Exhaustion, hot flushes and can't have HRT - any one take clonodine

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I had oestrogen-sensitive breast cancer 10 years ago, was successfully treated with tamoxifen and zoladex. That put me in a temporary menopause. I'm now very peri-menopausal with hot flushes, painful joints and real exhaustion. I'm pretty certain that I won't be able to take HRT - I think I might be offered clonodine and just wondered if anyone had any experience of it - good or bad - they could share...

HI
I had oestrogen driven cancer 10 years ago also and I’m hoping for the oncologists approval of HRT. I don’t want to suffer, for what may not even happen in the future. Have you asked for HRT from your GP yet?

Hi, I tried clonodine (I’ve had oestrogen + BC recently) and found it did help with the hot flushes and sleep. However I have quite low blood pressure so kept getting dizzy. The alternative is to try low dose ADs such as venflaxine. There are a few others you can try. I’m on a very low dose of Citalopram and it’s helped a lot.

My mum used it for a bit and found it helpful. Not totally amazing, but it did make things more bearable.

Blitzen I think the oncologist may be very unlikely to green-light HRT for you if you’ve had an O-driven cancer.

Sorry hit post too soon. I hope you both get some relief

HRT after BC is not always a no-no.

There was something around recently about it where the drs were saying quality of life is more important for some women.

There is also a book out by a US oncologist - it's call Estrogen Matters and is on Amazon- where he says he gives women who had O+ cancer HRT (including his daughter and wife.)

His stance is controversial but he backs it up with research.

he was interviewed on Woman's Hour about 4 months ago- might be on iPlayer.

I know my own dr prescribes HRT to women who have had BC but he does it in tandem with their oncologists.

Hope you find something that helps.

Thank you everyone, that's really interesting and I really appreciate it. My (very good) GP has already said that - given my history - she is more than happy to refer me to a menopause specialist. I'll let you know how it goes. I have a tendency to high blood pressure so clonodine might be ok, but I am worried that it might increase the exhaustion I feel at the moment. At the moment, I'm mostly desperate to get rid of the dead-behind-the-eyes feeling I remember only too well from my BC hormone treatment...

My GP didn't want me to go on clonidine (said the side-effects might outweigh the benefits) so am going on venlafaxine while waiting for another appointment with the menopause-specialist GP (and possible referral). I mentioned the Estrogen Matters book (at the risk of it being outing, I was interested to note that the doctor who diagnosed me is endorses it).