Letrozole & Sage/menopause suppliments?

Hi

I am also on Letrazole since last July and I completely understand as I was the same as you re hot flushes and aches.They say the first six months are the worst

My oncologist referred me for acupuncture at the hospital which has worked amazingly for me. The staff at the hospital have taught me to needle myself in between appointments. They now see me every two months .

The acupuncturist mentioned sage tablets to me and I started to take them about a month ago and I feel so much better. I now don’t have the night sweats and only an occasional day one. I think it’s mostly down to the acupuncture but who knows.

As for the aches I read somewhere on here that Loritadine….which is an antihistamine can help with the joint aches so I’ve started to take that too.

On the whole I’m feeling a lot better than I was 4 months ago.

I’d be wary of menopause supplements in case they have oestrogen in them which is what you are trying to eradicate.

Hope this helps

My BCN recommended sage and I think they do take the edge off. When I read up about them, Spanish sage seems to be a phytoestrogen so I would avoid that one.

You also need to avoid anything with thujone as that can be toxic.

I'm seeing if I can wean myself off them now I'm a year into my medical menopause. I would like to try acupuncture, I'm trying to find someone with experience for menopause

I used to take “Menopace” multi-vitamins, luckily I asked my BCN at my diagnosis and I was told to stop taking them. My status was ER 8/8 PR 8/8 so couldn’t help wondering if the pills contributed in any way to the cancer, but I guess what’s done is done.

@Eline I feel the same about isoflavones I took - strong phytoestrogens as I was feeling perimenopausal and they really helped me. But then I had a BC diagnosis and can't help feeling that they contributed

Hi,  thanks you so much for taking the time to reply.  I'll try both the sage & loritadine based on your experience.  I'm glad things are improving for you, keep going:) .  Good point about the  menopause supplements - never considered the oestrogen element, my brain still isn't functioning! 

PS  Sorry for the delay in responding - it's been one of those weeks!

Hi, 

Thanks so much for your advice about sage & apologies for the delay in replying. I wouldn't have thought about toxicity etc. so this is really useful.  Is there a particular make you'd recommend?

Many thanks,

I use Linden's sage tablets, they seem to help and I researched them to make sure they are not Spanish sage. I tried the A Vogel tincture at first, but the tinctures have thujone so I stopped taking it

I was told because my cancer is ER, PR & HER2 positive I couldn't take sage.

There does seem to be conflicting advice, It was my BCN that recommended it, when I asked my oncologist if there was anything I could do about hot flushes, and I am ER+/PR+. Oncologist had said definitely don't take during chemo.

As I said in earlier post, there seems to be different types of sage. 

I don't now what the right answer is, but sage is also on the Macmillan site as something to try.

Menopausal symptoms and cancer treatment - Macmillan Cancer Support

I was also told not to take sage! So much conflicting advice out there, I might ask about it now before they discharge me! X