Bottle 'o Tamoxifen

ManPaula does good with the man candy!!!!!!

dexxy welcome aboard.  Don't know why some Dr's don't want to admit SE's.  I have had quiet a few most have gone away and some stayed.  I took a 6 week break for BMX and starting over but SE's don't seem to be as bad this time.

Anne I was taking Estoven when I was diag and my RO told me to throw it in the trash.  it is full of phytoestrogens which make your body make more estrogen.  I did ask my MO about black cohash for hot flashes and he said it was safe but that he really did not think it worked all that well.  Some Dr's say vitamin E works. Some have taken Effexor and swear by it and others can't stand it.  Who knows I think you just have to try and see what works.

Ok ladies I have been back on tamox for 2 1/2 weeks and today the high sex drive hit me again.  I guess I'll be chasing DH around the house for the next month or so until I calm down.  I don't know why tamox effects me this way, it did it the last time as well but did end up settling down.  DH is not complaining.

Jo, hoping your drainage decreases soon.... I know that I was very tired of ALMOST getting to the minimum, but then the next day it would be more.  I did not push to have it pulled out too soon, but still got a seroma, which then got infected.... so be patient, take the pain pill if needed, and know that I am sending you lots of prayers for patience right now!

Sherry,  you are cracking me up with the sex overdrive.  I hope this is the ONLY SE  you get!!!! LOL

Tink, I hope you are continuing to feel better.  Paula, you just never disappoint!

Welcome to Anne67, dexxy, kim, and  healthy133.  I took Effexor for a while, had more SEs from that so decided it wasn't worth it, but it took nearly a month to get off it.... turns out it is very difficult to get off of, and the MO hadn't warned me about that little problem. 

I also considered not doing tamoxifen, but did give it a reasonable try because that seemed to be the best the MO could suggest to reduce risk of recurrence, but finally had to discontinue that as well for quality of life.  June and Koryn, I can definitely identify with your reluctance to go back on it.... I have been off for about 2 months I think.... still having hot flashes but not so bad as before, and otherwise am feeling better overall.  Also have been able to gain some weight back (some have trouble with gaining weight on it, I had lost a lot of weight and just couldn't get it back).  1openheart, if you are postmenopausal, there are AIs; my MO offered to give me Lupron to shut down the ovaries or send me to a surgeon to remove them and then do AIs, but I am declining those options for now.  I think I either read about or heard about another drug that might be available to pre or perimenopausal women, but can't remember right now what it was, but I think it is something relatively new. 

Joanne, your picture was upside down on my IPad, but it is sideways on my pc.... wonder what's up with that?

Alicia, nice to see you back here, glad you are spending time with your kids. 

Mumito, glad  your biopsy results were good.  I am always glad to hear when someone gets good news instead of bad!!

For anyone that I missed, my apologies. Sending ALL of you ladies a gentle hug tonight, and thanking you "walking with me" for a bit.

Look out Tink and Jo I'll be in those pockets for sure.  Oh and June it is Whackn Friday so I'll be pack a pillow or two just so I can amuse myself, lol!

 Dexxy from what you have discribe, that is me as well.  I have aches and pains that I never had.  Night sweat that have a mind of there own.  Oh and lets not go there with the mood swings.  Let just say I can give mommy dearest a new name.  I know I was a beast when I was PMS'n, but man o man it seems way worse now.  Oh and lets not forget that I am weepy like I never was before. That in itself rubs me in the wrong way.  The hot flashes let up for what seems like maybe one day.  I am about to the point of pulling my thining hair out.  Hubby asked me tonite if all this is really worth it.  I told him right now I'm too chicken to find out if not taking it is worth it.  

I tried the Effexer and it worked somewhat.  I did stop taking it because after awhile it stopped.  I also noticed that I was a bit more on edge in my mind and that kinda freaked me out so I stopped it completely.  Don't let that stop you from trying it because everyone reacts to meds differently and it just might not have been the right one for me. 

Well all I am off to dream land cause I will soon have to get up to the sound of a ringy alarm clock.  Thank goodness its Friday almost!!!!  Know what the means, yes Junie you better get ready cause it'll be whackn time and I will find a pillow that will have your likeness on it, lol!  For you new gals we like to have pillow fights round here, so just grab a pillow and I'll hold Junie still for you to get some good whacks in, lol!  Love ya JUNE!!!!

It's disconcerting when they offer a drug to combat the side of effects of another drug, isn't it?! This could seemingly be a never ending circle... I saw an integrated oncologist at UCLA, she recommend and I used Menopret for quite a while. The hot flash wake up calls in the middle of the night are brutal. Chemo pushed me into menopause. Between this and the Tamoxifen, I was miserable. What I learned was this: A cool shower before getting it to bed is helpful. Keep your bedroom as cold as you can stand it, I use a fan pointed at the bed. Keep your room as dark as possible. Ask about Menopret. I also took Magnesium twice a day 400mg. Research the difference between phytoestrogens and pharmaceutical estrogen. I found a thorough understanding of this enabled me to have an educated conversation with my doctors.

I still have hot flashes 1 year into Tamoxifen and 18 months post chemopause but the severity has lessened.

Jumping in the pockets Jo and Tink!!!!  Good Luck!

WOW on the eye candy !!!  

I did take EFFEXOR briefly for depression and the hot flashes. It made me lose my appetite which was a plus, as I'm a pork chop ~ but it made me feel DEAD ~ and SEX that is already hard to come by for the hubby with the lack of estrogen well EFFEXOR just made me numb, couldn't feel anything.  But like I think June said everyone is different.

And yes, wishing everyone a Happy Mother's Day weekend, I hope you all get spoiled rotten.  You deserve it!

HUGS !  

I have the best gift of all.  My son came into town last night!

Happy Mom's day everyone.  Jo, I'm sure you have made a difference in someone's life over the years and for that, you are special like so many moms out there. 

Yahoo!!! For son coming home open!

Tink and Jo its all Junes fault in the pockets.  She was a bit wild and was on the verge of getting us in trouble so I whacked her a good one while we were in the pockets, lol!!!  Oh and dont let her fool you all and try to make me the bad gal, just saying.

I was so happy when I woke up this AM.  Its the first day in weeks that nothing hurt, yippppeeee!  But it didnt last for to long, but I will take it non the less!

June, hope your tummy is ok so you can enjoy cocktails.

Jo, hope you reach the end soon.

Tink, hoping for good news.

So apparently next available MRI means Tuesday.  Already had Pelvic and Abdomial ultrasounds booked for 8am for my MO, so it looks like a big chunk of my day will be spent at the hospital.  Going to try and focus on having nice weekend with family and try not to think bad things since not much I can change.  Still freaked at the thought of maybe starting over on the other side.  When does BC end?!

Tamox SEs have leveled some, but the one thing that is driving me the most crazy is the sleep/vivid dreams thing.  The one thing they try to tell me is not caused by it.  Even if I take sleeping pills sometimes, I only get 5-6 hrs total with a wake up time in the middle.  I guess it is better than the 1-3 hrs without, but I am getting tired of being tired.  Glad the people on here understand.

Tink - I think our pocket parties went well today.  The jumping back and forth between our pockets must have tired the girls out.  Glad your appt went well.  Now time to enjoy the weekend.

bgirl - Do try and enjoy the weekend.  Your tests are going to go smoothly and you will hear B9 results.  Just thinking positive here.

Hi all!  Im home for the night and you know what that means?  Yep you guessed it, Run June Run!!  Have a pillow for ya WWWWWHHHHaaaaaaaack!!!!  Hee Hee!!  You know I whack you out of live my sista!!!

Ha I learn something new everyday here.  I didn't know that Effexer causes low sex drive.  Good gravy no wonder I didn't want to do the nasty.  That was one of my biggest hangups was that I wasn't wanting sex.  Now I know why Paula got her groove back, because I stopped taking the Effexer.  That wasn't the reason why, cause I didn't even know about that back then.  

I know taking the Tammo is a very personal choice.  I was very against it back in 2009 when I had BC in my right breast.  I was very lucky that they caught it when they did.  I know that my Auntie had a few issues with it so thats why I didn't want to take it.  Plus I like the rest of the world only heard the bad about it.  Plus I am under the impression that Im 10ft tall and bullet proof, so that was another reason why I didn't take it.  Well fast forward just alittle over a year later I had BC again, but much worse and more aggresive then the first one.  I was still on the fence about it while I was going thru chemo, but I thought about it and deceided to give it a go.  Yes I am only at stage 2 but I had a ticking time bomb for a left boob (ended up have DCIS and pagents also)and I wasn't taking any chances any longer, if there where anymore of those nasty cancer cells hanging out that the chemo didn't get. 
Do the SE suck, hell yea, I'm not gonna lie about that one.  But knowing that Im doing whatever I can gives me more piece of mind.  Ok so sorry for the story but just want to put my 2 cents in for what its worth

Have a fun filled Friday night girls and I love you all!!!!  Heres to you girls (minus Jo and Tink cause you know)  WWWWWWWWWHHackkkkkkkkkkkkk!

so true.. my doc had a nice little chat with me today. She asked me how the Tamoxifen was going and I told her. She has the effexor talk with me and was very sweet. She said that BC does so much to our bodies and then we the doc give you the medicine that makes yu feel even worse.. its our job to help you feel better so thats why she said she was talking to me about it again She said from her perspective I can not comr off of it becasue of my double cancer itermediate oncotype scores and not doing chemo.. Still not sold on it yet though... oh well I will keep pushing along... as soon as I am not sore anymor Paula.... its on!!!!!! lol...love you ladies!!!

bgirl & tink, I would a thousand times rather do just tamoxifen than the chemo - I still have such problems with lingering SEs from the chemo that I just cannot do more.... I had asked the MO if it was THAT good, why couldn't I just do tamoxifen and NOT chemo... she said "the tumor board says you should do both".... but if I had NOT done chemo, I would truly stay with the tamoxifen and would be much more willing to tolerate the SEs.... just cannot deal with the additive SEs any more. So what I am trying to say is, I encourage you to continue tamoxifen if you can tolerate it, especially since you didn't do chemo - from what I have learned in the past couple of years is that it is a VERY good cancer fighting drug, and probably better than the chemo.  I wasn't approved for Oncotype because I had one positive lymph node show up on PET scan.

Ah there we go I've fixed my pic and put a different one up dh and I

Hope all you mummy's have a great day I'll be very lucky to spend it with my children and also my mummy

Jojo

Paula & June - You two just wait until I get my drain out and can swing the arm again.  This could get very interesting.  LOL!