Tamoxifen/Effexor

I'm relieved to hear of someone NOT gaining weight on tamixofen! Good luck with the hot flashes.  I am having them now anyway, so I'm hoping when I start tam it won't be too much worse.

Hi Angel,

I take Effexor with my arimidex and have not gained weight at all. It helped with the hot flashes tremendously. I just moved up in dosage to a whole pill at night and half in the morning. I have been on it just over a year now.

Hi,

I take effexor for chemo-flashes--37.5 mg the lowest dose--started in Nov.--my onc. looked up the side effects and found overall a 5 lb weight LOSS from effexor, not weight gain. I lost weight during chemo and have mostly kept it off. Perhaps b/c of effexor, I have not had bad hot flashes, although I don't have anything to compare them to since I wasn't having them pre-chemo.  They are more just...interesting, not an awful problem and only last seconds, not minutes.  I am welcoming every one I have, actually, since I'm ER positive and I think of hot flashes as proof that my estrogen levels are dropping and not feeding the party-crasher...

claire

Effexor is an anti anxiety med...why would it help night sweats...just curious?

Angel 123,

I have been taking Tamoxifen since August 2011 and I started taking Effexor in January 2012 for brutal hot flashes (about 50-60 a day, no kidding).  I take 75 mg twice a day and it works really well for the hot flashes and an added plus is my mood has improved and I have lost 15lbs without working out.  I know this sounds like some kind of TV commercial for this stuff, but it's true.  Before the Effexor, my onc had me on Neurontin for the hot flashes and it didn't help anything.  I didn't want to be bothered by anything, not even work.  Now, I'm feeling so much better.  I recommend you give it a try and see how it makes you feel.  If it doesn't work, stop taking it.     

Thank you Fuzzy!

Hi all,

The effexor relieves SE of hormone drops (apparently anyway, for me) but has no effect on estrogen levels.  37.5 mg is a very low dose.  I copied this from breastcancer.org's link about hot flashes:

"low dose antidepressant meds may help forestall a hot flash by rebalancing or intercepting the chemicals in the brain that transmit the hot flash alarm, epinephrine and seratonin...effexor can relieve hot flashes by about 50% in nearly 60% of women with breast cancer (Mayo Clinic)...the standard rx is 12.5 mg. 2x daily (the problem with this rx is that it's my understanding that it's hard to find 12.5 mg capsules through most pharmacies).

The study found paxil was also effective but effexor's side effects seem not to include wegiht gain, while paxil is notorious for it. Since it's to our advantage to stay as lean as possible post BC, it seems that effexor would be the safer choice.

I suppose, if you were cautious, you could wait to see if you get hot flashes at all--many women don't--why overmedicate ourselves? But if you do, try the effexor.  Personally I didn't want to wait to find out if I was going to get them or not.  Since it works as an anti-anxiety med at 37.5 mg also, I needed that help as much as relief from any possible hot flashes. I was trying to be proactive.

Finally, I think if you need to quit the SSRI meds--any of them including effexor-- you're supposed to step down from it gradually over some weeks and not quit outright.  

Hi Angel,

I started Effexor in October during radiation when I was feeling low.  It helped with that immediately.  When I had a hysterectomy in December, I didn't have hot flashes for awhile, but when I started having them, they were mild.  For me, the Effexor helps for both depression and side effects from menopause and the anti-hormonals (I take letrozole).  

It's an adjustment going on to it also.  I had to take anti-nausea drugs for a week or so because it made me really sick and I couldn't lose weight during rads.  Once I adjusted, though, I felt great!  I would caution that if you miss a couple days, you will notice.  I missed a couple of days when I forgot to get my prescription filled and it felt like I had the stomach flu.  It's definitely a powerful medication when it comes to your body regulating those autonomic things like temperature and hunger.  I don't know how it works, but I'm glad it works for me.  I take 75 mg of venlaxafine ER.  

Everyone who said you don't know how you will respond until you take it is right, and the side effects list is long, but I'm glad that I tried it and stuck it out.  I definitely needed it.  I think it's like any medication...you look at the risk-benefit ratio and go from there.  Good luck! 

I don't know if I would call it dependent--at least, not like a narcotic dependency, with classic w/d symptoms.  As with most drugs, there are side effects and ways to stop taking the drug so that the effects of stopping are minimal.

For me, b/c I was (and am still) quite anxious about having BC in general, 37.5 mg helps me get through dx/tx/fear and allows me to be able to cope with it all while still trying to work and have a life.

And hot flashes have been minimal.

Claire