Cramping/PMS after being on Tamoxifen for 2+yrs??

Mommado
Mommado Member Posts: 68


I started Tamoxifen in March '12 and have had the horrid leg cramping and hotflashes the whole time but now I'm getting horrible cramping - cramping like I had before I had my ablasion in '09.  I ended up with a ruptured ovarian cyst last month along with the cramping.  Anyone else have this sudden step back into PMS world?  I haven't had a period since my ablasion and had light cramping now and then until I started the Tamox then nothing until last couple of months.  Is this normal?  They are bad enough that it makes being at work difficult....

Comments

  • farmerlucy
    farmerlucy Member Posts: 3,985
    edited November 2014

    Sounds like another cyst to me. I used to have that every month to the point I could barely function for an hour or so and then it would go away. I think I get the periodless PMS too. I used to be able to tell because my breasts would swell, but post MX that ain't happenin' any more! 

  • Mommado
    Mommado Member Posts: 68
    edited November 2014


    My gyno did say he felt a cyst on the other ovary during my annual exam.  Do you think this is something I have to look forward to every month?  What did you do for it?  Did you just ride it out until you finished the tamox?  I really don't want to do that - that's why I suffered through the ablasion in the first place :(

  • farmerlucy
    farmerlucy Member Posts: 3,985
    edited November 2014

    I still take Tamox. I had that pre BC, and a couple times since starting tamox. My gyn has done several ultrasounds and those pesky things come and go. Happily I am on the cusp of menopause so I sincerely hope everything calms down. I had an eblation about seven years ago, but it only stopped things about 50 percent, but tamox has stopped my periods except when I've had issues with polyps then it is impossibly heavy. I had a long talk with my onc's nurse and she had gone through much of what I was experiencing but has never had BC or taken tamox, so I realized if not for the whole BC issue, I would have probably just lived with all the issues until I was in full blown menopause. 

  • coraleliz
    coraleliz Member Posts: 1,523
    edited November 2014

    I've never had  an ablation. My ovarian cysts have always resolved. I got them occasionally before Tamox & after starting the drug. The PMSy symptoms were getting really bad about 4 months ago. I had a polyp removed along with a D&C in July. That  took care of the PMS symptoms. 

    An ablation was suggested as a was of dealing with all the funky bleeding/cramping I'm getting on Tamox. Or a hysterectomy. Or a progesterone secreting IUD.

    Since you've had an ablation, do you ever get endometrial biopsies?

  • Mommado
    Mommado Member Posts: 68
    edited November 2014


    I have never had an endometrial biopsy - I've always wondered if they would do them because of the Tamoxifen but I guess there not worried - although with all the trouble I had with my periods and the fact that my aunt died of endometrial cancer makes me wish they would do one.  I'm hoping if the cramping continues I can talk my doctor into a hysterectomy - I'm hopeful he'll agree...

    I really hate the tamox though - :(

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