Bottle 'o Tamoxifen

JoanDavies - Might I also suggest that you take acidophilius on a regular basis - even after the yeast infection is gone.  My gyno told me to take it several years ago when I had one yeast infection after another.  I am one to get a yeast infection from antibiotics and have not had one problem since taking it. It maybe a good solution in the long run.  

Joan I am so sorry you are having to go through this.  It must be torture.  I just was diagnosed and will see the specialist May 11.  I am reading up on Tamoxifen.  I hope to God I and not told to take this stuff. I may have to say NO.  I still get hotflashes and its been settling down a bit these last few months.  The things this drug can cause is scary anyway.  I hope your onc find something better.  I have been googling. I have not idea what my treatment plan is but want to educate myself.

 If you scroll down this page it will show a section for an alternative to Tamoxifen.  I have no Idea how ligit this page is or if it will even help.  But here it is

http://www.all-natural.com/tamox.html 

 Back to educating myself. 

on my 8th day of Tamoxifen. so far no side effects..well was a total snarky Bitch on Tuesday. in my defense I turned 40 on wednesday and had just started back full time at work the day before. Pressure! How quickly do the SE's kick in. I fear the joint pain, although I opted not to do chemo and many people say that is where the pain starts. 

Joan: so sorry you had to go through that. How painful. Was this your first month taking tamoxifen? 

I wonder about becoming menopausal. Again a friend told me she was fine, but also didn"t go through chemo. What am I looking at here? I wouldn't miss my period, but worry about hot flashes. I already work outside, in Arizona. Fight the heat and dehydration everyday. 

Jo -Thanks for the acidophilus - I didn't realize it would help with yeast infections (which I am prone to getting, but not to the point of being painful). 

Pil - thanks for the link, i'll check it out.

Letterchick - I was on Tam for about two weeks in February, went off because I was so concerned about the uterine cancer SE. Talked to my onc and gyno and they both convinced me the odds of getting uterine cancer are so minimal compared to the odds of keeping BC at bay with Tam, so I went back on it in mid-April. I really didn't have any other SEs except the discharge (some mild flushing, but no major hot flashes). But the discharge! Oh my goodness. Sometimes I felt like I had wet my pants, I would have to run to the bathroom to see if I leaked out my clothes. The onc said the discharge is the Tam working to pull estrogen out of your body. Well, okay, that's a good explanation. But apparently it's been aggravating my skin so much that I had a major reaction to the constant wetness, even though I wear pantyliners and changed them out. I'm hoping the discharge will stop soon so everything can heal up.

Ironically, recovery from my exchange has been a piece of cake (I was working at night after my surgery during the day - don't necessarily recommend it as I was a little loopy from the meds, but I got the job done). I'm 11 days out and feel great above the waist! (The girls are starting to change shape, so I'm hoping I'll be happy with the results in a couple months when they've finished shifting around.)

I agree i had no indication that i had 2 small breast lumps, mind u i did have a pain opposite side of breast which was annoying - could of been that.

I am worried about the tamo, and my family history. I had several accidents as a teenagers so have a very weak left knee, had varicose veins since teenager cause of it. After i had my 2 kids got my leg stripped, so all in all my circulation is not good.

U know what really annoys me, there are alot of women who are not completely post meno and have health issues and cant or it wouldnt be advisable to go on tamo, why or why is there no new drug. Tamo is nearly what 15 years old now, there must be something out there.

I know that if i dont go on tamo i only have a 4% chance of recurrence, but to me it is a chance.

If i can stay on it for 6 months and then get another test done.  Ive been told it takes 2 years to safely say u are post meno.

God this is not only confusing, but why should we be dealing with the agnoy of desiding, why cant anything be simple.

Pinkie

Sandee -- the "Joanie" reference brought a smile to my face and thoughts of my dad, who called me that. Thank you.

See now that i have been told tamoxifen was not a good option for me if my parent s had heart attacks at this age...49...we;ll helll. I woul dbhave done a bit more reseach myself on that aspect to ask questions!my cholesteroal was 3.7 ....4 is average (though post heart attack hey want me to be a 2)I would call them and get the infor,,,,migh help you sleep better Sherrty ....

ok...bed time. falling asleep a th comptuer@

xo to all

Sandee

Sandee I will definalty talk to the MO about it.  I think it just hit me that I will be 49 next month and that was the age my dad died.  All of my brothers are healthy, but one that really exercises and does the ultimate fighting stuff is the one that has cholesterol problems, go figure.  He has had them since he was in his early 30's and has been on meds.  He eats right, exercises.  But then again like one of my other brothers said they could not believe that I had cancer because I have always taken care of myself.  You never know what your genes are going to give you or the luck of the draw.

I never knew that about Tamoxifen either. My dad had his first open heart surgery at 45... wow something else to find out about !

thanks for the info!

Thanks Jo...i did have a nice day...weekend was eventful as usual my brother is in the hospital they are doing a catherazation on him tomorrow think he might have some heart damage. I wish I could be there with them but they live in New york..

On a positive note we did get some planting done over the weekend and had a nice lunch today... small happy moments small happy moments... fet "off" today a little unbalanced have a follow up with primaru doc Tues so that is good.... still think its all stress related. I have one more week of 10mg of Tam then I am supossed to bump back up..... ggrrrrrrr!!!

Hope you all had a nice weekend

tink/surfette/sherry/letter chick- please ask your oncologoists about heart if you are peri-menopausal and on tamoxifen...if nothing else, they can check your cholesterol to ensure it is ok...since tami can cause blood clots, it is the unstable placque they worry about.....I am also in good shapre, eat right 90% of the time, no salt, don't smoke, rarely drink, was exercizing 2-4x per week...going to pump classes...and had a heart attack. Dad had his first late 40's and mom was diabetic and had hardening of the arteries (we thought this was diabetese related....but it still counts apparently)....I was also not asked other than is it in my family...but because of how O presented (also going on the exception not the rule) and my cholesterol was not crazy high (it was 3.7 then), no problemo.....

pinkie- i was only on tami for 4 months when I had my heart attack....march 21 so....

women and symptoms: check the canadian heart and stroke foundation's web site...find the women's symptoms' spot and check them but here are a few: fatigue (can't do things you usually can oddo..for me it was couldn't function at the gym or walk up a friggin hill I can usually power up), feeling winded, unexplained sore back, sore collar bone ( i had this)...burping or what feels like acid indigestion or reflux I had only had it one other time in my life) a tighteness in th chest...pain under the breast bone.....but the big one is unexplained fatigue (which is why I thought it was radiation fatigue and was waiting for my radiologist appointment on the 22nd to ask why  was soooooooo tiired).

Please ask your oncologists....the 5 different cardiologists I saw in the hiospital post heart attack said they were quite shocked I had had a heart attack....and the reasons on my discharge paper were listed as 1. hereditary factors and 2. breast cancer....

I'm shocked that an oncologist would not request your complete family history! I had to fill out extensive forms regarding any cancer or health problems in my family. My onc said that if I had high cholesterol or heart problems, he would take me off tamox, since risk of stroke was greater than risk of recurrance.

 BTW, what does MO mean? Main onc??

My MO was concerned about my menopause status....no one checked my cholesterol before giving me any meds ...alll that was cehcked as estrogen and the two other things they need to know about regarding menopause...I was asked about family history when I went in to the hospital but it did not come up again because I am a healthy woman of 48...eat right, exercize etc....was a non-issue...guess it won't be for the next bunch of gals who go in to the cancer ward for breast cancer in this age range@! I believe he and the cancaer team thought that the benefits outwieighted the slight possibility of a heart attack...

I just want to throw in a couple of comments to help clarify the cardiovascular issues related to tamoxifen.  Tamoxifen raises risks of clots in the venous system (thrombophlebitis in the legs, blood clots to lung), but not necessarily the arterial system (coronary arteries).  It MAY actually help with cholesterol according to some studies, which is the culprit causing the "loose plaques" that they are most concerned about on the arterial side, and although these are generally NOT associated with tamoxifen, there IS still some concern over increased stroke risk.  It probably improves bones and decreases osteoporosis (as opposed to the AIs which accelerate osteoporosis and raise cholesterol).

Linda, I beleive it also acts differently with different people. ...and  generally takes time to see the affects on cholesterol? II remember thinking "great! It will be good for my heart as it will help me keep my cholesteroal low into my early 50's!" when I first went on tami...In my case, I was told that tamoxifen was a big no no now I had had a heart attack and that it was as likely a cause of the actual blood clot as loose placque could have been...doesn;t mean that will be or is the case with everyone for sure. LtotheK..didn't know about potential bone loss on tami....guess I am glad I am off it for more than one reason now!