questions about Lupron and menopause

[sassy]

I am currently taking Lupron shots to keep me from reverting to premenopausal status, have actually been going thru menopause since June. Can any of you in this same situation share your experience ie. side effects from Lupron or menopause effects. Any sensations in ovaries, etc.? Currently also on Herceptin every three weeks and Arimidex. Thanks for any help. Wondering what to expect or look out for.


Sassy
________
Park Royal 2 Condominium

[sassy]

Just bumping back up to see if anyone responds.
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Wong Amat condos

[lia]

I ve been on zoladex and arimidex ( and herceptin every 3 wks ) for the last 2 months. Before that I hadnt had a period since July when I was having chemo so I was already having some hot flushes and joint aches before starting zoladex / arimidex ,which i think is either the same as, or similar to lupron. I was really worried about suddenly being even more menopausal but so far its been bearable. I do have more hot flushes and have been quite moody (!) ,but the worst has been the vaginal dryness (sorry to be so to the point.. I was trying to think of some euphemisms but gave up !) and associated problems. However Replens seems to help a bit and I ve found taking extra magnesium helps, along with my other supplements. I havent taken anything specifically to help with the menopause as they all seem to be contra- indicated with er + bc. Hope this is of some help, I meant to reply yesterday but had to relinquish the computer to my children ! I m 41 by the way.

...Lia for your reply. Have had the same experience with dryness. Moodiness seems to be a big one for me right now--or maybe its everything else I've been dealing with too.

Oh well, Chin Up!

Sassy

I have not checked this out in any real sense but in my general wanders through the topic MAY have seen black cohosh mentioned as OK for ER BC, but do not recall where.

I attach a general link - you might want to look on NCBI for trials.

http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/BlackCohosh.asp

RB

ABSTRACT

A study of 150 perimenopausal and postmenopausal women using two different doses of black cohosh (Remifemin tablets, 39 or 127.3 mg/day) found that 6 months of treatment caused no changes in LH, FSH, prolactin, estradiol, or sex-hormone-binding globulin [20]. Another trial of black cohosh in women with breast cancer found small but insignificant changes in LH levels (in 18 subjects) and FSH levels (in 33 subjects) [6]. In the third study, Remifemin (8 mg/day given as four 2-mg tablets) did not affect LH or FSH levels in 15 women who had undergone a hysterectomy who were part of a study comparing black cohosh with several estrogens [7].

[madubois63]

Ugh - I don't know any onc that would recommend black Cohosh if you have BC!!! That's scary to me...TALK TO YOUR ONC AND OBGYN BEFORE TAKING/USING ANYTHING!!!!

I've been on Lupron since 9/2004 and have had no side effects except vaginal dryness. With all the other crap I've been on, it's so hard to differentiate what gives me which side effect. I mean, moodiness can be the shots or this freaking disease - LOL -whose to say?? I was on Tamoxifen for 4 1/2 years and switched to Femara at the same time I started the Lupron. My hot flashes faded to nearly nothing - a small blessing. Good luck...

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