Progesterone for adjunct therapy for breast cancer

by Joy

Three years ago I had lobular breast cancer. I underwent surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. From there I was put on Tamoxifen for 2 years then Arimidex for 3 yeras. I have completed my Tamoxifen regime and am almost a year into my Arimidex regime.

In the last month or so I have been experiencing some very disconcerting side effects from the Arimidex - swelling in my hands and wrists - similar to rheumatoid arthritis. I went off the drug for 2 weeks and experienced a little bit of relief and have since been back on it for 1 week and my symptoms have increased. A good friend who is a pharmacist has said I should go off the drug and go on to Progesterone instead. I am tempted to do this but had a couple of questions - I'm not sure if it was on your website but I thought I read somewhere that it was made from the plant steroid diosgenin found in fenugreek and soya - both of which I have been told are estrogenic foods and should be avoided.

Also, I live in Canada - I pray this would never be but if it reoccured I fear (I hate that word) that I would be denied further treatment because I didn't follow their protocol. Any comments you can make would be greatly beneficial. Thanks.