I forgot to update on my blood test result for cholesterol. As I expected not only do I now have high blood pressure, I also have high cholesterol which I think is due to taking letrozole (which I started taking some time in 2023 about fifteen months ago I think).
This has always been my quandary - would I rather die from heart disease (very common cause of death for men and women), Alzheimers (ditto) or breast cancer (not so common cause of death in men and women)?
Seagulls
So sorry to hear about your problems but sending best wishes to you
DonutF
Indeed! Itās probably possible to get some percentage risks for each from your doctor? What does he/she say about this when your results are in front of you both?
To me, non medic notwithstanding, your risks with bp and cholesterol seem higher than your risk of bc recurrence. I think your recurrence risk is pretty small? Correct me on that, Iām not sure.
Remember - recurrence is treatable whereas a heart attack or stroke might not be - they could be sudden and fatal or severely life changing. Also remember, the Letrozole doesnāt eliminate your recurrence risk entirely - if it did, even Iād have at least tried it!!
Add in the side effects of bp and cholesterol meds and I reckon youāre getting a bad deal there.
Can you get to talk to an oncologist about your recurrence risk v side effects? On reflection, I do think you ought to talk to one rather than just a GP - youāre clearly worried and itāll play on your mind until someone can really, sympathetically run through, and balance, all your potential risks for each course of action open to you. Iād think it worth paying to see someone if you couldnāt get an NHS appointment!
The stress of worrying about all this will only do you more harm - so I really urge you to lay it all before an expert for advice. You shouldnāt feel guilty about asking for a referral considering all your new medical developments.
These days cancer does not always top the list of dangers for us - but its name still instills the old terrors it always did.
Sending best wishesā¦x
I am not worrying that much! I have too much gardening to do and it was raining this morning so hard that I have a very wet pair of trousers and a wet pair of pants. I have not wet myself, I swear itās the constant rain in East Sussex. I have an appointment booked with the oncologist now in a week or so and I am going to ring the GP tomorrow to ask him / her to check out my elbow pain and feeling that I am losing my balance - perhaps thatās to do with the gardening and my age. Iām sure itās more difficult to keep your balance as you age, but I feel if I do a lot of exercise it will help rather than hinder?
Iām flying off soon to see my mother in her end of care nursing home. She still recognises me despite dementia, and she loves to see our dog as do the other residents. The weatherās awful but I will be in the car so itās ok for me.
My husband is taking a different approach - heās lying in bed worrying about weight loss and all sorts of cancers which he may have. I want to live whether I could be popping my clogs at some point. I remember some Latin phrase from my old school days - it was translated as
āSEIZE THE DAY!ā
And thatās what I intend to do otherwise I shall be dying every day instead.
Cheers Seagulls
I wrote Carpe Diem to my American friend when I knew she was dithering about making the effort to come over for my sonās wedding - it worked! 
We often let mundane stuff take our eye off the point of living! What a pity your husband hasnāt got that message.
As for balanceā¦have you listened to Dr Michael Moseley on the radio? Practicing your balance every day is one of his tips - it does decline with age and can be worked on and apparently improved. His tips are always interesting and informative!
But Iām aware that so much of the aging process for women is the natural lessening of estrogen after menopause - it affects muscles in the pelvic area in particular. So estrogen blockers are going to exacerbate that aging - often in disguise, ie, putting things just down to old age because the boundary between drug side effects and normal aging are blurred. I wonder how many women say they have no side effects from the drugs (obvious ones like hot flushes and/or joint pains) but put other things like incontinence (no - not rain-caused dampnessš) or memory loss etc etc down to old age alone??
My garden is too wet to work on (I bet Wales beats Essex for wetness?!?) so Iām heading out to our polytunnel where itās dry, to do war with voles who have eaten all my strawberry plants this winter.
So glad you can take your dog into the care home - they can give so much pleasure!
Happy gardening and practice your balancing - preferably not next to the pondā¦ x
Voles no moles maybe. My mumās from Swansea so I know rainās a lot more significant there. She said recently she left because it rained too much but sheās asked to be scattered on the Gower. Sheās only 96 for goodness sake - far too young to be thinking of popping her clogs.
Cheers
Seagulls
Alas more voles than molesā¦ harder to catch!!
Looks like Iām joining you @Seagulls on the high blood pressure thing. Iāve been on statins for high cholesterol for years so thatās nothing new but I always had an impressively low resting pulse rate and tended towards low blood pressure. Not any more it would seem. So thatās annoying. Also, have just been mysteriously referred to haematology following blood tests. Not in the least bit alarming 
. So Iām stopping the Letrozole, at least for the foreseeable. How are you doing?
Hello @Tigress and @Seagulls, just wanted to say they my previously low blood pressure has gone through the roof after 4 months on Letrozole. Oncologist denies any connection with the little yellow pills - just says take some regular readings and see your GP. Hmm. Love Tulip x
Sorry to hear your breast cancer did not get diagnosed until it was stage 4, but very glad to hear you have done so well on letrozole.
I hope you are well now.
Seagulls
Hi @Tulip29 my blood pressure was always notoriously low and I have had a resting pulse of 52 (which was the same as Sebastian Coe had when he won Olympic gold apparently) all my life. Letrozole (and presumably all AIs) have known side effects of raising both cholesterol and blood pressure. Once again, these SE will not be experienced by everyone but I was warned very early on about heart issues and was whisked in immediately after 2 months on Letrozole for a 72 hour heart monitor review. At the time they didnāt find anything alarming but my blood pressure (which obviously changes throughout the day) is now consistently too high and is worryingly high at times, particularly at nighttime which means difficulty sleeping. Iām having a 24 hour monitor fitted on Thursday but alas it is Easter weekend so I wonāt be able to hand it back in for four days 
. I expect to be given tablets of some kind but want to work on reducing it naturally. Donāt be fobbed off by doctors in denial as high blood pressure and hypertension needs dealing with.
I also had very low blood pressure. If I got up suddenly I would sometimes faint and find myself on the floor. I couldnāt run fast either. If weād had long distance running I would have been fine but in my girlie grammar we got nothing. I would never be picked for teams by other children as I was such a slow runner. I canāt say my childhood was ruined though. At least not by my lack of quick running.
Seagulls
Hi
May I ask if you had radiotherapy?
I have had a lumpectomy 8mm tumour, clear margin, nothing going on lymph so no chemo (ER+ PR+ HER 2 negative) am 52, had early menopause, have other serious medical issues. Such as osteoporosis, chronic liver , gallbladder disease, that can not be operated on - long story)
Was told to take Tamoxifen, not taken yet, followed by radiotherapy, not yet had as wounds still healing. Have hematomas so they say, I have extremely high anxiety, so think ooo it is cancer again already (2 months from diagnosis) but after care Drs said he wasnāt worried & is hematoma.
My oncologist was lovely, but brief. I asked her if she was me, the 1.2% taking Tamoxifen & ?% radiotherapy (3% rings a bell) if she was me would she take them. She looked me straight in the eye and said āNo, quality of lifeā then covered herself with she sees alsorts of people etc.
Iām scared stiff of both Tamoxifen & radiotherapy as my tiny tumour was inner middle quad on left breastā¦ i.e. towards the inner chest rather than above breast. I also want told that you can only have radiotherapy once in one area, but the annual screenings would get me back in like a shot if anything showed.
I apologise if this is too much in one go, but I felt drawn to you, to get any feedback.
TIA Sammy 
Hi Sammy8,
I had similar cancer to you but otherwise healthy. I got the radiotherapy which was ok. I did get a reaction but settled down with moisturisers.
I didnāt find the radiotherapy any bother because I wanted everything finished.
I am 66 so put on Anastrozole which is giving me side effects but will continue or ask for an alternative.
The Breast Cancer Nurses are very good to talk to so maybe you could speak with them about your worries.
Best wishes for your treatment.
Donut
So empathise with this, laneycass. Diagnosed 18mths ago (mucinous, ?lobular, DCIS, lymphnode removal) followed by double mastectomy, chemo and radiotherapy. Chemo effects awful, turning me into someone I hardly recognise, and now the combination of Abemaciclib, Letrozole and (so far one infusion of) Zoledronic acid is doing the same: insomnia, hot flushes, aching joints, exhaustion, as well as unresolved foot neuropathy from chemo. Iāve queried the necessity for Zoledronic acid with my oncologist and almost made up my mind to refuse any more; 1st infusion already left me with awful stiffness and painful joints, and there seem to be real (albeit rare) risks of bone fractures which was never mentioned. But, as you say, itās really hard to go against cliniciansā advice and weāre all scared of recurrence. I also find the statistics/%-based approach hard to navigate; most of the touted statistical advantages actually seem to me to be really quite small, especially when weighed against what itās all doing to whatās left of our lives. Iām 69. Soā¦at the moment Iām doing what Iām told, reluctantly, but am seriously considering ditching the Letrozole at least. Thanks for sharing your similar dilemma - it helps!
Hi there sammy8ā¦i think its also worth rememberingvthat statistics are about a certain population ā¦not about you as an individualā¦so your actual benefit could be 10 10% or more ā¦amd not everyone gets adverse side effects ā¦this site will make you think they doā¦but the fact is, most people who tolerate tamoxidlfen and AIs well, dont post ā¦with regard to repeat mammograms ā¦i had a clear first one ā¦2nd one just 12 months later ā¦i had a new primary in other breastā¦grade 2 but with lymph node involvementā¦things can sometimes happen fadtā¦of course i dont want to scare youā¦just want people to consider just how risk aversr they are ā¦im not at all ā¦i need to know ive done evetything possibleā¦but we are all different ā¦me, i have tolerated both tamoxifen and letrozole well ā¦i wish you well
Thank you for encouraging replies.
Iāll hold tight until until I speak with oncologist again.
It is good to hear people donāt have too many adverse reactions. Thank you
Take good care xx
Hi sammy8
I flipped the coin the other way after suffering all the side effects clarissa1 listed (on an AI - Anastrozole - and 2 zoledronic acid infusions), just about tolerable for the first 6 months but then worsened until I stopped both after 10 months. Iād had double mastectomy re invasive mucinous and invasive lobular tumours, one in each breast, and left axillary clearance after one node found to be involved (the only one, it transpired). Radiotherapy hardly affected skin at all, to the extent I wonder if they actually had the machine switched on ! The only possible later effect, so far, is an increase in breathlessness (over and above my usual lack of fitness).
I was more afraid of the other possible, very serious, if less common, legacies of the drugs than I was of recurrence, and thatās from someone with a strong hormone expression in both cancers.
Donāt mean to sway you at all; everyoneās experiences and concerns/fears are valid, and hopefully useful in weighing things up. The best of luck ! 
Thankyou for your kind words
Thank you
Statistics - yes. I feel pressured to do Tamoxifen, but that might be wise, as it allegedly blocks other estrogen cancers, not just BC. I had pre-canceroys cells in my liver, which turned out to be nothing, but they were giving out estrogen, when a GP suggested HRT a I was going though menopause. My Gastro consultant made it quite clear no way, any HRT as these liver cells were feeding & making enough estrogen. So I will try Tamoxifen, I just have to get my big girl pants on & do it.
However, radiotherapy might not be so good, as I am am asthmatic, the smallest margin was as close to the Lung wall as possible, so I am scared stiff of the possible breathlessness & those side effects.
Itās a big jigsaw puzzle but with tiny pieces for me personally.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience & kind words.
I hope you cope & conquer your extra unwanted new BC.
Take good care xx 