hi i don,t know if anyone can help but i am on tamoxifen and haveing a terrible time and the onc has said i could try zoladex i wondered if anyone who is on zoladex finds it easy or hard
thankyou rose
I’ve been on zoladex since 21st May. I had a one-month injection at GP surgery, with local anaesthetic injection first so it was painless. Then I’ve had a 3-month one, so I don’t go again unitl September. I’ve not had any problems at all. I was tired at first, but I’d just started Tamoxifen and it was only a week after Rads finished. My energy levels seem to be getting back to normal now.
I did notice I was a LITTLE more tearful when the next injection was due - but no more than ‘normal’ PMT!
I hope that helps.
thanks jcj why do you have to take tamoxifen and zoladex ?
Hiya, I’ve been getting Zoladex since I was diagnosed with BC last year and my Onc advised me to stay on it for 2 years - I’ve had no problems with it apart from the hot flushes but they’re not too bad now. I started Tamoxifen in January after my surgery and have no issues with taking both.
Hope that helps xx
roseric: Everyone who hasn’t gone through menopause and has (had) a hormone positive BC has to take Tamoxifen. It’s the only drug available for ER+ BC for pre-menopausal women. Once menopausal, there are a variety of aromatase inhibitors to choose from, which have less possilbe long term side effects.
As I am 52, I should be reaching menopause sometime soon, but I was still having regular, heavy periods (and therefore still producing lots of oestrogen!)
I had been offered chemo, (which would probably have made me menopausal) but I had to decide for myself whether to have it, as I was borderline as to whether it would be of much benefit. As soon as I declined chemo, I was offered Zoladex to induce menopause. As I understand it, it acts on the pituitary gland to stop it producing the hormone which makes the ovaries produce oestrogen. So in effect, it’s an artificial menopause, which should hopefully send me into an actual one!
I have seen other people on here who have had Zoladex offered after chemo has been declined, so I guess it’s fairly standard.
I’ve been told I’m likely to have Zoladex for 2 years and then will probably move from Tamoxifen to an AI.
Still no sign of any real hot flushes (just occassional ‘warm’ moments when the weather is hot - but I’ve always had them!) or joint pain and my energy levels are improving.
My doctor says Zoladex is also used to treat prostrate cancer in men, and he has several patients who’ve been taking it with no problems at all. As he said: “Don’t LOOK for side effects!” I think that is very good advice that I’m trying to follow!
Feel free to ask if you want more info. 
The NICE guidelines say that you can only be offered the Zoladex plus Tamoxifen option if you have already said no to chemotherapy, an approach which in my opinion stinks. We should be told up front what all the options are. I had a very upsetting appointment with my oncologist discussing the chemotherapy that I didn’t want because I didn’t feel that I needed it, then in the last 2 minutes he said I could have the Zoladex + Tamoxifen instead, so no time to discuss that properly.
As JCJ says, once you’re in menopause, whether chemically induced (zoladex or chemo), medically induced (oophorectomy), or natural (due to the ageing process), you then go on to aromatase inhibitors. They apparently are more effective than Tamoxifen for post-menopausal women, but can have some side effects such as aching joints and/or bone loss, which is why you should have a bone scan at the beginning to act as a bench mark, then regular scans every couple of years to ensure it’s not having a detrimental effect.
CC x
Hi, I am 10 months into having the dreaded monthly Zoladex injections and am experiencing dreadful hot sweats and aching joints. I am 46 and was borderline for Chemo and opted out hence I needed the Zoladex. Was on Tamoxifen also but reacted pretty badly to it and was taken off it. Am now about to start another drug which is usually given to post menopausal women so the Zoladex has to continue to keep me in thatmenopausal state. However, because I can’t have Tam, I may now have my ovaries removed, it’s that or stay on Zoladex for 5 years which I don’t want to do.
To clear up the queries I’ve been reading on this thread, if you don’t have chemo you will be offered Zoladex and Tam if you are premenopausal and ER.
As far as I am aware there is never a choice of chemo OR tam + Zoladex. Whether or not you need chemo is dependant on your stats, some people aren’t offered it at all, some are given thechoice as I was being borderline and others arit strongly encouraged to have it. There is no easy way out!
JCJ says she went on to three monthly injections, I asked my Onc nurse if I could do the same but was told that only Prostate patients are allowed to…?
Hi, i am a year down the line on Zoladex, i too was borderline for chemo but chose to have it, i was then put on Tamoxifen on which i had no problems but then it was discovered i had a clot in my neck from treatment so was taken off Tamoxifen & put on a combination of Zoladex & letrazole. My father has Prostate cancer as well as my Uncle & are both on Zoladex & their side effects are totally different to mine.
I was initially told that i could have 3 monthly implants but then chaged Oncs & new Onc has stated she would rather i stayed on monthly it is my understanding that many Bc patients are on the 3 monthly ones but the majority are still on monthly, my Onc did say that her choice of monthly is nothing to do with the effectiveness just a personal choice of hers & if i indeed wanted to switch to 3 monthly i could, for now i have stayed with monthy as am undergoing testing for BRCA gene & will wait till i have results of that as treatment/prevention could well change if i am found to be a carrier, i am being tested because of the Prostate/Breast link in my family.
Sarah
I am now totally confused! When I asked about going onto thethree monthly Zoladex jabs I was told that only Prostate patients could have them so didn’t query it again. Having seen my new Onc yesterday (recently moved to diff part of country) I was told that because I had to come off Tamoxifen (effects dreadful side effects), my choice now stands at 5 years of monthly Zoladex jabs plus Exemestane or having ovaries removed. I was strongly ER and 45 at diagnosis last year. I will probabLy go for the op as can’t bear the thought of monthly jabs and the prospect of having the hot flushes and night sweats etc for another 5 years. At least with the op I will go through the menopause in a few months. My dad passed away in Feb from Prostate cancer, he was on Zoladex and suffered terribly with sweats, so I guess we are all different in how we react to these drugs. I was taken off Tamoifen as it was suspected but not proven to be the cause of lung inflammation and an al over rash, I had been on it for 4 months but I also had pneumonia and Radiation Pneumonitis at the same time so it got very complicated. Sounds like a soap script but it’s true. Lastly, I was told that if your father died young of Prostate cancer there could be a link with the breast cancer but NOT if your father was a lot older. My Dad was 72 so I won’t be tested even though my Grandfather also had it. Just shows how we are all being given very different information, surely it shouldn’t be differing all this much?
I had a 4 week Zoladex injection to start with, just in case I had any serious side effects, and I’ve been on the 3 monthly injections since then, as recommended by my GP who seems to be quite on the ball about BC. I read a medical study recently which concluded that the 3 monthly version is just as effective as the 1 monthly for BC, but now I can’t find the report again.
Hi Dorsetgirl (am a Dorset Girl too) I think the one thing i have learned through all of this is every healthcare seems to work differently & yes it can be so confusing 
My Dad, Uncle & Granfather were/are all in their 60’s at DX of Prostate Cancer, 1st hospital that i was under said no real link but new hospital has said real risk hence being tested, i think my own Dx of BC at 40 (well 2 weeks before 40th) elevetated the risk of chance of carrying gene but am obviously hoping that i dont but if i do would rather know as i have 4 children & 3 sisters, no one else that we know of in my family have had Bc though.
My original hospital told me that although it has yet to be licensed for 3 monthly use in Bc patients many hospitals & Gps are offering this choice as results as Cheshire cheese states have shown it to be as effective.
Ref side effects, i was ok on months 1,2 & 3 but 4,5 & 6 were awful although i dont know if this was the Zoladex or letrazole, at the moment things seem to be settling down, i still have a few flushes a day & aching joints but i am either getting used to them or thay are slightly better, my dad (who lives with me) doesnt get sweats but does get a few tropical moments, hewas recently put back on zoladex due to spread to lymph nodes & strangely has found that Se's different this time round to 1st time hewas on it, my Uncle though seems to be side effect free.
Cheshirecheese, havent been on forums for ages but seem to remember that you had lipofill ?? how is that going as not sure if you remeber but i was offered it to but havent done anymore about it, hope i have right person & that all is going well & you dont mind me asking.
Sarah.
Yes that’s me, had the lipofill done on 26th March. I reported back on how I got on in (probably too much!) detail under the section “Reconstructive Surgery”, Thread title “Stem Cell Lipofill”.
In summary, the operation was successful, I’ve now got two similar size and shape breasts, and they’re in proportion with the rest of me so I can buy clothes and bras again. Result!
CC x
Hi again, well will definitely have some more questions for my Onc when I go back to see him in 3 months. I have a daughter, sister and 2 nieces so will ask again about genetic links and whether my girls need testing. As for 3 monthly Zoladex, I would ask again for it but as I am now looking at needing it for 5 years and not the usual 2 I’m thinking more and more that the Oopherectomy would be better option for me. I hate the side effects and don’t want them to go on for all that time. Just Read tonight that may have increased risk of heart disease and stroke with the op. there’s no easy answer to any treatment is there.
Hi what type of joint pain have people had with Zoledex and tamoxifen?
I have been on both for 2 yrs. I changed my brand of tamoxifen and my joint pain became unbearable to the point I had 2 falls. Months before that I’d run a triathlon. I read a Nhs study that looked into the claims of women of arthralgia on different brands which was mostly resolved by returning to Nolvadex. Myself, I returned back to Genox, which had been out of stock in Australia) and the pain dropped right back. I’d hate to think what would have happened if I’d been given the tamosyn brand originally as I wouldnt have picked it was the brand rather than tamoxifen. Genox has fewer fillers as does nolvadex, and it may be the excipient ingredients causing the issues. I confirmed this with my cancer hosps pharmacy. I’m not suggesting this means it will be the case for all women but this was my experience. The study is here:
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/20347307/