NIH Study regarding HRT and BReast cancer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Alcohol also raises breast cancer risk, as does being overweight, as does a lot of things.

You have to be educated and decide for yourself if the risk outweighs the benefits. Talk to your doctor.

+1000

Evaluate your risks for everything in your lifestyle. and make informed choices.

Also, breastfeeding reduces your risk (I've got 5+ years of that with 2 kids), exercise, eating clean (cutting out sugars and unhealthy carbs will lower your risk of so many cancers/health issues).
If you have alcohol, that has a higher risk than the right HRT (for most people). Yet most of us are not eliminating that. So do everything with moderation and being educated.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I'm very torn honestly. My gyn suggested I try HRT even though I am high risk for BC (mother had it in her 50's). She said, try it for 2 months and see how you feel, a few weeks on anything won't give you breast cancer. I've been on it for 3 weeks and I feel FANTASTIC (except for the sore boobs, but it's tolerable). Now I have to decide whether to live with the risk, or the discomfort of meno. Am 54 btw, 2 years post-meno.

Your gyn sounds pretty irresponsible. Whatever symptoms you have, breast cancer treatment symptoms would be MUCH worse. You should visit a GP and psychiatrist to explore other treatments. There are other options out there for mental health and insomnia and hot flashes.

I don't think she's irresponsible. A few weeks of HRT isn't going to give anyone breast cancer. If it didn't help symptoms, it would be a moot point. Since it does, then it comes down to a risk-reward equation.

There are other ways to handle the symptoms.

Great, why don't you tell us, since you seem to be an expert?

Given that people claim basically everything is a menopause symptom, it’s not possible to list everything unless you tell me the specific one.

--joint pain/stiffness
--skin problems - dryness, itching, rashes - have tried all types of lotions of course
--dry eyes
--terrible fatigue even after 8 hours of sleep
--poor concentration/memory affecting work
--osteopenia - calcium supplements make me constipated, ugh!
--cholesterol - had plaque on a calcium scan

I already take: an SSRI, Magnesium supplement, Crestor, and cyclosporine (for dry eye).

Exercise, eyedrops and warm compresses, CBT and acceptance. Maybe a statin.

The problem is also that other than osteopenia, the evidence for HRT helping any of those listed conditions is extremely thin. I’m sure there is a placebo effect though. But at the end of the day, the fatigue of chemo and radiation would be a hell of a lot worse.

Statins have lots of side effects and long term damages. It's not a good viable solution for the next 30+ years of your life (IMO). I'd try diet and supplements (red yeast rice, etc) along with HRT.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I’ve read exhaustively in the literature because I had a dear friend who was convinced her breast cancer was from the HRT she went on the year before diagnosis and who demanded I promise, while nursing her on hospice status, never to take it.

I experienced devastating symptoms from surgically induced early menopause and over a decade lost my career, my home, most of my possessions and nearly all my good health - I struggled with suicidality for nearly a decade from chronic debilitating insomnia that made me clinically depressed. I finally went on HRT and got my life back, or what’s left of it. I can work full time again and have some modest future hopes and don’t think all the time about killing myself.

I’m happy to risk the .whatever increase for breast cancer to avoid the certainty that I would have eventually succumbed to suicidal ideation. Don’t shame anyone who chooses HRT - you have no idea what battles they’ve endured.

HRT for surgical menopause is different from HRT for normal hot flashes. And you should not have let it get to that point.

Different poster here. Oh my god, you’re a truly horrible person. Your response to PP actually shocked me.

Look. That PP was engaged in some severe fear-mongering and outlandish tale to, I don’t know what, convince people that we all need HRT? I’m sorry no, losing all your possessions and becoming suicidal is not because you did not get HRT because your doctor is mean. Nobody is shaming anybody for taking HRT - but I surely will call out people making absurdly exaggerated claims about it.

There’s a difference between “making a claim” and telling your experience. Tons of women have experiences like that PP, yes, due to loss of hormones when there’s a pretty easy and simple solution.

NP Agreed. The “Look,” PP is absolutely horrible.

No, what is absolutely horrible is disseminating false and exaggerated information to women about their health.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was just diagnosed with breast cancer. No family history of it. I'm 49 and was put on HRT 3 years ago to manage perimenopause symptoms.

Note, my breast cancer is early stage, and is treatable, so I will hopefully not be counted in any "mortality" numbers, but still it's so much to go through (surgery, radiation and guess what?! Bc my cancer is positive for hormone receptors, I have to take basically anti-estrogen meds for the next several years to make sure it doesn't come back). Anecdotal, obviously, but HRT has definitely not been worth this.

I think the guidance will eventually shake out at not starting HRT until after full menopause.

Also, for the many women who have dense breast tissue (I do), that can hide the earliest detection of a breast tumor. Density naturally does go down in full menopause so that's another factor to consider if you're perimenopausal and taking HRT, that any cancer might be more difficult to spot. Make sure you're vigilant about screenings.

I’m sorry to hear about your diagnosis. I’m glad they caught it early and I wish you the best.

I guess I’m confused because aren’t the HRT dosages really low? And aren’t women on a higher doses of estrogen earlier in life when most of us are on birth control? And don’t estrogen rate skyrocket when we are pregnant and yet we don’t tend to see a correlation with women getting diagnosed with breast cancer after pregnancy.

It seems like it’s just too simple to say estrogen for hormone replacement therapy is causing cancer. The fact of the matter is breast cancer is rising in young women and yet very few young women are on replacement therapy, especially since the big study in the early 2000s hormone replacement therapy rates have plunged so there’s clearly more to the story on why younger women are getting breast cancer and it’s not just estrogen or hormone replacement therapy.

I really fear we’re missing the forest through the trees when people just lump these early rates of cancer as HRT when most women being diagnosed early, have not started HRT yet.

Estrogen doesn't "Cause BC". It can simply be a means to active cancer in your body if you are predisposed to it. It's all part of multiple factors---just like taking hormonal BC for years, smoking, being overweight, eating crap, etc can all contribute to cancer activating in your body.

Be educated and make choices. Most of us choose to do many things daily/over the years that have a much higher impact on our health/cancer/etc and think nothing of it. So get educated and decide what is best for you.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Why is this a surprise? HRT and cancer were linked even when I was in college like 30 years ago!
Why so many people recommend HRT is beyond me!

+1

Keep up. That was a scientific mistake that has been corrected with new research. Science does not stop once one study finds one tiny effect.

What? It’s still thought that HRT raises breast cancer risk. The question is whether that is worth it to you.

https://www.breastcancer.org/risk/risk-factors/using-hormone-replacement-therapy

And just like I will have a glass of wine with dinner (or two somedays) I will also evaluate whether HRT is right for me. IMO, the glass of wine likely is a higher risk factor (no BC in my family). But the life I now have back, functioning as a normal human versus pre HRT is astounding. Quality of life matters

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I was just diagnosed with breast cancer. No family history of it. I'm 49 and was put on HRT 3 years ago to manage perimenopause symptoms.

Note, my breast cancer is early stage, and is treatable, so I will hopefully not be counted in any "mortality" numbers, but still it's so much to go through (surgery, radiation and guess what?! Bc my cancer is positive for hormone receptors, I have to take basically anti-estrogen meds for the next several years to make sure it doesn't come back). Anecdotal, obviously, but HRT has definitely not been worth this.

I think the guidance will eventually shake out at not starting HRT until after full menopause.

Also, for the many women who have dense breast tissue (I do), that can hide the earliest detection of a breast tumor. Density naturally does go down in full menopause so that's another factor to consider if you're perimenopausal and taking HRT, that any cancer might be more difficult to spot. Make sure you're vigilant about screenings.

I’m sorry to hear about your diagnosis. I’m glad they caught it early and I wish you the best.

I guess I’m confused because aren’t the HRT dosages really low? And aren’t women on a higher doses of estrogen earlier in life when most of us are on birth control? And don’t estrogen rate skyrocket when we are pregnant and yet we don’t tend to see a correlation with women getting diagnosed with breast cancer after pregnancy.

It seems like it’s just too simple to say estrogen for hormone replacement therapy is causing cancer. The fact of the matter is breast cancer is rising in young women and yet very few young women are on replacement therapy, especially since the big study in the early 2000s hormone replacement therapy rates have plunged so there’s clearly more to the story on why younger women are getting breast cancer and it’s not just estrogen or hormone replacement therapy.

I really fear we’re missing the forest through the trees when people just lump these early rates of cancer as HRT when most women being diagnosed early, have not started HRT yet.

Breast cancer rates absolutely do go up in the immediate period after pregnancy. It’s not “skyrocketing” rates (cancer statistics are rarely like that) but a clear statistically significant amount. Any internet search will confirm this.

I think after this wave of it being trendy to take hrt even for very little need (I have a friend with very minor menopause symptoms who was surprised that she was just handed a prescription for HRT by her gyn - she didn’t ask for it and didn’t really want it) there are going to be others like the 49 year old pp above. And the sad/ironic thing is that having to take estrogen blockers for hormone positive breast cancer makes all of those menopause symptoms even worse.

It looks like about one out of 3000 women get diagnosed with breast cancer shortly after pregnancy. This number includes women who are predisposed genetically for breast cancer so we don’t know the risk of the general population other than that it’s very small considering the average woman has a one and 12 risk of breast cancer.

We could argue about this all day, but I think we’re doing women a real disservice when we say the risk of breast cancer is due to hormone replacement therapy- less than 5% of women take hormone replacement therapy. Yet cancer rates have been rising - clearly there are other things we need to focus on.

I feel really bad for any women on this thread who smugly thinks they won’t get breast cancer because they’re not doing HRT. Many of them will be in for a rude awakening.

We can argue and fight amongst ourselves, or we can demand more research, better screening modalities, and more answers. Or we can just shame women for trying to feel better during perimenopause and menopause.

Yup! Because many other factors can cause BC (or other cancers). Most people eat a SAD diet and think nothing of so many sugars/empty carbs/crap in their diet. That alone is likely causing more damage to your body than taking HRT. Yet, why don't we all eat clean and eliminate sugars?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve read exhaustively in the literature because I had a dear friend who was convinced her breast cancer was from the HRT she went on the year before diagnosis and who demanded I promise, while nursing her on hospice status, never to take it.

I experienced devastating symptoms from surgically induced early menopause and over a decade lost my career, my home, most of my possessions and nearly all my good health - I struggled with suicidality for nearly a decade from chronic debilitating insomnia that made me clinically depressed. I finally went on HRT and got my life back, or what’s left of it. I can work full time again and have some modest future hopes and don’t think all the time about killing myself.

I’m happy to risk the .whatever increase for breast cancer to avoid the certainty that I would have eventually succumbed to suicidal ideation. Don’t shame anyone who chooses HRT - you have no idea what battles they’ve endured.

HRT for surgical menopause is different from HRT for normal hot flashes. And you should not have let it get to that point.

But plenty of people have way more than some "hot flashes" when they hit peri/menopause. I became a totally different person---it was as if I had lost my mind, was constantly tired, couldn't function. HRT gave me back my life (and saved my marriage and job). Most of us don't go on HRT on a whim

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Gaining a few pounds and sleeping less than the recommended 7 hours do a TON to increase your risk of breast cancer, let alone even light drinking. I’m happy with my choice to combine hrt eith lifestyle to keep weight off, sleep, exercise etc. so that my risk of cancers of all types isn’t skyrocketing due to loss of sleep and weight gain around my middle. You do you OP.

+1000

And my weight is much easier to manage while on HRT. I don't have to starve myself to stay at the ideal weight...becaues my hormones are under control.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve read exhaustively in the literature because I had a dear friend who was convinced her breast cancer was from the HRT she went on the year before diagnosis and who demanded I promise, while nursing her on hospice status, never to take it.

I experienced devastating symptoms from surgically induced early menopause and over a decade lost my career, my home, most of my possessions and nearly all my good health - I struggled with suicidality for nearly a decade from chronic debilitating insomnia that made me clinically depressed. I finally went on HRT and got my life back, or what’s left of it. I can work full time again and have some modest future hopes and don’t think all the time about killing myself.

I’m happy to risk the .whatever increase for breast cancer to avoid the certainty that I would have eventually succumbed to suicidal ideation. Don’t shame anyone who chooses HRT - you have no idea what battles they’ve endured.

HRT for surgical menopause is different from HRT for normal hot flashes. And you should not have let it get to that point.

Different poster here. Oh my god, you’re a truly horrible person. Your response to PP actually shocked me.

Look. That PP was engaged in some severe fear-mongering and outlandish tale to, I don’t know what, convince people that we all need HRT? I’m sorry no, losing all your possessions and becoming suicidal is not because you did not get HRT because your doctor is mean. Nobody is shaming anybody for taking HRT - but I surely will call out people making absurdly exaggerated claims about it.

NP. The suicide rates in women around menopause are quite alarming. It’s not just anecdotal. There are real data. Not saying HRT is the answer for everyone, but it probably is one solution among many.

That doesn’t mean that HRT is the answer for suicidality. Obviously.

But if those symptoms only appear during perimenopause and menopause and HRT resolves it, HRT might just be the right answer for many. Most anti suicide/depression drugs have way more risks/side effects than HRT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve read exhaustively in the literature because I had a dear friend who was convinced her breast cancer was from the HRT she went on the year before diagnosis and who demanded I promise, while nursing her on hospice status, never to take it.

I experienced devastating symptoms from surgically induced early menopause and over a decade lost my career, my home, most of my possessions and nearly all my good health - I struggled with suicidality for nearly a decade from chronic debilitating insomnia that made me clinically depressed. I finally went on HRT and got my life back, or what’s left of it. I can work full time again and have some modest future hopes and don’t think all the time about killing myself.

I’m happy to risk the .whatever increase for breast cancer to avoid the certainty that I would have eventually succumbed to suicidal ideation. Don’t shame anyone who chooses HRT - you have no idea what battles they’ve endured.

HRT for surgical menopause is different from HRT for normal hot flashes. And you should not have let it get to that point.

Different poster here. Oh my god, you’re a truly horrible person. Your response to PP actually shocked me.

Look. That PP was engaged in some severe fear-mongering and outlandish tale to, I don’t know what, convince people that we all need HRT? I’m sorry no, losing all your possessions and becoming suicidal is not because you did not get HRT because your doctor is mean. Nobody is shaming anybody for taking HRT - but I surely will call out people making absurdly exaggerated claims about it.

NP. The suicide rates in women around menopause are quite alarming. It’s not just anecdotal. There are real data. Not saying HRT is the answer for everyone, but it probably is one solution among many.

That doesn’t mean that HRT is the answer for suicidality. Obviously.

Did you not read what you were responding to? It says it’s one solution out of many. There are in fact studies that show HRT helps suicide risk so it is a tool in the tool toolbox, but agree it is not a blanket solution. Obviously.

IMO, the best solution to a health issue is to find the "Root cause" and treat that. So in many cases (if the suicidal ideations didn't appear until menopause for someone), the root cause of many of our issues during menopause is the lack of hormones. Much healthier (and safer) to solve the hormone problem than giving depression/anti suicidal drugs to someone, which often cause many more issues (and have tons of side effects).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t get the controversy. This study is one of many and we will need more info, but this is a .4% increase risk? Pregnancy greatly increases the risk of several health conditions and most of us happily took that because of the benefit risk trade-off. When I was on birth control pills in my early 20s I knew there was a slight increased risk of breast cancer but again millions of women accept that because of the benefit risk of an unwanted pregnancy.

This 1000%!!!!

Most of us make way more decisions in life that increase our risk of cancer/breast cancer because we have weight the risks/options. Taking hormonal BC for 10+ years (like many women do) has far greater risk than being on HRT. yet many choose to take the hormonal BC (because of the benefits---nobody wants to get pregnant unless planned). Most of us enjoy a cocktail or wine a few days a week, most of us are not going to give those up because of the health risks, we are aware and live our life

[Anonymous]

I don’t consider.4% for a certain type of HRT for those under 55 to be a big deal in terms of risk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t consider.4% for a certain type of HRT for those under 55 to be a big deal in terms of risk.

Because it really is not a "big deal". Driving/riding in a car has risks of death/injury, yet most of us do it daily. However, we minimize the risks by not driving while drunk or tired, we wear our seatbelts and don't speed (like 20 mph over), etc. But we don't think---oh it's too risky, I must walk to work or take the train, cannot get into a car. Everything in life has some risks. It's all about minimizing the effects and weighing the cost/benefits

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve read exhaustively in the literature because I had a dear friend who was convinced her breast cancer was from the HRT she went on the year before diagnosis and who demanded I promise, while nursing her on hospice status, never to take it.

I experienced devastating symptoms from surgically induced early menopause and over a decade lost my career, my home, most of my possessions and nearly all my good health - I struggled with suicidality for nearly a decade from chronic debilitating insomnia that made me clinically depressed. I finally went on HRT and got my life back, or what’s left of it. I can work full time again and have some modest future hopes and don’t think all the time about killing myself.

I’m happy to risk the .whatever increase for breast cancer to avoid the certainty that I would have eventually succumbed to suicidal ideation. Don’t shame anyone who chooses HRT - you have no idea what battles they’ve endured.

HRT for surgical menopause is different from HRT for normal hot flashes. And you should not have let it get to that point.

Different poster here. Oh my god, you’re a truly horrible person. Your response to PP actually shocked me.

Look. That PP was engaged in some severe fear-mongering and outlandish tale to, I don’t know what, convince people that we all need HRT? I’m sorry no, losing all your possessions and becoming suicidal is not because you did not get HRT because your doctor is mean. Nobody is shaming anybody for taking HRT - but I surely will call out people making absurdly exaggerated claims about it.

NP. The suicide rates in women around menopause are quite alarming. It’s not just anecdotal. There are real data. Not saying HRT is the answer for everyone, but it probably is one solution among many.

That doesn’t mean that HRT is the answer for suicidality. Obviously.

But if those symptoms only appear during perimenopause and menopause and HRT resolves it, HRT might just be the right answer for many. Most anti suicide/depression drugs have way more risks/side effects than HRT.

No, SSRIs do not have “way more risks” than HRT. come on. Have we entered into the “make anything up that you want” phase of this discussion?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t consider.4% for a certain type of HRT for those under 55 to be a big deal in terms of risk.

You don’t because you are innumerate.