234 - Breast cancer treatment and HRT

The Dr Louise Newson Podcast

Dr Louise Newson

Health & Fitness, Mental Health, Medicine

4.8 • 798 Ratings

🗓️ 12 December 2023

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Content advisory: this podcast contains themes of mental health and suicide. Dr Louise is joined by her patient Trudie Jennings in this episode to talk about the complexities around HRT during and after treatment for breast cancer. Trudie describes how she started HRT to successfully manage crippling anxiety and other menopause symptoms and a few months later she was diagnosed with an aggressive breast cancer. NICE guidance states women should stop taking systemic HRT if they are diagnosed with breast cancer. However, after careful discussion with her cancer doctor and nurse, Trudie decided to continue with HRT during her treatment as, for her, the menopause symptoms were more challenging than her cancer treatment. Trudie and Dr Louise discuss shared decision making and informed consent, and how important it is for women with and after breast cancer to be fully informed about potential risks, benefits and uncertainties about HRT following a breast cancer diagnosis so they can make the best decision that is right for them. Trudie’s three tips for women who have had breast cancer and are struggling with their menopause: Know that as a patient you do have choices about whether to start or continue HRT after breast cancer treatment. Speak to your doctors and nurses and be informed so that you can make the right, personalised, decision for yourself. Trudie has found her healthcare professionals in cancer care open and helpful when discussing her need for HRT. You know your own body best, so listen to your body to get the treatment that will be best support you. Contact the Samaritans for 24-hour, confidential support by calling 116 123 or email [email protected] Click here to find out more about Newson Health

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, I'm Dr Louise Newsome. I'm a GP and menopause specialist, and I'm also the founder of the Newsome Health Menopause and wellbeing centre here in Stratford-Pon-Avon.
0:21.6	I'm also the founder of the free Balance app.
0:25.6	Each week on my podcast, join me and my special guests where we discuss all things perimenopause
0:31.6	and menopause. We talk about the latest research, bust myths on menopause symptoms and treatments,
0:38.2	and often share moving and always inspirational personal stories.
0:43.7	This podcast is brought to you by the Newsome Health Group,
0:46.9	which has clinics across the UK dedicated to providing individualised perimenopause and menopause care for all women.
1:02.8	So today on the podcast, I've got someone with me called Trudy, who's very kindly agreed to share
1:08.5	her story. So I first met Trudy about five years ago and she came to the
1:13.8	clinic as a patient and travelled many miles actually to come and see me. So welcome Trudy. Thanks for
1:19.9	joining me today. Thank you. So when you first came, it was a few years ago now, about five years ago and
1:26.1	people weren't really talking
1:27.5	about the menopause as they do now and I don't know quite how, I hopefully will explain how
1:32.7	you found me but then you came all the way many miles from the north to the clinic. So do you mind
1:37.7	explaining what happened and when you discovered that you might be experiencing some symptoms?
1:43.3	It was around 2017. I was 49 and that year I
1:48.3	started to feel anxiety for no apparent reason. I was happy. I was healthy. I was enjoying life.
1:54.9	Married, no children, but a great life really. And this, it was more irritating than anything
2:00.6	else, this anxiety because
2:01.7	it didn't seem to be thoughts associated with it it just felt like a bodily sensation anyway so
2:08.2	I was kind of just trying to cope with that and ignore it but then in December I came down with a
2:13.2	tummy bug and I didn't get better and I couldn't get out of bed and after about three weeks of
	...

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