LCIS and tamoxifen

DawnO

I had my partial mastectomy on June 14th and the post surgical pathology report showed clear margins and all 4 of the growths that were removed are b9. I do however have LCIS bilaterally and my BS is strongly recommending tamoxifen. She gave me the prescription yesterday but I haven't filled it yet. I've been reading about the SE and I'm really nervous about them. My. grandmother suffered from multiple strokes and my mother was just at the ER for a blood clot. When I mentioned my concerns my BS dismissed them saying that if I get a blood clot, I can just stop taking it. Since I'm on close monitoring now because of the LCIS (my next mammogram is scheduled in Dec) and my growths were all b9 , my gut is telling me that the risks of the tamoxifen out weigh the benefits for now. I guess I'm wondering if I'm just being overly cautious. Any thoughts?

MelissaDallas

The risks of tamoxifen (blood clots, etc.) are pretty low-about equivalent to birth control pills. There are blood tests they can run to see if you have any genetic factors that put you at higher risk of clotting if indicated. I had them done after having a pulmonary embolism. Most clots are caused by cardiovascular risk factors, so if you don't have those problems you probably are not at particularly elevated risk.. Tamoxifen is actually well tolerated by a big percentage of women who take it.