Evening Primrose Oil and BC - good or bad?

Does anyone have expert advice on whether it is ok to take EPO with breast cancer. I have been reading conflicting advice and as it is helping the symptoms of HRT withdrawal, I would like to know if I am doing further harm.

Thoughts appreciated.

Ann

Hi Ann, my onc was ok with me using it,never have taken it before but I now take 500mg at night with my tamoxifen tablet. Have been on tamoxifen since April and am glad to say I have as yet had no side effects whatsoever…don’t know if this is down to the EPO or not but will keep taking it !

Sandra x

Sandra

That’s good to know. I have been taking it for a number of years and as I have had to stop HRT immediately, I was dreading withdrawal symptoms. So far, after 3 weeks, I have not really had any to speak of and think it is probably due to EPO. Mind you, I could be speaking too soon!

Thanks.

Ann xx

Hello Ann! My oncologist advised me to take PO to fight the side effects of Tamoxifen (so far I have not started to take any).
As for dropping HRT, I am afraid symptoms may appear later along the line (it happened to me). In my case, they were not all THAT bad though. Good luck!

Thanks, Nikiya

How long along the line?

Ann

Don’t remember exactly when they started but I left HRT two months ago and still have night sweats, tiredness and headaches. Not every day or night though.
But Ann, it is different for every person!

Nikiya

Yes, and I think a lot depends on your age and how long you have been taking it. Is there a reason you have not tried Evening Primrose Oil?

Ann

I believe I tried ages ago for PMS and did not find it useful… now I am quite stuck for shopping (can’t drive and if a neighbour gives me a ride it has to be the supermarket) so I have not bought but will try. Could not find it at Sainsbury’s last time I was there…
And symptoms might not depend only on age. I remember my mother always telling me she never had any trouble with menopause: one day her periods stopped and that was it… she had even thought she was pregnant!

Nikiya

How lovely for your Mum. I suppose I could be like that and not know, because I started taking HRT before the menopause.

You could always order EPO on the internet. I buy vitamins online now because we moved house and they don’t seem to have a stockist near here. Some places work out cheaper, even with the postage.

Ann xx

If your breast cancer is Oestrogen Receptor positive (ER+) this is important and keep reading.

If you are ER- nothing to worry about.

Any supplement that claims to relievemenopausal symptoms naturally, is almost certainly high in phytoestogens. Clary Sage is another example of a natural supplement high in phytoestogens.

“Natural” is not a word that is synomynous with “safe”.There are lots of natural substances that are harmful if consumed in high quantities (e.g. salt).

We all eat phytoestogens on a daily basis as they are in all fruits and vegetables: it is just the quantity / concentration that varies. Nobody should try to wholly exclude phytoestrogens because we have to achieve a balance with fruit and vegetables being good for our general health and welbeing.

When deciding which “experts” to listen to, consider their relevant qualifications and experience. Gillian McKeith (“You are what you eat”) was stopped from describing herself as Dr McKeith in relation to her nutritional advice, which Trading Standards discovered her Doctorate was “bought” from a very dubious US university.

I wouldn’t worry about Evening Primrose Oil in skincare products because it can’t be absorbed into the bloodstream that way, but that is just my personal opinion.

Holeybones

So are you saying that EPO should be avoided? I have been wondering about that, hence my question. There is so much mixed advice around. Several ladies on this site have oncologists who have recommended it.

I have just found another thread on here about the same subject:-

“Do evening primrose oil tablets produce oestrogen?”

Ann

Don’t know if this is relevant regarding your posts on EPO. An aunt of my husband had a breast cysts, not cancerous. She decided to take EPO to help. But unknown to us she took HUGE amounts of EPO. Later she broke her ankle out walking her dogs. AS time went on her surgeon could not understand why her fracture was not healing as it should. She told him the medications she was taking but ommitted to mention the “health” product EPO. Anyway when he found out months later and bone still not right, he explianed that she should not be taking EPO. After she stopped, her leg improved. I have never heard of this before, and am not a nurse/doctor but perhaps this is true. Anyone know? Love Val ( Scottishlass) xx

Val

I wonder why EPO would stop bones healing? I have heard that it can thin the blood, though. One never knows if any of these things are true.

Ann