Hormone Treatment - how long???

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Hormone Treatment - how long???

Picked up my prescription today for my hormone treatment, Letrozole. The label on the box says it all really - one to be taken each day, for ten years until Sept 2031. TEN YEARS!!!!

In a weird and strange way, I am actually more worried about this than chemo. (I guess I can say that now that chemo is over……I may not have said that when the oncologist was scaring the living daylights out of me telling me about sepsis, but anyway.) Chemo was crap, but it had a short end date, this is basically forever! 

The list of side effects from Letrozole, and it's reputation, doesn't look great; hot flushes and aching joints seeming to be the main culprits. Can I really cope with that for 10 years?  Seems I got away lightly with the menopause as I had so few symptoms I didn't even realise I was post menopausal, and now this, menopause symptoms for the next 10 years.

So, feeling a bit odd today. Everyone thinks I should be celebrating and happy that the cancer has gone, but in my world the treatment continues.

Anonymous
  • 3 weeks and fingers crossed just the odd hot flush and a bit stiff in the mornings x

  • FormerMember
    FormerMember

    Oh how this resonates!
    This is EXACTLY what brought me to these pages.
    Everyone else is stoked that my surgery had such a positive outcome and me, having relatively skated through diagnosis and surgery, have had a massive wobble at the thought of 5 years of menopausal symptoms! ((Weirdly, not so bothered about the radio or chemo therapies!)

  • Hi Iishgirl, I’ve bee told no more chemo for m, I made me rlly ill with a hospital stay. So I start on Letrazol, again ,had it ten years ago, like you not looking forward to the hot flushes and joint pain. Good luck will think of you in the midst of my next big flush xx

  • You know us here will understand how it is. The other people for them their lives haven't changed or impacted in the slightest and they just carry on as though nothing happened. One colleague moaned about self isolation for 10 days and I said to her...Happy to do a swap!

    So we walk hand in hand here my love. Let's think positively....you have come so far..with every stage. So pretend it's just another stage...even though the SE is not nice. You may not have any side effects or your body will adjust to it? But you have come so very far on your journey....big and massive well done my lovely!!

    Onwards and upwards

    C x

  • Lovely words Claud, thank you x