Bottle 'o Tamoxifen

Lovinggrouches---I also take Vit D along with my turmeric and magnesium glycinate but I do 5000IU a day. I may give the 10000IU every other day a try. I'm amazed at how much these supplements (along with my ginger and magnesium chloride and fish oil) help with my aches and pains and my hot flashes. I couldn't do this without them!!

outdoors, I was also on Armidex and Letrazole. I started on Tamoxifen and made a full circle back. Sise effects for me on Tamoxifen were not as bad as those other drugs. I do get some "warm ups" and sleep is a bit evasive.

I get all my supplements at vitamin shoppe. I have priced on amazon and is a good bit cheaper there. Would be worth it to pay for prime to get free shipping. I have had heck with sleep for almost a year. Tried melatonin, doterra essential oils , restoring, ambien. I just stay up until I wear myself out around 1 or 2 am and have learned to make do with about 4 to 5 hours of sleep and try to get a nap in on weekends. My cool pillow helps my head at night with hot flashes. Layla, I used to live in South Carolina in hickory grove. I miss the mountains

nd, I actually requested effexor and it has really helped me, I dread the day I have to go off of it because I heard it's horribly hard to get off of. I too am hot, cold, hot, cold. No happy medium!

I have the same issue with hot/cold/hot cold. I find that if I don't get too cold, I don't get too hot. If I start to get cold in the night, I put an electric blanket on a very low setting. I can easily turn it off after a few minutes. With the sleep, this is a problem for me too. I can go to sleep but either my husband wakes me up around 1 snoring (at which point I go in the guest room) and then I take a 1/2 or .5 mg Xanax and that mostly gets me through the rest of the night. But sometimes half doesn't work. I got off Xanax for a while after my treatment finished but I have two challenging kids and I HAVE to have sleep to deal with them.

So far I'm fairing really well on it but I have read many people take a break off these hormonals when the se's get too bad. Heck the se's of Letrozole (Femara) were so debilitating for me that I quit after 5 weeks (when it was bad after 2 days) and got back on Tamoxifen. Not ideal considering I am considered high risk but quality of life needs to factor in.

I take turmeric-curcumin that has black pepper in it for the flashes. Seems to help.

HI all,

I started my Tamoxifen journey April 27. So far I haven't noticed much difference. I have put on weight for sure, and I am hot cold all the time. I notice I don't do well in the heat anymore like I used to. I also have not had a period since October. I wonder if it will ever come back?

ndgrrl- no benadryl with Tamoxifen. The Benadryl blocks the action of the Tamoxifen as they are both metabolized through the same pathway in the liver. Allegra, Zyrtec or xyxal are ok to take with Tamoxifen for allergy issues. Benadryl is ok only in an emergency situation. If you take anything for acid reflux, make sure it doesn't have active ingredient cimetidine in it (Tagamet). Here's a link to the known medications that interac negatively with Tamoxifen:

http://www.everydayhealth.com/drugs/tamoxifen

I am sorry you had such debilitating issues on Femara, Marionsgirl, arista928 and ndgrrl! I should be on it already, but I have been putting it off. I have already had a lot of joint issues that come and go (they run in the family, so I am not sure whether those are Tamoxifen or age-related).

It is encouraging to hear of others taking a break from Tamoxifen with their MO's blessing... I am not even sure I'll tell him? Quality of life has to mean something. The ear ringing drives me crazy as well, and it would be interesting to see if taking a break relieves that, and the other SEs.

Femara sounds like just an awful drug :-). 10 years is starting to look very difficult indeed.

I am starting my break today! I see my MO in late July.

Ade -- You just confirmed a large fear I have--that I will have a mental breakdown on Femara. I am already over-the-top emotional on Tamoxifen right now. Stopped taking it starting yesterday and going to see how it goes. I sobbed all night the night before last and did not fall asleep until 5am and then had to get up at 9:30am. I am a certifiable basket case.

I was told I cannot take Black Cohosh due to estrogenic properties. Maybe I can take Turmeric while on my break from Tamoxifen, but otherwise, there is some controversy whether it interferes with the CYP2D6 pathway.

Is Arimidex a little better than Femara? It is available here in Mexico. I am just trying to find something that sucks a little bit less as they all suck. My MO really wants me on Femara (wish I had a GIF for kicking and screaming).

hi, just woke up with a horrible horrible graphic dream running in my mind. Is this common on Tamoxifen and how can I get them to stop? This dream was scary and so disturbing!

hi, I was on tamoxifen for 2 years.

I did not have major side effects, little bit of joint pain. Did not gain weight. I was extremely nervous before I started taking it. The reason they stopped it is I develop polyps in my uterus which luckily biopsy was benign. now I'm in menopause and now very nervous to start the new drug they switched me toof.

good luck

I have a huge amount of respect for all of the women who want to be careful what they eat and what products they use, etc. after cancer. But I think it is unnecessary to point out that hair dye has toxins and that you shouldn't use toxins in this thread. It is uncalled for. Many of us have hair that, because we have colored it for our whole lives, comes in dark brown or grey or some combination thereof and think it's inconsiderate to point out that coloring hair is risky. If you need to talk about the hair toxins, maybe do it in the what are you doing differently after cancer threads or in a thread created to discussed possible environmental toxins. I think this thread should be about support in regrowing hair and styling difficulties and texture due to chemo regrowth. Stepping off soapbox now.

Okay, need some feedback. I've been on Tamoxifen for 18 months now, and for the most part, it's been reasonable. Lately (say, the last 2-3 months) I've noticed that I feel fatigued more easily, and sometimes feel like I'm going to fall asleep in the middle of the day, even sitting at my desk! My doctors don't seem concerned, and don't seem to have any real suggestions as to what to do about it. I have regained and maintained all of my pre-diagnosis activities, but some days I'm waning in energy by 3 or 4pm. I still sleep about the same amount of time as I ever did, but now I'm wondering if the sleep quality has been altered. I'm also thinking maybe there's some adjustments I can make to my diet that might help. I eat anything, don't really exclude anything, but don't pig out or go crazy with sweets, junk food, etc. I'm not keen on the idea of taking any more pills/supplements, but I'm open to reasonable suggestions.

For what it's worth, I'm pre-menopausal, not too much happening as far as hot flashes, etc, and going to be 48 soon.

You don't need to stop Tamox for sxs. I was on it for my ex.