Womb thickening and Tamoxifen.

FormerMember
FormerMember
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Hello lovely ladies, I'm new so...... here's my story as quick as I can narrow it down,  June 2018 age 42yrs, was diagnosed with ER+PR+ Her-2neg Breast cancer, Stage 2 Grade2, Lumpectomy 15 sessions of Radiotherapy phew! Right, September 2018 started Tamoxifen, periods stopped straight away, wow it was amazing.... then in  April/May 2019 started bleeding was it my periods coming back? Or something abnormal,  visit to GP in Oct/Nov 2019 then booked in for ultrasound then referred to Gynaecology a week later December 2019 I had womb thickening,  apparently it's a side effect from the Tamoxifen it keeps the breast cancer away, but stimulates the lining of the womb to grow, so  had hysteroscopy in January 2020 ...womb biopsy was taken, (came back clear)! but large polyp was found too big to remove there an then, so surgery was booked for February 2020, but covid 19 happened so eventually was booked in for polypectomy and curette in April 2020, all went to plan and polyp was removed and sent for testing (Benign) good news! For 4 weeks no bleeding it was bliss, then middle of May 2020, the bleeding started again, eventually rang my on oncologist at the beginning of July 2020 to inform him that the bleeding had started again, so was informed by him to stop Tamoxifen for the time being, and he would make a referral back to Gynaecology , while waiting for appointment the bleeding got worse and worse to the point I was housebound,  and going through sanitary towels like sweets, blood dripping down my legs, changing clothes and bedding too many times for my liking, anyway, it got so bad I ended up in A+E with severe anemia a few days ago, I was admitted to hospital and had to have 2 units of blood, and that is where I currently am at this very moment in time, so while I've been here I've had ultrasound again and guess what I've got womb thickening again, so because I've had a few biopsies taken this year already the doctors are not thinking its anything sinister,  and r going down the route of a non hormonal coil, because of my breast cancer in 2018 in which it was hormone sensitive the mirena coil is not an option for me, my head is all over the place, I've mentioned hysterectomy but they dont like doing surgery unless absolutely necessary I dont need my lady bits, I've got 2 teenager's,  so more children is not on the agenda,  I'm so lost and confused as to why this is happening,  please please if anyone has had similar to me I would love to hear from you, no scary stories my nerves are shocking. Xxxx

  • Hi Vgrady,

    Sorry you find yourself here, and sorry you have had such an awful time. 

    I can remember having flooding when I went through the menopause, and that was no joke. I refused HRT, and they said I risked Osteoporosis. I am now 76 and seem to be OK!!! Whatever you do you seem to risk something!! 

    My own daughter had breast cancer, with the full treatment at 37 years old. They advised her to have her ovaries taken out to avoid taking Tamoxifen for long. She couldn't face another operation straight away, but had them out a couple of years later. She had keyhole surgery and it was amazing how quickly she recovered. She seems fine now. Would that be an option for you, although I'm sure they would tell you if it was!

    Hope you feel better soon and they sort you out. xxx

  • FormerMember
    FormerMember in reply to NannyAnny

    Thankyou for replying, I am supposed to take Tamoxifen for 5years, I've not even done 2years, and its causing problems,  I've been informed by the gynaecologist that I could try a progestin coil could be fitted to see if that helps, other than that a hysterectomy is on the horizon. 

  • Hello 

    sounds like you’ve already had a lot to deal with, and i am very sorry to hear of your new worries.I haven’t got any experience with Taxoifen although I have heard it can cause some problems for people which must be very difficult when you had already dealt with breast cancer. Now your worry with your womb. Some ladies have had great success with the mirena coil which is a progesterone hormone coil that can help reduce the womb thickening. But of course because of your type of breast cancer this may not be suitable but hopefully your team can find a suitable option for you. I was going to have it inserted when they did my hystroscopy but they found that my womb was already passed a stage where the coil would be suitable and i was offered a total hysterectomy with ovaries and tubes removed. Fingers crossed for you that a coil will be suitable for you, but if you do indeed need to have a hysterectomy there is lots of ladies ready to give you some advice and tips for recovery from the surgery, i was 38 when I had my hysterectomy and I know for me it wasn’t as bad as I expected . I was just glad to get this offensive thing out of me. 

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