Thanks for replying. I’ve never struggled with my mental health before cancer either. I think that adds to the frustration of it for me. I used to be able to deal with anything so why can’t I now but it shows the power of hormones.
I’ve never heard of the ladycare magnet but I will give it a look. Thanks 
1 Like
I am 62 and was diagnosed with BC in January of this year 2025 and stopped my HRT. Although I am overthinking more, the terrible mood swings I was fearing would result in a divorce, have not happened… yet. I had the lumpectomy of two tumours in my breast and 11 lymph nodes cleared. It’snow mid April and I will find out whether I will need chemo as well as radio next month. At that point, I will have to start the Anastrozole.
So, my question is, if this is me now without my HRT, where I’m getting few menopausal symptoms, is the anastrozole going to make my symptoms worse, or is this as bad as it will get? If I stay like this, I will be able to cope, but if it gets worse, I really don’t know…
Has anyone any experience of stopping HRT due to their diagnosis and then having to start anastrozole? I would be so grateful to hear them! Good luck to all of you! M x
2 Likes
Hi @mels Sorry to hear about your diagnosis.
For me I stopped HRT and found I had all my menopausal symptoms returned. I started Letrozole 9 months after stopping and the symptoms worsened for me. I have just recently stopped Letrozole for 6 weeks and my symptoms significantly reduced and I have now started Exemestane. Just completed my first month and overall it is much better for than Letrozole. I still have Oxybutynin for the hot flushes, which I had stopped due to my chemist not being able to get the brand that suited me and the one they supplied caused awful headaches. I’m now 2 weeks since restarting. I’m still on vaginal oestrogen. I have very few hot flushes in the day, mainly just a bit of a warming, and about 2/3 times in the night. Much less than when I was on Letrozole which was every 2 hours from 4pm to 8am which was about 8 hot flushes a day. It mainly affected my sleep which is also slowly improving.
As I have said this is how it affected me and different drugs and different people can react completely differently. You won’t know how it is for you until you try it.
I would recommend the charity Menopause and Cancer run by Dani Binnington who also had a breast cancer diagnosis at a young age and was menopausal. She interviews many people in areas to help with symptoms and side effects.
Take care
1 Like
Hi - that’s me! Stopped HRT and had chemo, lumpectomy and radio and now a year and a half in to anastrozole. It’s got side effects but they are mana gaze able. I take vaginal HRT which is totally safe and this deals
With the vaginal dryness which is a very major issue for many on anastrozole. I also take organic glucosamine for the joint aches which really helps. I also take Q10 which is good too. With all these bits of help I rather forget about the side effects! Or I’m just used to them. I think you will find it better than you think! Good luck and good wishes!
2 Likes
# Vaginal estrogen use in breast cancer survivors: a systematic review and meta-analysis of recurrence and mortality risks
https://www.ajog.org/article/S0002-9378(24)01126-8/abstract
Study published March 2025 advised by menopause consultant.
1 Like
I know I am late to this conversation but I just want to make aware about long term use of any anti-inflammatory like naproxen and ibuprofen can cause kidney function to deteriorate. Hoping you are all well. Its never over is it.
1 Like
Yes @square-boob important message. I was on naproxen for some time with omeprazole to help prevent stomach issues but GP soon took me off it. They said they would prefer me to be on paracetamol even though it can cause liver issues it’s the lesser of all pain relief. I was told that naproxen and codeine can be used short term only, the second especially because of its additive nature.
Hi Mels, I was diagnosed in March last year and told to stop HRT immediately. I didn’t I stopped just before my 1st surgery in May. I really didn’t feel the effects until about September when I started my chemo. I had ECT 3 rounds of EC and 3 rounds of Docetaxel. I had my last round 30th December and my 5 hits of radiotherapy end of January.
When I was diagnosed I told both my surgeon and my onc that I was NOT doing any hormone blockers. AIs for me were the next level of hell I really didn’t want to feel like I did before I went on HRT or worse.
I have found the biggest and most frustrating process within this shitty journey the lack of knowledge in the medical profession for alternative therapies that complement a cancer diagnosis. I have had so many questions left hanging and unanswered. Not enough studies done, not enough data, not enough knowledge it is frustrating and disappointing.
So here I am currently on Letrozole primarily because my symptoms of achy joints was bad and after a chat with my onc I made the decision to try Letrozole but if they made my symptoms worse I was coming off immediately. She was happy with this. I am 6 weeks in and my achy joints are no worse than before but my knees are excruciatingly painful, stabbing pains and dreadful. However my biggest change has been on the emotion and mental side and I am finding this really really hard to deal with. I cry at everything and maybe 7-10 times a day, my mood swings are horrific, I am irrational, I am confrontational I am generally miserable and sad all the time and my onc has said that Letrazole can cause depression and mood swings - great. Before all this I was a happy, confident, thoughtful and kind person I do not recognise myself and it is alarming. My onc has recommend I stay on for at least 3 months as symptoms plateau so that is the plan and I have another chat with her early July. I do not want to be this person, I cannot control this person and I definitely do not want to be this person for the next 5-10 years.
I am talking regularly with a dietician and I have a good exercise programme (exercise does not alleviate my joint aches AT ALL). My dietician has given me a list of tablets to help with the brain chatter, joint pain etc and has said that a lot of menopause symptoms can be lessened with diet and supplements but I need to be on them for 3 months to feel the change (I am only 6 weeks in).
If I decide to stop the Letrozole my onc has said I could try Exmestane but if I was being honest to myself I’d go on HRT in a heartbeat. I’ve had so many faces of absolute disbelief look at me when I say it it’s dreadful. But not one person has answered my question about the ramifications on the rest of my body by cutting the oestrogen out. The whole reason for taking HRT is for your whole body health. Anyway I’m rambling but in answer to your question you may not have many menopause symptoms but taking any form of AI could kick off any other symptoms willy nilly so be mindful of that.
After reading this thread I think I’m going to talk to an NHS menopause specialist or pay privately.
I feel my options are
- stick with this awful Letrozole or switch to Exmestane.
- ditch all AIs and get on with life
- ditch all AIs and go back on HRT and have a good quality of life but possibly a shorter one
(I am 55).
Good luck, so many difficult decisions to make and only you can decide for you. We are all different as we are told so many times through this. X
3 Likes
I get it, I’m 56 and was diagnosed at 54 having been on HRT, it’s not easy is it?
I saw a menopause specialist privately for my first appointment then follow up was on the NHS list I was already on, some 9 months after referral.
www.menopauseandcancer.co.uk charity is offering some free 1:1 menopause specialist appointments but I’m not sure how long the wait is. They are more likely to be online/zoom/teams.
Take care
1 Like
Hi 
oh wow… 
God, I feel for you… 
I view HRT as a woman’s Health Insurance for life! I was so anti coming off it too… I had even added in testosterone privately. I am now about three weeks on Anastrozole and, apart from aching muscles, I have not been as bad as I thought.
I just wonder if it’s worth asking if you can switch to Anastrozole, which is the ‘sister’ of Letrozole, as women seem to get different side effects. It won’t hurt to ask and you do sound pretty desperate 
I so feel for you.
I am 62, diagnosed in January, and thankfully, I have not had to have chemotherapy, I am four days in to my 15 days of Radiotherapy. I can’t tell you the relief I felt when that decision was made!
You have been through both… Jesus. Again though, a lot of women say they were good on exestesame (spelling sorry ) after Letrozole/anastrozole. I get exactly what you are saying about not getting proper answers. Doctors don’t seem to know anything much about hormones. In fact a specialist consultant at the Bournemouth Spire, told me that, GP’s are taught nothing, nada, zip about menopause. I mean, the fact that doctors insist women come OFF HRT when they reach 60 ‘because they will be through it’ is, I believe, putting all those women through torture for the rest of their lives. It doesn’t seem to occur to these doctors that, HRT is replacing hormones that are naturally dropping, thus keeping the body believing and acting as if it were still 40/50 and that once taken off HRT, the body will then GO THROUGH THE BLOODY MENOPAUSE !!! How dare they! If men went through the same, and the skin on their knobs became sore, or even tore during sex, they might also go off the idea, or stay on HRT!! If their bodies were tearing oestrogen from their bones 
making them incredibly open to breaking bones from just a minor fall, I think they would stay on HRT. If they got the embarrassing and confidence breaking brain fog and lack of word recall, they would stay on HRT. Why do women have to suffer all these symptoms just because Medical Schools don’t deem the menopause and hormones important enough to study??! It honestly makes me so angry!
Get that some cancers are ‘fed’ by oestrogen, so you don’t really want it around, but five years!!! I don’t even know if I will still be married in five years, now my hormonal gloves are off??? It terrifies me!!
The cancer diagnosis didn’t scare me, I still haven’t cried about it, as the surgeon said it was treatable, but the lack of HRT really does terrify me.
I totally get what you say about going back on HRT and take the chance it won’t return, but live life feeling well and healthy, I really do. Many women do. I’ve met several who have said bugger it and gone back on. I wonder what the actual percentage is for reoccurrence with, or without Letrozole/anastrozoel/exemestane …? Meanwhile
They are falling apart…
Hey, I wish you all the best and there are hormonal specialists out there who should give you better informed answers and advice.
Where are you in the UK, as I am in Hampshire near Fareham.
All the best and we will win and we will beat this!! 
m xxx
2 Likes
Can I ask what supplements ?
I am throwing all I can to stay on Letrozole
Risk is too high otherwise x
My supplements are specific to me and my symptoms but I’m happy to pass on. I’m taking Vit D with K2 spray, a saffron tablet with iodine, magnesium glycinate and a multi vitamin.
Hope that helps x
2 Likes
Up date
I started a CBT course for hot flushes, the main focus is to rethink your feelings and behaviours towards the hot flushes and use deep diaphragmatic breathing until they finish. They don’t stop them but refocus your mind. I had this via my menopause specialist on the NHS. Sleep is covered next time. Well worth it.
Was told by the nurse practitioner that Fezolinetant/Veoza probably won’t be available on the NHS, there have been issues with raised liver in your blood tests. However there is another similar drug made by Bayer called Elinzanetant, which has also been trialled on breast cancer patients that is likely to come to the NHS. They said the research showed it can also help with sleep. The drug rep had been in to talk to the menopause team. So fingers crossed we may hear soon 
3 Likes
I absolutely hear you loud and clear. I feel tge same and have the same symptoms and have had the same advice. I was on anastrazole and changed to tamoxifen so that I could continue with the vaginal oestrogen pessaries.
I am 6 weeks on it now. Anastrazole was awful for my joints and bone pain. Tamoxifen is affecting who i am.
I see it as the veil on BS has been lifted and im not taking that crap anymore. But yes im impatient now etc.
i am slowing down my reactions to things and being more thoughtful about my reactions to things which is helping me and everyone else. I am 55 too and loved all my HRT. I agree with lack of knowledge. I asked about continuing my testosterone and the senior breast nurse had never heard that before or considered. She went away to investigate!
So I have taken the odd squirt of testosterone of what I have left but not often. Im sure achieves nothing other than psychologically.
1 Like