Good afternoon
I am on Tamoxifen 20mg for the next five years and am perimenopausal. In my oncologists letter to my GP he says that if the side effects of the tamoxifen are touch, it’s not unreasonable to be given zoladex 10.8mg alongside the tamoxifen to help with the side effects.
I am so confused, as I have read that the zoladex causes hot flashes etc, so exactly the same as the tamoxifen?!!
Please help!! X
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Hello. I am on tamoxifen after having letrozole and zoladax for 6 months. The side effects for me were awful on zoladax so I had to stop and change to tamoxifen. I asked my Oncologist the % benefit of having zoladax with tamoxifen and he said little benefit so I decided to stop zoladax. I am 43 and had no menopausal symptoms before treatment. I had the Oncotype test though with a low score of 10/100 hence my decision. I would ask the questions to your Oncologist regarding the benefit and risk scores etc. All the best x
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Hi butterfly28
Thanks for posting and asking about the side effects of Zoladex (goserelin) and tamoxifen.
Both drugs are types of hormone therapy and you are right to say that hot flushes and menopausal side effects may be experienced with both.
It is understandable that you are confused by your letter. Zoladex is not usually prescribed to help manage the side effects of tamoxifen, so it may be helpful to talk to your breast care nurse or oncologist and ask what they mean in the letter.
Not everybody experiences side effects of hormone treatment, but if you do and find that they are significantly impacting your quality of life it is important to go back to your treatment team to discuss this as @NatalieS42 did. They can explain the benefits of the treatment for you and discuss different techniques that may help to manage menopausal side effects.
We offer a range of free supportive services for anyone who has had a diagnosis of breast cancer which you may be interested in. They include face to face and online courses and events including the Younger Women Together support events. These events have been created to provide support for younger women (aged 20-45) with primary breast cancer.
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