Anyone taking half dose of Tamoxifen every other day?

LoveandLightinLA

Hi ladies,

Just wondering if anyone else is taking a half dosage of Tamoxifen every other day? This is my 3rd round of trying Tamoxifen. I've tried taking it for about 6 weeks at a time, with 1 or 2 month breaks in between. First two rounds gave me constant headaches, even with taking a half dose everyday on the 2nd round.

Not sure if it is even worth it to be taking such a low dose every other day. My side effects aren't too bad at the moment. I do feel hot occasionally, I've been waking up in the middle of the night sometimes, and constantly feel like I have a yeast infection. I've been on this 3rd round of Tamoxifen for about 2.5 months. But to be honest, I forget sometimes to take it, because it's every other day and confusing to remember.

I had my 6 month follow up with my surgeon, and she said that if I were her sister, she would feel confident telling me I could stop taking the Tamoxifen if it is affecting my quality of life, as tubular cancer is rare and hardly ever spreads or comes back.

Debating whether I should just stop taking the Tamoxifen? It definitely has affected the quality of my life, it's not debilitating, but if the benefits are minimal, not sure if it's worth the side effects?

Any thoughts ladies? I would love to hear from you! Thank you!

pabbie

I cut the pill in half for five years. My onc feels it's one of the reasons I had a recurrence when I stopped the drug in 2014. I had a right breast mastectomy in 2014. Tried all AI's and quit., another local recurrence this year in May. I've been on aromasin since June, taking a break because my irritability and anger are at a level 10.

Spookiesmom

I did aramidex for 4 years until the se got too much.

MO says I need protection, tried it every day, horrible. So now it’s 1/2 pill, or 10 mg Mon We’d Fri.

I guess it’s working. I’m doing ok on this amount.

LoveandLightinLA

Thank you for sharing ladies. I decided to stop taking Tamoxifen. I told my oncologist today, and she was okay with that. The side effects outweighed the benefits.

runor

Pabbie, just came across this thread. I also am taking 1/2 a pill a day, for various reasons. Your oncologist has no clue ,NO CLUE! why your cancer came back. None. Zero. The very fact that women taking the full dose and still have their cancer come back tells me that there is NO CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE of how or why cancers metastasize and your onc has no business telling you it's because you took half a dose. He is guessing. He is assuming . He is making the most obvious connection which is not the most TRUTHFUL connection. In this cancer game there is a LOT of guessing going on. Obviously for 5 years that 1/2 dose DID ITS JOB!

I have looked and looked and not found anywhere that 20mg was the MOST EFECTIVE DOSE. Only that it was the dose that was the most tolerated to stop women from quitting the drug in droves. It almost seems that no one was looking to see how much or little was needed to do the job, just how much they could give us before we gave up in miserable defeat. It is reprehensible that your oncologist would blame you and half a dose for the return of your cancer. That is a fabricated conclusion based on knee jerk reaction and NOT on scientific proof.