Starting 2015 with Tamoxifien

hi! I've been taking Tamoxifen 3 months now. My only issues are hot flashes but they're bearable .

Wishing you the best and no side effects

just took my first dose - 20mg at night. We'll see how this goes! Oh and my onco type score was 16.

I started having dry hot flashes about two weeks after starting Tamox. The HFs alternated with freezing episodes. I had trouble sleeping so I switched the Tamox to mornings. That helped some but not enough. At about 6 weeks on Tamox, I saw MO and she recommended Gabapentin to help with the HFs as well as nerve pain from BMx. The Gabapentin has helped the HFs considerably. I'm also now on Lupron though and they are coming back. Will ask MO to up Gabapentin dose next week with 2nd lupron shot. The only other SE I have noticed is really dry skin, but that could be the crazy winter we're having.

Hi all, I've been on Tamoxifen for 3 weeks and no major side effects to report so far. I had some bad/weird cramping in the first week, like a low, heavy, dull ache in my abdomen, but that seemed to pass after about 5 days. A few very minor hot flushes but no troubles with sleep - I take it at night and it actually seems to knock me out. My oncotype score was 17 - I was definitely on the fence about taking Tamox but my MO convinced me to give it a trial run and see how it goes. So far, so good (or at least, not bad. funny how everything now is a lesser-of-evils kind of situation).

Hi MM68,

I did not have blood work before starting Tamoxifin, but I'm having it done prior to my one-month follow up visit with my Oncologist so she can check them for any abnormalities following the Tamoxifin.

Mm 68, My MO didn't have me do blood work on tamoxifen but he is doing it with me on anastrozole. Not sure the reasons behind that

I think I am going to request the blood work just to see where I start at with everything. Plus my RO had me stop taking my multivitamin so want to see where I might be deficient.

Thanks for you responses

Booger of a drug... Lol. Cataracts, Yes! Never had one before Tamoxifen. Went for an eye exam.. Wham! (Cataracts) Awesome....

Onc pres 20 mgs. 10mg 2x's a day. So, it sounds like cutting the dose has helped the se's ?

RainDew, how much time did you miss ? I've been with my current employer a little over 5 yrs. I missed 2 mos. after my BMX with lymph node removal. I think I've missed 3 days this month, but two of them I had come in, left for an hour to rest, came back to work a bit more, then left again. My boss is great. She could've let me go awhile ago. They're planning on laying me off in a few weeks. I hope I can go back into my same position. If not, I lose my classroom and a lot of my pay. i'll go on unemployment in the meantime once I'm laid off. Nervous about it all.

hi Tessa - I took 4 weeks off after my bmx, then worked a reduced schedule thru chemo, then 2 weeks after exchange. I've taken some of this as vacay, some as ST disability. My employer has been generally wonderful, thank goodness...many of my BC friends seem to have had real problems at work. Maybe I am being cynical, but I can't help but wonder if there was such a prevelant young man's cancer if it would be the same story..

I took fluoxetine for a few years for chronic migraines prevention, anxiety, and depression. Since being on tamoxifen I switched to Effexor, because the 2 do not mix. I can't tolerate Effexor, so I'm weaning off of it my neurologist wants me to try wellbutrin next. I am reading on here and websites that the 2 do not mix (like fluoxetine and tamoxifen). Anyone on wellbutrine and tamoxifen??

Well, I started Tamoxifen Feb 9th - dose 10 mg once a day and the muscle pain (especially legs and back) has been relentless. Since I have other medical issues, my endo ruled out any problems with thyroid or cortisol levels last week. So temporarily I have stopped the Tamoxifen for a week to see if the muscle pain alleviates. I may have messed up anyway on the dose, as MO told me verbally to cut the tab in half and only take half a pill daily. But that isn't what was written on the prescription, and the tabs are not scored. So I figured maybe I misunderstood him

You may wonder why he started me on such a low dose. Simple. I have a laundry list of adverse reactions and allergies to several medications. We actually delayed starting Tamoxifen another month as I was recovering from a horrid reaction to pulmocort which was stopped on Jan 9th.

So MO started me low dose to see if I can even tolerate it. The other options are not an option for me, as the other drugs for BC diminish bone mass and I have osteoporosis. Tamoxifen, MO said, was the only one that would actually help bone mass.

What a pickle I am in.

thanks Mm68. I had to stop multivitamins during chemo per my MO. My RO never mentioned them. It's all good though because I never started back on them after chemo.

I take 20 mg Tamoxifen in the morning, and 50mg Effexor at night. I also take a Magnesium tablet daily. So far no SE and I sleep fine. Because my vitamin E levels were super low, I take 50,000 units twice a week. My MO knows and has said that it's fine to take. Hmmmm. Now I'm confused.

Hi Ang7604. Welcome to BCO Forums, we're glad you found us. SE s vary from each person and are often very uncomfortable or disruptive, to quite debilitating. Members here may be able to suggest treatments they have tried to see if they work for you. We hope so.

A BMx affects a lot of nerves that then start to slowly regrow and some sensations are strange, especially as nerves start to connect. We hope it settles down.

There is a wealth of knowledge and experience here, so we hope you find it helpful and an interesting network.

The Mods

Hi All, So I have been feeling like I am pretty much taking tamoxifen in stride. I'm on my third month/bottle. SE's so far have been pretty mild: hot flashes, weight gain, and constipation. Last week, though, my left eye started feeling extra wonky. I know that vision changes/cataracts can be a side effect of tamoxifen. A few years ago my eye doctor noted that my left eye might be developing a cataract and we laughed about it and hadn't really mentioned it since. My left eye has always been worse than the right... Anyway, I am heading to eye doctor this week to get this checked out. I really really hope I can stay on this drug.