Bottle 'o Tamoxifen

Has anyone tried vitamin D3 for joint pain?

thanks, Buttercup

Buttercup, I was taking vitamin D for bone health (per PCP's directions) before starting Tamoxifen so can't say whether or not it makes a difference with joint pain. I do take Loratadine daily since starting Tamoxifen and have also found that exercise (primarily walking) and avoiding gluten do help. I am gluten sensitive so that may not be useful if you tolerate gluten well. However, the Arthritis Foundation does suggest trying avoiding/eliminating gluten to see if that helps with joint pain and stiffness. There are many gluten free products now available in the grocery store (look especially in the freezer section) so eating gluten free is much easier than it used to be.

Hi Robin, what is in Move Free?

Funny that about vitamin D. My OBGYNrecommended that I start taking vitamin d supplements about a year after I started taking tamoxifen, but not because of the tam, because I started having the ore issues with thickening if the endometrium. She did blood testing and my results were very low vitamin d, even for a Canadian. I've been taking it ever since

I get formication. When I first started tamoxifen it was so bad that I took off a month. It took like 3 weeks for it to subside. I started back up on tamoxifen, but doing 10 mg 5 days and 20 mg for 2 days. I still get the formication, but much less. I can go weeks without and then it comes back. When I’m stressed it is worse. I mostly get it on my face and scalp, but also on my legs. I really think taking a lower dose of tamoxifen has helped me. It was unbearable.

My MO acts like it isn’t an SE, but it obviously is.

So, no, I have no cure, but it is a comfort to not be alone with it!

vampeyes- where do you get the feeling at? When I googled it also came up as being linked to menopause, which ties into tamoxifen.

Princess Buttercup -

Move Free is by Schiff -- contains Glucosamine and chondroitin with MSM. I've tried the Osteo BiFlex, and other brands of joint meds, but the Move Free works far better than anything else. I just noticed that the dose is 3 pills per day, but I generally take 2 every workday and have good results from it. I purchased mine at Amazon.

Veeder - have you tried taking the Tamoxifen in the am? Like you I wasn't able to sleep so I swiched and now take it in the am with no problems. In Canada I was able to switch from a generic brand to the name brand (Nolvadex). I still have side effects but not sure they are as bad as the generic brand I was on. I think it has something to do with the different fillers companies use.

Hi vampeyes,

I haven't tried switching to the morning yet. I want to talk with the MO first because if I skip my night dose and wait until the morning of the 2nd day, it's more than 24 hours without the medication. When I skipped one pill once I started having bleeding. I'll ask if I should just take it at night and then the next morning in order to switch over from nights to mornings. It's easier on my stomach after dinner though. I'll let you guys know what I decide.

Thanks vampeyes,

Yeah, that's an issue also. I already take medication to protect my stomach but right before dinner since I eat more at night. I really wasn't counting on taking it for the next 5 years. So would have to change that also.

Vampeyes I was also told 5 years, but then told to prepare for 10 years. At this point I may say no to 10. That said when I'm done 5 I'll be 55 years old. Age could be a factor. I think I'll still say no. I've had enough of hot flashes, muscle cramps, waistline weight gain, and overall feeling like poo.
That said the further away I get in time from my surgery and treatment then more confidence I have that things might work out.

Molliefish, I envy you your optimism. What's lurking in the back of my mind is that my kind of breast cancer, sneaky bastard that it is, is the kind that likes to pop up years after you've been lulled into a false sense of security. I am AFRAID to feel too confident about the future because then the fall will be all the worse when that second bout of bad news hits the headlines. I am braced, all the time. Crouched. Waiting for enemy fire. Yes, I am getting on with life, involved in new endeavours. But still, it is never out of mind. Or if it is, when it does come back it washed in with such power that it knocks everything over.

My onc has not, at this point suggested 10 years. But knowing how I feel, I wonder if I will suddenly feel pushed off a cliff after 5. Why is 5 the magic number? Why not 2? Or 4. What about 5 was arrived at as the amount of time to make you safe? When we all know there is no magic time or thing that makes you safe. So I am thinking that maybe (cause who knows how I will feel then) maybe after 5 years I will ask to stay on, perhaps indefinitely, at a very low dose. Maybe 10 mg twice a week? Or take a tablet every week? I have done NO RESEARCH into the effectiveness of ultra low dose intermittent tamoxifen. But I would be interested to know what the effects might be?

Initially I lost weight. But I don't think it was the tamox. I think it was stress. The weight is coming back. It always does. I don't lose weight as much as temporarily misplace it.

vampeyes-not a magic pill but there’s a magic shot!

The 10 year recommendation is the result of some research published this year (which, of course, I can't locate just now). The section on Tamoxifen on the main site has been updated to reflect that. Will meet with my Tamoxifen prescriber in a couple of weeks and the 5 or10 years are on my agenda for discussion!

I just got caught up reading your posts after missing about a month of being here. Tamoxifen continues to change its side effects. My memory is shot. I can't concentrate. Last week my hair was shedding again. My bathroom sink looked like it was growing hair and my scalp is getting shiny in patchy areas. My Oncologist sent me to see a neurologist because of my memory and concentration issues. Today, I had an MRI of my brain. I really think the issues are caused by a combination of Tamoxifen & Hypo issues due to Thyroid Cancer. Monday I have another mammogram and I am stressing . I am wondering if it would be a good idea to take a break from Tamoxifen and see if my concentration returns to normal? Having more than one health issue surely makes decision making harder. I REALLY wish I could stop all my meds