like you...breast cancer which was ER+8 and Her2+ so absolutely no estrogen is allowed. To prevent any estrogen production I have had a salpingo-oophorectomy so now I am post-menopausal. If only I could have HRT or even topical estrogen...

Rebecca x

[CLKD]

Rebecca - welcome.  Quality has to be discussed with the consultants who suggest no HRT  because they don't know what it feels like to be oestrogen deficient etc..  Read the menus, left of screen, browse round.  Topical oestrogen shouldn't be a problem as the take up is very little in comparison to the amount of relief gained!

[RebeccaTM]

Hi CLKD

I have discussed topical treatments and don't want to risk it...I've been through enough chemo! I even avoid estrogen in my diet (I really miss tofu) so for me, it would be daft to add it anywhere else.

There is indeed a balance and I've found the best for me. I have a great life and will do anything and everything I can to keep that cancer beast away.

Rebecca x

[CLKD]

   … but you said 'if only I could have …… '

You may need to re-consider this if your symptoms become worse by which time you will be further 'down the line' from diagnosis and treatment  …………

[tiger74]

I have discussed topical treatments and don't want to risk it...I've been through enough chemo! I even avoid estrogen in my diet (I really miss tofu) so for me, it would be daft to add it anywhere else.

There is indeed a balance and I've found the best for me. I have a great life and will do anything and everything I can to keep that cancer beast away.

Totally know where you're coming from with this Rebecca.  Your words could've emanated from my very mouth.

My BC wasn't as ER+ as yours (210/300) but I avoid oestrogen too.  Just don't see the point of taking an oestrogen-blocking pill via one orifice whilst inserting oestrogen via another orifice!

Yep, I've gone through the trauma of diagnosis and have done chemo too (and mastectomy, ANC, rads, prophylactic BSO and ongoing endocrine therapy) and desperately hope I NEVER have to go there again.  When I was faced with a cancer diagnosis 5 years ago (high grade, large mass) the "quality vs quantity" debate just didn't come into it.  I wanted to stay alive and I still do.  As you say, it's a balance.  Not accessing the benefits of HRT sucks but being alive after a cancer diagnosis is great. 

Wishing you all the best.