@A MyBCTeam Member - my GYN gave me the same reasons for going through menopause naturally - bones and heart. She absolutely nixed my request for a prohylactic hyst/ooph because I was stage 1, no chemo, low risk of recurrance.

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A MyBCTea...

Yes! Me! I was 45 at the time of my diagnosis. My periods were very regular and then after my 3rd round of chemo, they stopped. I had 2 FSH tests done to decide whether it was Arimidex or Tamoxifen for me following radiation. My FSH levels indicated menopause and onto Arimidex I went in April 2013. Then in June 2014, I started to bleed very lightly. So after much panic and a biopsy and a retest of my FSH, it was determined that my ovaries decided to "wake up" and make periods again. My oncologist is not a fan of Tamoxifen and preferred I stay on Arimidex but add Lupron shots every 12 weeks which I have started in July 2014. I totally agree with mornings being the worst. I no longer can find many comfortable positions to sleep. As a matter of fact, my bed looks similar to a fort! I have so many pillows to prop me up, particularly by my bilateral hip areas. I do not take any pain relief medication - no Tylenol or Advil. I like to try to manage it on my on and find that walks somewhat alleviate the pain and achiness. So glad to hear someone feels like me!!! xoxoxo

My oncologist said the study io this only showed better chances for women 35 and under for ovary shut down and AI vs no ovary shut down and tamoxifen. I'm 49 and my oncologist said tamoxifen is the right way to go. She's with Johns Hopkjns and well regarded. Challenge your doc on it if you think the Lupron is causing too many side effects.

Here is a link and summary paragraph of ASCO SOFT study report out:

It says Tamoxifen alone good enough for older women with low risk BC that did not require Chemo. That's what my Onc told me..believe me, I'd be running to the OBGYN to get my ovaries out of I could get an ounce of support for it from my docs..but they say, keep the ovaries for bones and heart in old age.

http://www.ascopost.com/ViewNews.aspx?nid=20664

Results of the large international SOFT trial present a convincing argument for the addition of ovarian function suppression to adjuvant hormonal therapy to reduce the risk of recurrence in premenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive breast cancer at high enough risk to be treated with chemotherapy. In the cohort of premenopausal women who received chemotherapy, ovarian suppression plus exemestane achieved an even more robust reduction in risk of recurrence than ovarian suppression plus tamoxifen.
In the cohort of women not requiring chemotherapy, tamoxifen alone was sufficient to reduce risk of recurrence.
“I believe this trial is practice-changing. If I see a woman under age 35 with hormone receptor–positive breast cancer, I will know how to advise her. I also will feel more comfortable with tamoxifen alone in a woman age 46 or older with small, low-risk breast cancer,” stated lead author Prudence Francis, MD, Head of Breast Medical Oncology at Peter McCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Australia. The results were presented at the 2014 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (Abstract S3-08) and published online in The New England Journal of Medicine.

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You are in my prayers.
Been there,done that,and I WILL NOT let this beat me...EVER!