Bottle 'o Tamoxifen

Thanks Chevyboy encouraging to know that he se can ease up.  Funny about the drinks, at the last appt the onc asked me if I drank and I said no but I was seriously considering it.lol... I am so glad I found this board as well, makes me feel alot less "alone" with it all. I have great support, but nothing like sharing with people that understand really understand what your going through, . Off to the treadmill, I have found that helps alot as well!!!

Thanks for letting me on board!!!

I am almost a month in, and doing quite well. However, I did want to report in that I am experiencing depression, and this can be very serious for some of us.  So do watch out for it.  I know it's the drug because it feels very particular, and coincided exactly with getting on it.  I usually do not have problems with depression.  I plan to do some more exercise, as that can be enormously helpful.

Also...I hate even posting it, but the digestive system is at a complete standstill. Quite unnerving, as I'm taking magnesium AND miralax daily at this point.  For those of you who tend towards it to begin with, keep a watchful eye. The doctors really don't take that seriously, either.

peg119 - How much melatonin do you take?  I tried two and it did nothing for me.

jo1055 - I am taking Hesperidin Methyl Chalcone -2 500mg 3x a day, the last right  before bedtime, it is a flavenoid.  This was prescribed by my Naturopathic Oncologist and has helped tone down the hot flashes.  They are made by Douglas Labs and you can buy them online.  The hot flashes are not gone, but they are better.  For the new gals starting Tmox: I tried taking it at every different time of the day to see if that changed the hot flashes, but it had no effect, so I take it with breakfast and mark it down on my calendar so I don't forget.  Seems I can usually count on one around 5-6:30 PM and usually 1 or 2 during the night.  I didn't feel well during the holidays and took echinacea as I have for years.  I got hot flashes about every hour while on it, they were short lived but they were constant.  Will ask my Doc about that when I see her next.

MHP70- My Naturopathic Oncologist prescribed Glycine to help me sleep.  I take 3 500mg capsules before bed and it has worked like a charm from day 1.  I was not sleeping on the Tamoxifen and had a lot of anxiety.  Gone, poof.  The SE of Glycine are: reduces anxiety and helps you sleep. My PCP had prescribed anti-depressants to me during the summer after my surgeries and before my rads and before I found my Naturopath.  All they did was screw me up and I took myself off of them after a week.  Good luck to you.

Jo and Beans joinning us on the train. Yipee!

So far all my aches and pains are from chemo/rads.

I've had night sweats for years (even though I'm only 43) The day sweats have come on strong since chemo. However, saying that I swear I was born peri menopausal. LOL

For the last few week I have had achy leg/joint pain. My onc says this can be experienced from chemo. Of course my mind is racing and coming up with all sorts of problems. I know you all know what I mean.

Surfette I too take so many meds/vitamins there isn't a good time to take any of them.

Tinkertude, welcome aboard. Everyone meet in the lounge carriage. I have a bottle of bubbly on ice for us.

Love & hugs to my girls xxxx

Jules

Hi there

I have a question. I am 35, will be 36 this month. The end of this month will be a year on Tamoxifen for me. My period is very much so irregular from the Tamoxifen. That's the only real SE i had from it, except for hot flashes when i started taking it and those stopped. I'm wondering if there is anyone out there whose periods are crazy too? 

ha ha! this time i MEANT to type screwy words!!  sometimes a brain that doesnt work works!

swanseagirl I was having night sweats warm flushes and every joint in my body hurt as a result from Chemo. I was in misery for about three months. I did acupuncture for both and must say it did help with the joint pain. I started T in August and my night sweats and warm flushes were fading then by September they were totally gone and i got my period back..yeah! I haven't had any of those symptoms since starting T and the return of my period but like Klawless9 it has been quite irregular

WELCOME ABOARD all the newbies...hope your ride is a smooth one.

Di

Had a lot to catch up on.  It sounds like good advice to start the T dose small and work up to the full 20 mg.  Since I have bad hot flashes now, I am thinking of asking my onc for Effexor - or see what he thinks about it.  I get about 5 hours sleep as it is - not all at one time and I would love to have a few hours more a night.  

swanseagirl - I will take you up on the glass of bubbly., 

jo1955 - I take one and they are 5 mg.  Sometimes they help and sometimes not.  Same with the Ambien.

jo--melatonin takes about 5 to 6 days to get into your system, so give it time if you've only tried it once or twice.  I take 3 mg about an hour before bedtime.

Anne

Jo ~ My naturopath oncologist prescribed 20mg  (yes twenty!) melatonin from the moment I was diagnosed.  He said studies shows too low melatonin levels have higher reoccurance rates, so wants me to stay on it for awhile.  I have no trouble sleeping (but never had) and don't feel any side effects from it.

I just read on another thread that if you take the Tamoxifen at bed time instead of in the am that your hot flashes will lessen or disappear so I am going to try to take mine atnight starting tomorrow night to see if there is a difference. I feel like global warming started a month ago. I started Tamoxifen on November 23rd and wake up nightly soaked....also having hot flashes during the day...this from a woman who usually wears three sweaters in the winter!