Hi all, I am 13 months into a 5 year stint of Tamoxifen and for the last 2 weeks I was haermoraging very badly and was admitted to a maternity hospital through a and e, the Tamoxifen seems to be to blame. Scans showed uterine thickening so I had a d and c, I am just await pathology reports this week and my Gynae has to discuss changing me to arimidex woth my onc I am 35 and a hysterectomy has been mentioned but I know that they will not enter into this surgery lightly as I have had a few, I suppose I am just a little lost at the minute and dont know whether I should push the topic given what has already happened or just change drugs , I am er/pr positive and really could do without excess hormones, hopefully someone can offer some advice Thanks A
Hi,
I too am 13 months in with tamoxifen. I had a mirena coil before diagnosis but was advised to have it removed around the time I started taking tamoxifen. With the coil my periods were virtually non-existant but now on an ordinary coil and with tamoxifen I have regular, very heavy, every 28 day periods. My consultant says it’s fine and the tamoxifen is still doing its job, although I worry about all the oestrogen flying around but if I am really worried he will refer me to gynae. I am er /pr pos and age 45 nearly 46! Have been told some people stop periods altogether on tam, some have intermittent ones and some have regular, heavy ones. I am not due to see consultant till August (dx Dec 06).
Let me know how things go.
Take care
Shorty xx
Hi there
I’m a bit older: 48. I was diagnosed in '05, had 2 years of Zoladex, tamoxifen concurrently. Just before Christmas and again last month had a very heavy period. I had 14mm endometrium- on ultrasound and, for good measure, an ovarian cyst! Had a hysteroscopy: NED. Waiting to see what onc recommends. Probably more Zoladex to keep endometrium thin.
I’m wondering about ovary removal. Some oncologists seem to recommend it freely, if that’s the word. I think it should be considered in the light of prognosis since, especially for younger women, it’s a bit traumatic that sudden irreversible menopause. The St Gallen recommendations recommend ovary removal/ suppression when risk is medium to high but otherwise tamoxifen is recommended. A friend of mine said that her gynaecologist says tam is the bane of their lives: all these uterine effects. Can we win?!!
Best wishes
Kitty x
Kitty
Thanks Kitty and shorty for your responses yes it definately does seem to be the bane of our lives , it never ends, I had 26mm endo thickness the same cyst as yourself as well as polyps for good measure, finding myself very anxious about the pathology reports on wed but like you shorty I would be afraid of all that oestrogen around and think now that I would rather out but the flip side of that was I took zoladex for 6 months last year and was a different person and felt totally out of control, I think there are risks with both options … still confused
I was put on tamoxifen when I was dx at 39, my periods were so heavy I could not go out, my endometrium was over 2omm thick so had a dandc and they put a mirena coil in, but 18 years on I have had a reccurence and have had a mastectomy and the mirena has had to come out, never seems to end.