Melatonin, loratadine, baby aspirin?

Going through breast cancer treatment Complementary therapies
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Hi everyone - I finished radiotherapy last month and am looking at starting endocrine therapy shortly if bone and cardio tests come back okay.

I do worry about recurrence even though I have a low risk from my Oncotype score and Predict. I’ve been looking at some research studies and found really promising results with melatonin, loratadine (antihistamine) and baby aspirin and I am tempted to try some or all of these as a bit of a back-up. I feel comfortable with these, particularly the first two which seem to have very few side effects and I can’t see what there is to lose.

Has anyone taken or considered taking any of these to help prevent recurrence?

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I take loratedine as I read studies which suggested it might reduce the risk of recurrence and it is very cheap to buy. I take one tablet before bedtime (as it is also meant to help you sleep). My oncologist didn’t say that it would help reduce recurrence, as he said the evidence isn’t strong enough yet, but he said that it won’t do me any harm. I haven’t tried the other two medications you mentioned. I personally would avoid aspirin due to bleeding risk. Hope you are well x

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Thanks @Jess_1 - that’s good to know. The baby aspirin is the one with potentially bad side effects but the Add Aspirin clinical trials currently ongoing have some promising results so I am going to discuss this with my oncologist. I think the protection against cardio-vascular issues would help too with the potential side effects from AIs but I agree, the aspirin isn’t one to be taken lightly.

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Please do let me know what your oncologist says as I’m interested! Thank you x

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Hi @Jess_1 - just wanted to let you know that I saw the oncologist on Thursday and talked to him about the baby aspirin and he is all for it! He did want to know if I had any stomach issues, which I don’t, and so he’s happy for me to take the aspirin one per day at mealtimes x

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Thanks very much for getting back to me on this thread, I will have a chat with my oncologist and see if he also says it’s okay to take it. Every little helps! Wishing you all the best X

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