1. Easy for doctors to say
    D. B. D. B. United States says:
    March 27, 2012 at 12:57 PM

    It is very easy for the doctors to say "it's a shame they don't take it when the drugs are so good for preventing cancer return or metastasis". The doctors do not live with the everyday side effects of these drugs. What is the use of living 5 more year if these years you will be living in excruciating pain and not be able to do anything, not be able to live your life? When it comes to cancer, all doctors seem to be focused ONLY on keeping it away, but they have no regard for the quality of life of the patient. I am one of the breast cancer survivors who, after a year and a half, going through all three of these AI's, fighting now the beginning of early osteoarthritis, aterosclerosis and osteopenia caused by these drugs, said "enough is enough. I'd rather live one year only but be able to live my life, instead of having 10 more years that are nothing but pain".

    Reply
    • 6 yrs after refusing AIs.........
      Mary Mary United States says:
      September 10, 2012 at 10:33 PM

      I'm still very much here!  I agree with D.B. the doctors don't have to live with the side effects.  If they did, I doubt they would be prescribing the AIs.  I'm a quality kind of woman.  The AIs don't have a long enough track record.  The long term side effects just might be worse than this "cure" and possibly not worth it.  Only time will tell.

      Reply
    • suco
      Sue Cox Sue Cox United Kingdom says:
      January 25, 2016 at 5:58 PM

      Yes, DB is right. I had no signs of osteoarthritis before taking AIs. There may have (how can I know?) been some degenerative damage to my joints before, but I believe the sudden onset of the pain and the degree of pain as against the degree of degenerative damage precludes the explanation that this is just normal onset osteoarthritis. I suspect that women may have been advised to have joint replacements without ever having made the connection with AIs. As all specialsts seem to work in silos and are unaware of cross overs with other specialisms this is almost inevitable. My orthopaedic consultant proudly told me that he knew nothing about the effects of drugs when I mentioned it (having read the side effect insert with my AI) He made jokes about this not being something that orthopaedics know. Awareness needs to be raised - at least in the UK - and maybe research needs to be done as to how many women have treated their joint pain as if it was osteoarthritis and nothing to do with AIs. Might be revealing.

      Reply
The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of News Medical.
Post a new comment
(Logout)
Post

Terms

While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. Please confirm any data provided with the related suppliers or authors. We do not provide medical advice, if you search for medical information you must always consult a medical professional before acting on any information provided.

Your questions, but not your email details will be shared with OpenAI and retained for 30 days in accordance with their privacy principles.

Please do not ask questions that use sensitive or confidential information.

Read the full Terms & Conditions.

Provide Feedback