forgot to add my cancer was highly hormonal both ER PR 8/8
Melxx
Gretchen
Have just read your post and realised that at exactly the time of my primary diagnosis (my husband was on the phone arguing with his ex as I found the lump!) at in April last year when my mets materialised, we were going through a particularly stressful time with my husband’s ex wife accusing us of all sorts and stopping us seeing the children (while demanding money, whilst we were paying out phenomenal amounts to solicitors etc) The 2 dates tie up exactly and both times it was all my husband and I talked, worried and argued about!
More evidence for the stress argument!!!
Interesting Mel.
I am fairly certain that he book did not say that the pill/smoking early was the primary cause of bc, but that it statistically it was a very high risk factor compared to some other risk factors and a fairly easy one to eliminate.
Nicky
I do think there is a strong link with stress. It may be that the stress is the straw that breaks the camel’s back, so to speak. It lowers the immunity response and so, if we have a pre-disposition to bc it allows the cancer to grow, where normally any mutating cancer cells (everyone has them), would be mopped up by the healthy cells.
I do hope the stress factor is not a risk as I have been through the most stressful traumatic time in my life the last two years (not breast cancer related) so if stress is a risk for getting breat cancer or a recurrance I fear i’m doomed.
Melxx
Oh no Mel, really sorry to hear that.
There are some great threads on here about diet, exercise and dealing with stress. If you are worried about re-occurance, maybe you should take a look at those. If nothing else, it will give you a feeling that you are doing something about risk-reduction.
xx
I was 38 at initial diagnosis. 7 years later I had a recurrence and was diagnosed with bone mets at that time. I’ve no family history, drink rarely, although like most people I probably drank more when I was younger but was never excessive. I don’t smoke, and although I have struggled with my weight at times, it has for the most part, stayed within the normal range.
The one box I do tick is contraception. I was on the pill from the ages of about 22 to 28 then started having the depo provera injection for a further 7 years after the birth of my second child. The latter doesn’t contain oestrogen but there has been some conflicting evidence linking it with breast and cervical cancer. If I had to hazard a guess as to what caused my cancer, I’d say it was either or both of the methods of contraception I used.
It’s a difficult subject to tackle emotionally because once you start thinking about what caused your cancer, it raises all kinds of “what if” questions. However, I think it’s really important someone does tackle the bigger picture. While I’m grateful for all the cancer research which has lead to the development of new drugs, a couple of which have given me the chance of a few extra years, I’d like to see much more research on finding out the causes of cancer so that future generations won’t have to go through what we have been through.
I’m not worried about it for myself just for my family.There are certain circumstances where stress and trauma are unavoidable and there is no dealing with it and the last thing on your mind is trying to deal with it, until I suppose such a time that you feel ready.Maybe i’m getting there.
threads getting a bit off track sorry Linda xx
I was dx at 36, no family history, weakly er positive. I was on a career break from work so not overly stressed, except that my youngest son had had glue ear and two lots of grommets ops, the last being 8 weeks before my dx. I’m a solicitor and had been on a career break a year when dx, but before then had a very adrenalin pressure driven stressful job and had had similar jobs, if not more stressful, for 13 years. But I don’t feel stress caused my bc, as most of my contemporaries have just as stressful jobs and they are ok.
I am size 10 to 12, was fit ( no planned exercise though, just day to day running round after children), didn’t smoke, hardly drink. Food/drink wise I ate ok, but my main vice was diet cole, I could drink 4 or 5 cans a day! I worry about if that caused it.
My main feeling is that hormones had a big role. I was on the pill from 17 to 29. I had 2 children in my 30s, aged 2 and 4 at dx. I breast fed both. Thevpregnancy hormones caused smphysis pubis dysfunction, which is basically where the elvis gets to stretchy and unstable, v painful. I wonder whether the hormones also kick started bc. I have read on this forum numerous times that women in their first 3 years post pregnancy have an increased bc risk. If anyone has any evidence of this I’d love to read it .
Thanks, I really like this thread.
Vickie
This is an interesting thread.
I have long thought that it is no coincidence that I had endometriosis which also is stimulated by oestrogen and then an ER+ breast cancer.
I was diagnosed with endometriosis in my twenties and also had enormous amounts of hormone treatment to try to keep it at bay. Finally I had radical surgery which included a hysterectomy, and removal of part of my bowel. Great endometriosis treated and then 18 months later a BC diagnosis!
New research from Sweden suggests that women who have had severe endometriosis for a long number of years are more likely to develop breast cancer (and other cancers). They do not understand why this is although they have a number of theories.
With regards to stress, it could be possible but then it might be a red herring entirely. Very few of us live stress-free lives so it is easy to link the diagnosis with a stressful situation. That said stress does change our body chemistry such as raising cortisol levels…
Hi all, what an interesting thread this is. It’s like a jigsaw puzzle, isn’t it?
As for me- have 2 children at age of 32 and 34, breast-fed both for about 4-5 months (supposed to reduce risk).
Kept fit and BMI within normal limits (supposed to reduce risk)
Alcohol - Did drink over recommended amount of alcohol (now called binge- drinking as would often do this at weekend- a few glasses of wine or other, big measures )
Always had lumpy breasts(A cup) and had quite a few benign lumps before dx
Stress-A few years before dx had a lot of stress with work (I really feel that this could have been a trigger for sure)
Shift work- as a nurse, worked nights(there is some research about this link with breast cancer as it causes a hormone in-balance)
Also, I worked in a department where, rather worryingly, 10 (out of about 40) staff members have been dx with breast cancer over a 10 yr period. The only link is we all worked in the unit when they did a lot of portable xrays, and i believe there is some link to exposure to large amounts of radiation- who knows?
Lets hope that they find the triggers so that this disease can be prevented once and for all(for everyone, for all cancers) XX
I’m sure many of us questioned why we had bc after the initial dx, so its interesting to read of peoples reasoning into why.
I’m 36, no family history, never smoked, drank occasionally, had my babies when I was 18 and 23, breasted, didn’t take the contraceptive pill or have the mirena coil, stayed same weight range (10/12), took moderate exercise, jobs not particularly stressful, eat a balanced diet.
Think I’m just one of the unlucky 1%.
Good to read all your experiences though xx
Thanks so much for all your imput ladies, its realy helpfull and very interesting to hear everyones expierences and to get all your views on some of the other possible contibuteing factors in cancer development, you never know we may just see a pattern forming along the way ,
Another question that i would like to ask some of you is
“was you given a pill to dry up your breast milk?” the reason i ask, is i am also taking part in the Generations Study ,and this was one of the questions in the extensive questionaire, i did take this pill, but had not realy given it much thought till asked this question, so they must also looking at this too, this particular study also had a lot of questions about night shift workers too,(to do with the exposure at night on levels of melatonin)so possibly more links there.
hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr132.pdf
Good to see everyone is interested in these issues too, thanks for keeping it on track.
Linda x
I remember my mum telling me that she had to stop breast feeding me because she developed mastitis and had pills to dry her milk up then a few years later she got an abcess in the same breast then afew more years later got breast cancer so probably its all conected.When I was diagnosed I was asked if I had ever had an abcess or any problems with my breasts I told them that I hadn’t but my mum had.I asked if mine and my mums cancer were hereditary and was told probably not it was just bad luck, but I’m not so sure I think there must be a link somewhere.
Melxx
Thanks Mel ,thats interesting about your mum taking these pills too,it does make you wonder doesnt it? i also think a lot of these things may have a connection in the end, the question of these pills did signal a red light in me ,this is why i think it is very helpfull to try to get a bigger overall picture,we may never find all the answers but finding any possible connections may help us in understanding more. xx
Gretchen,
Its realy interesting to hear that you grew up on a Dairy Farm, can i ask you if it was Organic , or did your farm use chemicals too? im only asking as we know there are higher rates of cancer in farmers in particular. Thanks
Keep em coming ladies its all good stuff.
x
PS I was on the Pill too high Oestragen for around 6 years before we started trying for a family. x
Hi Linda,
I was dx at 41, no family history, 2 children both born in my 20’s and both breastfed. When my periods returned after my first child the bleeding would not stop and I was given pills to stop the bleeding and was also told that they would stop my breast milk. I have always exercised and eaten well and have never been hugely overweight or drunk alcohol to excess. I did take the contraceptive pill but my bc is triple negative.
This bc is my second cancer, I had a sarcoma removed when I was 20 and I now wonder whether you can have a susceptibility to developing cancer.
Jill
Hi Lindiloo
I’ve registered to do the Breakthrough Generations survey too and was also interested by some of the questions in it. For example, they ask about flying - myself (age 42 at dx) and my friend (age 39 at dx) were both flying every week for our jobs. She was flying to and from Italy each week, whilst I was flying to and from Northern Ireland each week.
I have 3 friends who have been dx in their late 30s shortly after having a 2nd child.
I don’t have children. I was on the pill for 10 years but had been off the pill for 10 years when dx.
There is no family history and other than being overweight and exercising too little, I could only conclude stress. I changed jobs last March, which meant no more flying but I found the new job much more stressful. There was also a lot of stress before the job move as my old and new bosses both wanted me working for them in the handover period. I was dx in September 2010, ER+ (6 out of a possible 8).
Hi folks,
My story is that my mum (76) died of lung cancer just before I was diagnosed in Oct 2009 (50). My mum is from a large family who have all died of a cancer of one sort or another, two being BC.
I agree I havn’t helped myself. I’m overweight and have struggled with losses and gains since I was in my early 20’s. I used to drink alcohol but tried to have a healthy diet and used to run several times a week.Dont/have never smoked.I too had a year where everything went wrong- son left home after a row, mum ill, job cr*p, lost a group of friends Id had for 25 years.I breast fed my only child for nearly 3 years.
I have mixed feelings about cause and effect of lifestyle. Of course it must play a part, but so does your genetic pre-disposition, as well as environmental factors and stress.
Anyway, I had it and can’t change that now so don’t want to add to my stress!!! by getting fixated on 'what I ‘coulda-shoulda’ done.
My goal is to improve my life by not worrying or stressing so much, exercising more, and keep checking myself.
Hope all you are keeping as well as poss.
Cathie xx
I firmly believe in my own case that stress played a big part as I had a nightmare 5 years leading up to my diagnosis. This started with my house being completely flooded and us living in hotels and temporary accommodation for months. We lost 75% of our possessions, the first house renovation the builders did was unsuccessful and it took nearly 2 years to put things right; this involved some very difficult meetings with the loss adjusters who were not helping by telling the builders to cut corners. The builders also needed access to my neighbour’s house as the damp was affecting the party wall, but the neighbour refused this request. This held things up for months and it was stalemate.
Just prior to this my dad suffered heart failure and I was commuting between London and Scotland to handle his situation, this involved having to take time away from work. I eventually had to move to Scotland without my husband to be my dad’s carer. He was then admitted to a secure hospital ward with the onset of dementia and he died in a care home 12 months before I found out I had BC. After he went into care I managed to get a new job, but it didn’t work out and I had to leave. This 5 year period severely affected my confidence, and I think the cumulative effect affected my immune system - with hindsight I now remember being very, very tired in the lead up to my diagnosis, but I put it down to dad’s death and the fact I was handling his estate as executor.