Hello ladies
So the prescription has sat in my drawer for over 3 months and I’m still not in the right headspace to use it. Years of being told NO just wont go away.
Can someone who has used this tell me how they overcame the fear? And how quickly did you notice improvements?
I’m on tamoxifen for another year so figured this is the time to try it. My theory being that the tamoxifen will do its job and block it.
Thanks
Helen x
Hi Helen. I had been on vaginal oestrogen for about 4 years before my breast cancer diagnosis, after developing post menopausal vaginal atrophy. When I was diagnosed a year and a bit ago I was told to stop the vaginal oestrogen. I did so and within 2 weeks felt as if I was sitting on pins and was very uncomfortable and miserable, just as I was before I ever started it. After doing some research and speaking to a gynaecologist I restarted it, twice a week as I was having before.
My reasoning was that I had chemotherapy, operation and radiotherapy to come and to be itchy and in pain vaginally just felt as if it made life not worth living.
The amount of oestrogen absorbed is minimal if any at all and frankly if any is absorbed it would be more than counterbalanced by the Tamoxifen, Letrazole in my case.
My GP, surgeon and oncologist are happy with my decision.
My decision to restart it was perhaps easier then your decision as I had already been on it for a while. When I first started it was almost life changing. The burning, itching and pain was gone and sex was possible again!! It took a while for the changes to happen. I seem to remember it was every day for a while and then dropped to twice a week. I think I started to notice some benefit after a couple of weeks.
I have no worries at all about my decision. There are quite a lot of threads discussing exactly this. One that I’ve been on is called Vaginal atrophy, UTIs and letrozole - help and advice anyone?!
I hope you can reach a decision you feel happy with.
Thanks for your reply Pat
I don’t have dryness or itching. My problem is more internal. Sex is impossible. Feels like I’m going to tear. No amount of lubricant helps. I’m now at the point i dont even want to try!!! Other half has been more than patient but i feel its affecting our relationship.
Just so scared. If the cancer comes back (9 and half years clear) i will blame myself. Oh the joys of being a woman x
That’s exactly how I felt, plus the itching etc 
. I tried all sorts of moisturisers etc but none of them worked. The oestrogen does. We still need some lubricant but it does all work!!
Realistically no one can guarantee you will never had a recurrence, and if you did then it would be impossible to ‘prove’ what caused it. You are such a long time after your treatment, how wonderful 
, that the recurrence risk is lower anyway as if it does happen I believe it most likely in the first few years.
Ultimately only you can decide whether you can cope with the small risk if you decide to go ahead with it. You also need to balance that against the risks to your relationship.
I can understand it’s a difficult decision. My cancer is TNBC so stopping Vagifem was never a consideration. My team does however support ER+ women using it. I originally went on it about 7 years after the menopause when vaginal lubricants were no longer controlling my symptoms. Essentially anything would cause a small hairline tear making intercourse impossible and even touch something that had to be approached with huge care. It made a world of difference for a few years, although the problems have gradually came back to some extent as I have got older.
It’s a topical application, very little gets into your bloodstream and the Tamoxifen should help stop that anyway. It will get worse and could also lead to frequent UTI infections. Quality of life matters too and I know I would personally choose to use it with my level of vaginal atrophy if I developed an ER+ cancer.
When I first started Letrozole I had what I thought was vaginal atrophy and asked my oncologist if I could use topical oestrogen. She was old school and said no whilst I was on an AI but if I agreed to swap to Tamoxifen, I could have it. I didn’t want to swap as I was getting on well with the Letrozole and Hyalofemme came to my rescue as, in fact, I was suffering more from dryness than atrophy. The point of this is, topical oestrogen was seen by no problem by a traditional oncologist if one was on Tamoxifen, which you are. Dare I say, I would encourage you to try it?
I totally understand your fear. I am 19 years on and my atrophy had become unbearable. All the things you describe and it was becoming uncomfortable in the day. I’m really active in the gym, triathlon etc and it was impacting on all of that. I had been quite poorly with a UTI and was just miserable. I found my self at the GPs just sobbing. My GP was so lovely she totally understood and reassured me. I had got to the point I either live miserably or give it a go. So I read the research again and gave it a go. That was last month. I instantly felt better. It is not perfect, but I am able to be back as active as ever and don’t feel uncomfortable anymore. I rationalise it by all the excerise I do, helps me long term on many levels which has to benefit, and if i cant do that it’s more risk. I hope that makes sense. Best wishes.