Hormone Therapy: Turning a Young(ish) Body Old Almost Overnight
Hot flashes. Mood swings. Joint pain and stiffness. Irritability. Insomnia. Fatigue. Anxiety. Depression. Infertility. Those are some of the side effects of the hormone therapy that I'm on to actively fight against my cancer coming back. In some ways, this has been the hardest part of my treatment. I'm not constantly running from appointment to appointment and the cancer treatment center isn't my second home. I currently receive Lupron injections every three months. These injections serve to shut down my ovaries' estrogen production and put me into chemical menopause. I also take an Aromatase inhibitor, which acts like a backup to prevent estrogen conversion in my adrenal glands. The bottom line- NO ESTROGEN zone up in here. (As I'm writing this, I have the chorus of "no flex zone" in my head). The effects of these hormone treatments is that they have the potential to significantly cut down on my risk of recurrence. My breast cancer fed off of estrogen. ...