Bottle 'o Tamoxifen

RunFree16

I asked my MO about the Benadryl thing.  She said it's sort of a "yellow light" drug, OK to take once in a while but not regularly.  An alternative is Zyrtec.

corky60

My MO also said I could take Benadryl occasionally.  She said no more than twice per week. 

Stenokim

my Mo said same thing regarding Benadryl, occasionally as needed is fine. 

TeamKim

I was not given any drugs not to take with Tamoxifen.  I took a 24 hr Benadryl on Friday night.  Dizziness was all gone on Saturday.  So I think it was the congestion.  I had take a Zyrtec earlier in the week, and it didn't do anything for either the allergies or the dizziness, but Benedryl seems to have done the trick.  I will ask my MO if there are any OTC drugs that are off limits with Tamoxifen.  With my nasal allergies, it would be pretty impossible to go years without taking something.

corky60

TeamKim, there are hundreds of drugs (prescription and over the counter) that can interact with Tamoxifen to a greater or lesser degree.  Ask your Dr. about your specific concerns.

http://www.drugs.com/drug-interactions/tamoxifen.html

Headeast

scary, i was taking Advil PM and it shows in your link it has an interaction with Tamox, same with Aspirin!

corky60

It's probably the diphenhydramine.  Diphenhydramine is the generic Benadryl.  It doesn't show an interaction with just plain aspirin.

Headeast

ok, thanks! I want to ask my MO on Wednesday about taking baby Aspirin

TeamKim

My MO told me to take two of the low dose aspirin per day with Tamoxifen to guard against the SE of blood clots, and also to make sure that I exercise (walking and climbing stairs is what I do) for the same reason.  Thanks for the link, Corky -- I will ask my MO at my next visit.

josie123

I'm here again round 2  with Tamoxifen, I've been off it since December. Stopped due to a skin issue with my eyelid.Turns out getting off Tamoxofin didn't make it better.So I've decided to try again.Day 3 no problems so far but any suggestions on the light sleep.It feels like any little thing will wake me up.Hasn't seemed to affect me cognitively yet.Thank God.

gemini4

hi Josie!  Lots of ladies here have reported success with melatonin as a sleep aid. I've been taking it myself for a few weeks and seem to be getting more restful sleep. I take 1mg at bedtime and I usually pass out when I read in bed. 

Hope you have an easy time with tamoxifen this time around!

josie123

Thanks Gemini. I might try that.I wish there was a way to track how many actual hours of sleep I'm really getting.I know the fit bit is supposed to do that but not sure how accurate that is.

Lacey12

Josie, I learned here from Runfree about controlled release melatonin (2mg)which has made a big difference in my ability to get to sleep and, if I awaken during the night to return to sleep. The very light sleep issue was driving me crazy....it was like being on high alert all night. Interestingly, this past week I went three nights without the melatonin since I was visiting my grandchildren and they provide great sleep motivation! Well, by the third night I started with the light sleep again, even tho my body was exhausted. 

So, I am happily back to my 2mgs and slept better last night. Not perfect, but does help relax me into a sleep. The cog fog is still disturbing me in that I cannot remember relevant names  when conversing...and lose my train of thought easily. It is especially embarrassing when meeting and talking with new people. Narcissistically, it bothers me because I was always the "go to" person for remembering names, issues, events, at work, in social groups, etc. So it's a significant personal loss.:( I see my MO on Friday and plan to ask her if I can take another vacay from Tamox to see if I can get my brain power back for at least a few weeks. I hate the thought that I may be forever like this.

I have not tried to track my sleep with fit bit....interesting idea.

josie123

Lacey, my son takes Melatonin every night to help him sleep.He's done this since he was a toddler.He is Autistic and lacks the melatonin .I am kind of afraid to take anything to help me sleep but melatonin is natural and I guess if I cannot give it to my child I can take it.

Lacey12

Josie, I figured the same thing about the safety of melatonin since many of my young school "clients"  took it. Good luck!

gemini4

I think I'm going to try a slow-release version of melatonin myself. I am noticing that I wake up about five hours after taking my 1mg pill.  I am able to fall back asleep (fortunately), but I'd love to not have that disruption. 

Headeast

I went to see my MO on Wednesday for my three month after chemo follow up. MO told me that even though I am menopausal now (I am 45 and had chemo induced menopause) I might get my period back in the next months, that it can take six months or even more.

He also told me that the fatigue I feel is very common, Tamoxifen being a reason for it, in part,  and the the chemo. Now that I have low levels of estrogen my serotonin is low. He prescribed Effexor at first but then changed to a milder one called Celexa, 20mg to help with increasing the serotonin in my brain and with that the fatigue and other SE can be controlled.

Tonight has been my second night taking Celexa and it is making me sleepy and a little nauseous, which MO told me I would be, so I took anti nausea at the same time as the anti depressant. He told me I should take half the dose for a week and a half to two weeks and that the nausea should disappear in four days. He also told me that it takes a whole month for that medication to take effect, since the serotonin levels increase gradually.

josie123

Headeast, I took Celexa for a few years when my son was young.I never had nausea but it did kind of slow my reaction time a little and I don't remember the tiredness.Of course I had an Autistic toddler at the time.I don't remember a lot about his childhood when I was on the Celexa.But maybe that wasn't why.

SophiaMarie

I don't take melatonin for sleep, but I do take it for its anti cancer benefits - http://www.breastcancerchoices.org/melatonin.html

There are lots more articles out there if you're interested.  The pharmacist did caution me though - she said to only take up to 3 mgs a day so it doesn't interfere with the tamox.  This article makes it sound like it doesn't interfere - so hard to always know the actual truth!

Headeast

Thank you, Josie! Trying to feel with more energy. I will see what happens in a month!

Nocompromises2013

I just got a 'jawbone - UP'. Same as a fit bit - it downloads all your info to yr smartphone. Fascinating to see your footsteps daily and yr sleep patterns. It tells u how long u took to fall asleep your deep sleep vs yr light sleep and give you calorie usage, idle alerts. Etc etc. It's great ! 

josie123

Headeast, your welcome.

Nocompromises, is that only available in Australia or can I get it in the US?

MBLizzy

I have had a fit bit since mid December - love it.  It is both motivating and addicting.  My sister and I are very competative -  we can see each other's steps and we try to out do each other (all in good fun). 

DawnCT

Josie, 

Jawbone is definitely available in the US.   I saw it at Best buy the other day! 

Dawn

Lacey12

So.......I had my MO appt today and we discussed the continuation of my many minor (nails, hair, need for  melatonin to get some sleep) SEs and more importantly my cog fog and allergic itching (for which I have started to see a functional medicine clinician who immediately recommended that I start 500 mgs of Vit C ).

I spent a lot of time discussing the cog fog issue since I find that it affects my quality of life significantly...and she totally "gets" that. We both decided that it needed to be addressed since I risk getting depressed about how much the reduced memory impacts my conversations and how much the executive function issues affect my general productivity. I also asked her if I could take a few weeks off the meds to see if my brain would get better like it did last year when I tried that (can you tell I'm worried about dying brain cells!?). 

The upshot of all this is that I will take several weeks off from Tamox, and then in a month will "try" an AI (not sure which one she will select). We have had this discussion many times before and while she nows that my big concern is how an AI will impact my already chronically painful joints, she believes it  is worth a try since some of her patients who struggled with Tamox found an AI to be gentler on them. So that remains to be seen...... But I will be a "good sport" and try her idea. 

If I am not that lucky, I can go right back on Tamox. To be continued.....oh, she also mentioned that weight gain was more prevalent on Tamox than on AI's. Not sure If I agree with that given what I hear from my "sisters" on AIs. I will be very upset after losing thirty lbs this year with rigorous daily exercise and careful diet if I start to struggle with weight gain! 

My Fitbit is yet to be opened since I have been a "religious" exerciser since last year, so stopped thinking I needed it, but it would be fun to see if it can track my sleep.

Thanks for "listening" to my saga.....and by the way, I will not be abandoning this thread just yet!

RunFree16

Thanks for the report Lacey.  It's great that your MO gets how important your mental function is.  It does seem to be worth trying a Tamoxifen vacation and maybe an AI--but I'm glad you'll stick with this thread!  What is the connection between itching and Vitamin C?  I had that long bout of itchy rashes last fall, maybe from Tamoxifen, so I'm wondering if I should have tried that.  (Bactrim eventually knocked it down.)  

SophiaMarie, I have never heard that about melatonin!  How interesting!  Thanks for the link.

josie123

Lacey, what time of the day do you take your tamoxofin? Also ,do you have a rash ?or where are you itchy?

Lenn13ka

Sophie Maire- the pharmacist at Dana Farber said you can safely take up to 10 mg of melatonin with Tamoxifen. I am taking 6 mg right now.  Interesting your MO. Says only 3 mg. always confusing.

Lacey12

Josie, I started taking my Tamox at night to avoid any nausea, but switched to mornings after a few months of sleep problems....and have been taking it in AM for well over a year and a half.  As far as the itching, it started with my eyes, and currently also presents around my neck, scalp perimeter, ears, chest and back.

My MO knows about my 2 mgs of Melatonin and has no concern about it.

josie123

Lacey it's only been like 5 days now but I've been taking it around 7-8 pm after dinner.Well I don't go to bed until like 10:45pm and usually don't have too many problems sleeping except when something wakes me up.After the first few days of the light sleeping I was exhausted by Thursday night and actually slept in a little this morning.

As far as itching I had eye lid itchy first the first round of Tamoxofin.Not so much this time.

As far as the cognitive fog not hit me yet....maybe because by the next morning it has run out of my system a little.