Tamoxifen vs. Aromatase Inhibitor plus Lupron

hsel

Hi All. I am having terrible side effects from tamoxifen, such as sweats, severe muscle and joint pain, fatigue, irritability... Considering switching to an a.i., but I'm 46 and premenopausal, so I'd have to have lupron injections as well. I'm concerned that the a.i. will have a whole other set of side effects plus the effects of being put into menopause. Can anyone speak to this?

Moderators

Hi hsel, and welcome to Breastcancer.org,

We're so happy you've found our community and decided to post! We're sure others will be by shortly to share their first-hand experience with switching from tamoxifen to an aromatase inhibitor.

In the meantime, you may be interested in checking out the main Breastcancer.org site's section on Aromatase Inhibitors, which discusses the side effects of each drug that can be expected.

We hope this helps and we look forward to hearing more from you soon!

--The Mods

salasila

Hi hsel

I was on Tamoxifen for about 6-7 months - didn't really have any side effects from it but my oncologist wanted to move me on to Lupron (monthly shot in the butt hahaha) + Letrozole. So I've been doing that combination since July. No real side effects to speak of except I'm starting to feel some ache in my joints (knees) when I'm trying to get up from sitting on the floor for too long. Also vaginal dryness (am I allowed to say that?) My PCP insists that I take the weekly Vit D pills and she'll want me to start on the daily in a month or so. I do simple yoga and pilates daily, or just simple stretches, and I find that helps every time I'm starting to feel achy. Walking helps and drinking a LOT of water always helps.

ETA: I'm 47, by the way. My period did not completely stop with Tamoxifen but it did with the Lupron+Letrozole combination. THAT, I like

Warriortwink

I just switched from Tamoxifen to AI and the monthly Lupron shot. I am pre-menopausal as well. My oncologist wanted me to switch because i wasn’t tolerating the tamoxifen well. With chemo and the tamoxifen, I hadn’t menstruated since 2015. Now, two weeks after being on the AI, I got my period. I can’t give you a lot of insight yet because I just started this, but I will keep an eye on this feed. I’m curious, did you have your period at all on the tamoxifen? Best of luck to you!