I was diagnosed with oestrogen positive breast cancer in June last year. I had a lumpectomy in August. The last chemo treatment was 29 January 2025. I will start radiotherapy on 11 March. I have been having hot flushes (several times a day) and started taking sage to help. I am wondering if I should be taking sage as it is a phytooestrogen. I have asked a few medical professionals during treatment, but no one has a definitive answer. I read online that I shouldn’t be. I recently had bloods taken to determine whether I am peri-menopause or menopausal to decide if I will commence hormone treatment. I look forward to reading others’ views. Thanks
Welcome to the forum, we are here for you, with love and support.
Wishing you lots of luck with your on going treatment, so sorry to read you are feeling uncomfortable with hot flushes
as regards take SAGE I’m sorry I can’t help, however I think you should get further medical advise before pursuing this further.
One day at a time at the moment, also you are having Radiotherapy very soon which can be tiring
Please let us all know how your getting on health and happiness ahead.
@cazbro73 I hope your treatment is going well. I’m surprised to hear you get chemo before radio therapy. I wonder if that depends.
I also have estrogen positive bc. As part of the treatment have you been given estrogen blockers? If so there’s probable no point taking sage although I’m not aware it has phytoestrogen.
I have been taking sage since late 2023 on and off but I will not take it anymore at least until post treatment. Hope this helps. x
You could Ask the Nurses about sage - if they can’t give a definitive answer they might point you towards information that can help you decide and maybe have some other ideas about how to manage your hot flushes. Xx
Welcome to the forum - we hope you find it a helpful and supportive place.
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I always look at it this way although I’m not a doctor. If something is helping my menopausal systems food wise then chances are my body is recognizing that food as estrogen of some sort. And I would think there’s a risk the cancer cells would be recognizing it as estrogen, too, and if you have a hormone positive tumor you don’t want that. Gabapentin is shown to help hot flashes. Maybe that would be a better option?
There are phytoestrogens which are helpful re breast cancer. Not sure where sage fits in but from what I have gleaned the best of these are milled linseed and milled sesame seed. I stress that they must be milled. Otherwise they more or less go straight through you, and have no benefit. Add to yoghurts, salads, etc. you can buy them milled, or you can do it yourself with a coffee grinder.
I have found some research studies, on mice mainly, but some on humans, which conclude that linseed can help ‘fight’ the cancer cells, especially when taken with tamoxifen. However, in my opinion, it is not a powerful as hormone therapy treatments, and should not be relied upon solely.
Lulu.
