For PLADY......About Evista

Hi Plady, I found some information on Raloxifene (trade name Evista). Sorry I didn't respond sooner. I just saw another post that you are concerned about your CA-125 test and that you are seeing the doctor this Tuesday. I hope you can get some answers at the doctor's office. I will post this and then tell you where I found some info on the Evista.

Mary

[Mary 53]

I wish I could just post the page and a half that I found on raloxifene (again, Evista) and tamoxifen. It is a "selective estrogen receptor modulator" (SERMs). Essentially they are synthetic estrogens "that get their name from their ability to bind with estrogen receptors and selectively modulate the effects of estrogen in different body tissues. Evista promotes bone density while decreasing the stimulation of breast tissue by estrogen. This selective activity is possible because there are two different estrogen receptors, ER-alpha and ER-beta, each of which predominates in certain tissue."

I found this information while I was looking up something else in my Northrup book, "The Wisdom of Menopause." It was on page 145 and 146 if you get a chance to pick up the book at the library or bookstore, as there was more information on the topic and suggestions for alternatives to the Evista. Northrup suggested concern about using this, although I didn't see anything regarding a worry about getting Ovarian cancer in her comments (book published in 2000, though)but she expressed concerns, although she does point out that at the time of the writing of the book, they had not been around for very long...long enough to assess the benefits and risks of the SERMs. I will say that I find her easy to understand (ok, sometimes I have to read a passage more than once), but she is fair, not totally anti-drug, but makes a point of offering all ways to look at certain treatments.

Anyway, you have been on my mind and I hope that the doctor can help you out tomorrow...do you think the Evista is causing a change in the reading of the CA-125? Just brain storming here. I only had the test one time and it came in the normal range as my malignancy was contained in one cyst, so I am not very familiar with it.

Keep in touch and let us know how things go tomorrow.

Mary

[plady]

Thank you so much for responding to me.  I really appreciate it.
My doctor's appointment is today.  I will let you know what he says.  In the meantime I have discontinued Evista on my own.  
Thanks again.