Please note, that I did have estrogen positive breast cancer and have opted to do ovarian suppression and an AI as my breast cancer treatment. You and your doctor should discuss your options and whats the best treatment for you.
I wanted to write this post to provide you with reliable information in a relatable way, because that is what I wanted when I was diagnosed. So keep reading for what is ovarian suppression for breast cancer treatment.
Info from Breast Cancer Now
💉 Hormone therapy: Some drugs stop the ovaries from making estrogen.
💉 Goserelin (Zoladex) is the most commonly used drug used in ovarian suppression. It comes as a very small pellet (implant) in a pre-filled syringe. It’s given as an injection into your abdomen once a month.
💉 Ovarian suppression combined with tamoxifen, aromatase inhibitors or targeted therapies
💉If you are having one of the above injections for ovarian suppression this is often combined with another hormone therapy such as tamoxifen or drugs known as aromatase inhibitors (anastrozole, exemestane and letrozole).
Info from Susan G Gomen
💉Ovarian suppression can slow the growth of hormone receptor-positive breast cancer in premenopausal (before menopause) women.
💉Ovarian suppression uses drug therapy or surgery to prevent the ovaries from making estrogen. This stops menstrual periods and lowers hormone levels in the body (similar to a natural menopause), so the tumor can’t get the estrogen it needs to grow.
💉 Ovarian suppression is always given in combination with tamoxifen or an aromatase inhibitor. It’s not used instead of these therapies. So, having ovarian suppression doesn’t mean you can avoid taking tamoxifen or an aromatase inhibitor.
Are you currently in treatment for breast cancer? Have you discussed ovarian suppression shots? Let me know what other kind of information you’d like to see. And make sure to check out this blog post on What Questions to Ask Your Oncologist
Thanks for visiting!
Sabrina Skiles founded Homegrown Houston as a lifestyle resource for millennial women. She shares daily inspirations from fashion and home décor to family and motherhood to health and wellness.
In addition to lifestyle, she is also passionate about bringing more awareness to psoriasis and psoriatic disease. Sabrina has been living with psoriasis for 15+ years.
Throughout this time she has tried everything from biologics, topicals, tar shampoo and light therapy. She also lived in Maui, Seattle and now currently Houston—so she understands current challenges psoriasis patients face on a day-to-day basis and how environment can play a role in managing psoriasis and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Sabrina is also a volunteer mentor and coach for the National Psoriasis Foundation providing guidance to those newly diagnosed.
Sabrina’s mission is to empower millennial moms to find their self-confidence while getting rid of the mom guilt; and empower those living with psoriatic disease that it’s possible to live a healthy, happy and fashionable life.
Currently, you can see Sabrina sharing her psoriasis patient expert insights at Healthcentral. She has also written for Everyday Health, Healthline, Makeup.com and Webmd.
Sabrina has been featured with SELF Magazine, SheKnows and on the cover of Health Monitor Magazine’s Guide to Living with Psoriasis.
Sabrina and her husband Chris have been married for eight years. They have two young boys, Declan(2.5) and Beckett(7 months). They love to travel, try new food and binge watch new Netflix series. You will always see Sabrina with coffee(or wine) in her hand.
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