After my 5 days of radiation, I am told that I will need hormone therapy. I see all different types of drugs and am assuming tamoxifen. Is that the standard one or will it be different because it is 5 days of radiation not 20 to 30?
It’ll depend on your type of cancer, age, and menopausal status, not on the radiotherapy at all.
I started my hormone tabs (letrozole) a few weeks before I started rads, as said we are all different in our treatment regime.
Poppyxx
I started hormone therapy during radiotherapy so they could monitor how I responded to it ie side effects. As Bookish said, what you are prescribed will depend on your age and where you are in terms of menopause, as well as the type of cancer. Pre-menopausal is usually Tamoxifen. Post menopausal is usually anastrozole. Letrozole is usually post menopausal and with a hormone dependent bc.
It becomes part of your daily life, something you barely notice, but there may be side effects, in which case try a different brand. It sounds crazy and is not scientifically proven but there is a mass of anecdotal evidence from women who have responded better to one brand than another. Ask for advice in the forums to find out preferred brands for your form of HT. It’s also very easy if you have a persistent problem like weight gain to attribute it to HT but often it’s not the culprit.
Good luck xx