Hi, I was diagnosed with IBC in April 2007, had 6 months of chemo and 6 weeks of radio, no surgery (was told that it was my choice and could have mastectomy if I wanted!) was on tamoxifen and found out the day before my last Herceptin that the cancer had spread to my spine. I am now on pamidronate 4 weekly.
When they told me that I had secondaries I was told to stop taking tamoxifen. A week ago today I had a zoladex injection and took my first Arimidex this morning.
I am 44 and my period has just started today - is this normal?
Should I keep taking Arimidex - I haven’t got a clue whether or not I am menopausal or not now?
Zoladex should stop your periods but I suppose it could take a while or if your next one was due now it may not have taken effect in time. I had Zoladex 4 yrs ago with primary dx and my periods stopped during that time but came back a few months after I stopped it. It may be worth mentioning it as the A I’s aren’t effective unless your ovaries stop producing oestrogen. I’m on Zoladex again (for secondaries) but my periods stopped during recent chemo and a blood test showed I was peri menopausal or menopausal so I needed the Zoladex to shut down my ovaries for my A I to work. I’m having my ovaries ablated next week so I don’t need Zoladex each month. Don’t stop Arimidex though unless your team says so.
Nicky x
Hi I agree with Nicky…you do need to be menopausal for Arimidex to work but Zoladex takes a while to kick in…I think most of us have at least one more period…Good Luck with Arimidex it held my bone mets stable for over 2 and a half years…Belinda…x
I think it is fairly normal to have a bleed 10-14 days after the first zoladex. I did, and did a lot of ringing round and panicking. I was told not to worry.Things should settle down. If the bleeding continues to happen then you should seek advice.