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Question about Amberen and breast cancer risk

By Anonymous October 27, 2010 - 3:52pm
 
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My sister has 4th stage breast cancer, diagnosed when she was past menopause. All genetic tests came back negative. Her cancer is estrogen driven. I just began a course of Amberen, and had not had a period in over a year. The stuff works! ( I feel wonderful and my hot flashes are noticeably diminished.) One month into the treatment I spotted very lightly for one day. My gynecologist tested my blood and my estriadol level was 56, which is considered perimenopausal. Am I taking a chance by playing with my own hormones? Will this level of estriadol put me at risk for breast cancer?

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EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous

It is never safe to manipulate with hormones without been properly tested for various hormones' levels.
In fact, I was surgically menopausal since 2008 at age of 47, and was on
Estrodial for about 2 years, very low dose prescribed by my physician, which did not very much helped my hot flushes, so I tried Amberen... and got breast cancer in June of 2012, still going through treatments. I can't tell if it was related to Amberen, however my tumor was 100% estrogen positive and 80% Progesterone positive, I have no family history of any type of cancer.

December 1, 2012 - 5:24pm
Expert HERWriter Guide Blogger

I would follow your doctor's advice to be on the safe side.

October 27, 2010 - 7:05pm
EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous (reply to Pat Elliott)

Pat Elliot, Your answers have not been informative at all. I would like to know the same things this woman is asking you and you have not been able to give a good answer.

April 27, 2012 - 6:33am
(reply to Anonymous)

Dear Anonymous,

Pat is not a doctor nor does she know any of our members health history. Therefore, Pat can only give answers which are evidence-based and has provided links for our member to visit. Questions that require a yes or no in regards to medication and treatment are best left to your doctor. We are here to guide you in the right direction and hopefully Pat has done that with the person who asked the question. I'm sorry that we cannot help any more but she did an excellent job in researching the questions and guiding her to make an informed decision. 

All the best,

Rosa

April 27, 2012 - 8:35am
EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous (reply to Rosa Cabrera RN)

Just how much "research" did Pat do to arrive at her ridicullously obvious answer?

April 1, 2013 - 6:01pm

Thanks so much for your prompt reply, Pat!

So, am I understanding you correctly, that since Amberen doesn't contain hormones, that I could consider it safe to take? My MD wasn't concerned after reading about it, noting the same thing about the ingredients that you do, but he did suggest that I consider stopping for a month and having my blood drawn again to check my estradiol levels. I'm also checking with my surgeon at the breast center at Yale. I have no intention of taking HRT or bioidenticals or even soy products. I worried that the increase in estradiol that the amberen may be responsible for may further increase my chances for getting breast cancer.

October 27, 2010 - 6:56pm
Expert HERWriter Guide Blogger

Anon - Thanks for your questions and concerns about your health.

First, the following article details the ingredients in Amberen. Amberen is not a hormone supplement. It contains contains monosodium L-glutamate (MSG), glycine, ammonium succinate, calcium disuccinate, magnesium disuccinate hydrate, zinc difumerate and tocopherol acetate (a form of vitamin E). https://www.empowher.com/community/ask/seeking-information-amberen-relieving-menopause-symptoms

In terms of whether hormone therapy poses an additional risk for breast cancer, the answer is yes. https://www.empowher.com/breast-cancer/content/new-study-finds-hrt-may-increase-risk-breast-cancer
http://www.newsweek.com/2010/10/26/the-biggest-questions-about-hrt-answered.html

Given that you have a family history of breast cancer you would be considered to be at high risk with or without hormone therapy. You should give very careful consideration to the use of any type of hormone therapy and work closely with your gynecologist to understand your risks and options.

We hope this information helps you in making your decisions.
Pat

October 27, 2010 - 5:53pm
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