Bipolar and Tamoxifen

nursiellp

After hours of research I figured out the answer to a question that has been plaguing me since I was told by the BS that I would have to be on tamoxifen for 5 years,  I'll try to put it in layman terms but us peeps with BPMD already seem pretty educated.  I hope this helps someone.

Tamoxifen acts as a estrogen antagonist in some tissue and a agonist in other.  So, Tamoxifen blocks estrogen in breast tissue and acts like estrogen in the uterus and bone. This med messes with your periods bad and therefore messes with your mood swings and depression (typical BPMD symptoms).  Seems like a lot of Drs. suggest an ooph but this brings on early menopause and screws up BPMD even more. 

Someone said on this site that she had an endometrial ablation instead of an ooph.  Makes  a lot of sense to me.  A ablation will keep your ovaries and therefore keep your natural estrogen flowing but will stop your period and associated PMS and BPMD symptoms. 

I hope someone finds this useful and you can understand it.  

gretchy

Thank you for this information. It is helpful. I have Bipolar and pretty sure they are saying I will be on Tamoxifan so this is a good heads up to talk to my doctors about.

nursiellp

Welcome Gretchy.  I think that's the least of my problems though.  I'm quitting smoking and it's throwing by BPMD so far out of whack.  I sort of like the no filter from my brain to my mouth.  Telling people exactly what I'm thinking is pretty great at times.  Welcome to BPMD folks...that's me!  Oh the looks on their faces!

PinchGrowInch

I was taking Tegretol for anxiety and had to stop it before starting Tamoxifen to avoid a conflict (by the way, NEVER stop an anti-seizure anti-convlusant - AS/AC - cold-turkey and without specific guidance from your doctors). Finding the right replacement medicine was challenging -- my doctors could not seem to come to a recommendation about what to take!

After research and doctor/pharmacist interviews, I finally decided for myself and replaced Tegretol with Trileptal. It's only been about 3 weeks since I started, but my husband tells me that he sees a reduction in my symptoms. I got approval to start Tamoxifen after I stabilized, so I started last night, about one-and-a-half months after finishing radiation.

I've asked my oncologist for guidance about side effects for which I should watch. If anyone can provide some insight, I'd appreciate it.