Secondary illness related to Tamoxifen

HelloKitty66

Hi,

I was watching the news last night about the role estrogen has in our body. It made me a little apprehensive regarding my taking tamoxifen to lessen my estrogen. I'm wondering if anyone on here has or knows someone who has had a secondary illness directly related to taking Tamoxifen? I know the risks are there, but I just wonder how prominent it is.

Moderators

Welcome HelloKitty, We are glad that you reached out to us and hope you will stay connected to this exceptional community of others with shard experiences. You might want to check out the Hormonal Therapy Forum topics for other tamoxifen related topics. The Mods

Mausie

Hi Kitty66,

I had a second breast cancer which was ER+ (first one was ER-) so they put me on Tamoxifen. I had a transient ischemic attack (double vision) TIA with little "punctate lesions" evident on MRI, so they took me off Tamoxifen and put me on Femara, a blood thinner and atorvastatin for familial high cholesterol. Unfortunately, Femara is ten times more expensive than Tamoxifen.

Don't know if Kitty66 represents your age, but I am 72, and in otherwise good general condition, not overweight or anything, don't smoke, don't drink.

If I were a lot younger I would have questions, but look at the alternative - it works 50% of the time to prevent a recurrence. That makes it worthwhile in my opinion.

Wishing you well.