Hello again, Mareens!!
Was just speaking to a neighbor who commutes between here and South Africa for business. He is on his way there again tomorrow. It is a beautiful country!
There is a LOT of information on BCG on this Forum which you can find by using the SEARCH function. Please remember that people who have problems tend to post more than those who don't. As for my personal experience, I was not on HRT at the time since I had previously had breast cancer that was hormone receptor positive. Again, my PERSONAL philosophy is that a healthy life style is a good idea no matter what and I do not subscribe to extra supplements or herbs or concoctions that are supposed to do whatever.....NO SMOKING, however particularly since my husband died of lung cancer!
The side effects of BCG vary from patient to patient. They are much less than if you had to undergo systemic chemotherapy as is necessary with invasive cancers. BCG is instilled directly into the bladder and not into the body as a whole. You try to keep it there for about 2 hours. Since the purpose of BCG is to stimulate the immune system so that your bladder rejects the tumor cells, it does take a while to work. At first you feel minimal side effects once the first half day or so is over. As you continue to have BCG treatments the side effects probably increase, and this does indicate that your immune system is "kicking in." The most common side effects are urinary urgency (as if you had a bladder infection), bleeding when you urinate, and fatigue. Most of us plan to take the day of instillation off work but are able to return the next day (especially if a bathroom is nearby!) If the side effects become intolerable, it is possible for the urologist to use a reduced dose. Your experience may be different from what I described, which is sort of the typical reaction.
Those of us who have CIS should be truly grateful to have BCG since it has a very good record with CIS.
Sara Anne