Bottle 'o Tamoxifen

Hi Catkin. Joint/ bone/ muscle pain, insomnia, hot flashes, nausea, tinnitus, and brain fog to name a few, do not even compare to the low moods and anxiety. But I’ve just read up on side effects and withdrawal symptoms of anti depressants, and I’m not sure I want to go in that direction.

May try CBD oil. Have asked MO about it in the past; since it’s not medically studied, she could not give advice on it.

Has anyone tried CBD oil to alleviate some of the side effects?

I’m willing to try anything to get me past this funk, but don’t want to compound more side effects on top of the others

Hi everyone,

How soon did everyone start Tamoxifen after radiation? I just finished radiation a week ago and my MO is pushing it on me already. I have to stop taking Prozac and switch to Lexapro, too, which makes everything more complicated since Prozac can't be taken with it. I'm thinking I should make the switch before starting the Tamoxifen.

I am not looking forward to this at all. : ( I hate taking drugs and am very prone to anxiety and depression (something I've struggled with for years), so this is really upsetting me. I'm so scared how my body is going to react to this after reading about all the awful side effects. I just don't know if it's worth it.

Hi Peridot180, I waited 6 weeks after radiation before starting Tamoxifen. I had a knee injury and was afraid it wouldn't heal. My daughter took Lexapro for awhile. If your doctor gives you 10mg it is double in strength like taking 20mg. Her doctor wanted her to take a very low dose to see how she would do on it. Give yourself some time to get used to the Lexapro and like edj3 said start at a low dose of Tamoxifen. Good luck to you.

Hi, I have a quick question. I am on this paraben free makeup foundation kick and really am having difficulty finding ones I like. If I continue to use ones with paraben will that be harmful to me, would the breast cancer return? I just use it on my face, all the other skin products I use are paraben free. Found on WEBMD:

Q: Are parabens harmful?

Scientists are working hard to understand this. Parabens have a chemical structure that's similar to estrogen, and they can mimic this hormone's activity in the body. But they aren't particularly strong. They're about 10,000 to 100,000 times less potent than the natural hormone, according to the CDC.

"I would definitely say when we line up all the chemicals, they don't tend to stand out. They're fairly weak estrogen mimics. They aren't compounds that rise to the top of our concern level," says Robin Dodson, ScD, a research scientist at the Silent Spring Institute.

The new study found that in the presence of growth-promoting substances that are normally in breast tissue, parabens can promote the growth of estrogen-sensitive breast tumors even in tiny amounts -- around 5 to 10 nanograms. A nanogram is a billionth of a gram. "The question is: Would humans have those kinds of concentrations in their tissues or blood?" Rudel says.

Any thoughts? What recommendations do you have for foundations?

Thank you in advance

Lin

When I first started Tamoxifen 20 mg 7 weeks ago I was waking up at night and staying awake for a couple of hours, so I switched to taking it in the morning. Now I am waking up at night with nausea and staying awake for a couple of hours. Anyone else experiencing insomnia and nausea, should I switch back to taking it in the evenings?

Peridot, I told my drs that my body needed to heal. I had a lumpectomy, chemo & radiation. I wasn't ready for another substance for my body to deal with. They said as long as I DO start it, they were ok with a few months off (ended up being 8 months!). My thought was, my estrogen was the lowest it had been and chemo & radiation killed anything that may have been lingering. Estrogen doesn't cause cancer, it feeds it. So does sugar, and a weaken immune system, and paragons, and toxins....my point is, it's multifaceted so concentrate on fighting from ALL angles. A clean diet and exercise cuts your chances by 30%, using clean products on your body cuts down too, cutting out plastics does too. Increasing your intake of flaxseed, cruciferous veggies and soy does too. So if you wait a couple months, concentrate on the other things.

Just had my 3 year mammogram last week--all clear. I take 10 mg most days.

Hi Perdot180 - My MO didn't want to give me 10mg x2. I Insisted. I told him I had been splitting the 20mg, and according to the pharmacist, the 20mg were NOT meant to be split. Its My body - My choice. He gave me the 10mg x. 2. When I go back on (once my Severe Hot Flashes get under control) I plan to split the 10mg and start out at 5mg, then 5mg x 2 (Very slow increase) With or Without the blessing of my MO.

I was having an awful time at 20mg so I took a break and started again at 5mg. I was consistently taking 10mg for a couple of weeks and doing okay and then the nausea started. Nausea and vomiting are triggers for my PTSD so I don’t play around with that. Been off for about 10 days—and man! I feel great. I have been sleeping and happier and more focused. So very much dreading starting back up. But I want to give this my best effort because this is it. AI’s were a disaster, and this is my last ditch effort. (I am on Paxil which is no-go with Tamoxand my insurance gave my primary doctor trouble—but like I said, I don’t play around with my mental health.)

Thank you everyone for the advice. I'm going to discuss this with my MO in a couple of weeks when I see her next. She probably won't be thrilled that I didn't start the Tamoxifen yet, but it is my body and my choice when I start it. I have to do this one step at a time. This is just all too much for me to deal with right now.

Peridot 180- you got lots of replies- woot!
I’ll pipe in cos strangely, while your
MO was pushing to start asap-
mine was law -dee- daw- no
rush- start may 1 - no rush-
thus my 2 month wait time ( so
i could get my anti drug anxiety
in control)-
Been 3 mos on 20 mg a day-
and no side effects yet-
Your MO may be pushing cos
of your path report ( i will go
back and look at that, actually)
I am post menopausal
( stage 1 grade 1)

Yeah, path report, MammoPrint (which is what I had) or Oncotype--all sorts of factors. I know one point I used w/ my MO is that if diet/exercise gives a 40% reduction, then why do I need tamoxifen? I'm lean and fit so I've got that going for me. I think that's partly why he's not screeching about me ramping up super slowly and also waiting as long as I am.

Hmm that is interesting. My MO was very strong in her determination for me to start my Tamox no later than four weeks after my BMx. It translated as a sense of urgency for me but who the heck even knows?

I'm only 36, so that's probably why my MO wants me to start so early. It's probably pathology, too. I had to wait for surgery, which got cancelled since they couldn't find the remaining tumor, then had to wait for an MRI, then had to wait again for another surgery date. I hated waiting then and just wanted to move on with everything, but my MO wasn't concerned about that and said it was fine. Now that I would like to wait a bit to start the Tamoxifen, she's really pushy about me starting it immediately. I just can't win.

I'm going to start it when I'm good and ready.

Veeder I was always told that the cancer was slow growing and had likely been there for quite some time. So a few weeks just can't make a difference in my mind.

Edj3 - I was 54 when diagnosed, but not menopausal yet - trying to be ha! Maybe starting the T quickly is just my particular MO's thing. I do think if I had pushed back strongly or had something else serious going on she would have relented. She did offer to give me a two week vaca off the drug when about 8 months in the fatigue was crushing me. I chose not to yet. I am saving that 2 week vaca for when I hit the two year mark. I write on each on of those d@$# bottles what month it is. Just closing out #14. Hate it but at the same time thankful that its working.

Hmmm now that I am thinking about it, I need to coordinate a really great vacation to go along with my T break!

It was two weeks for me per my MO. I took three weeks to get my head around it, and she can lump it.

She also wouldn't even consider my starting lower than 20mg. Instead of arguing, because why bother (the power here is mine), I decided to try it her way and see what happens. So far so okay. But we'll see.

She has no idea how stubborn I can be. But okay, so far her way is working. I am thinking of breaking up with her though because I didn't care for her pat textbook responses.