Best time to take tamoxifen?

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aprildawn714
aprildawn714 Member Posts: 32
edited September 2019 in Hormonal Therapy - Before, During, and After

hello everyone. My Dr prescribed me tamoxifen she told me I could wait to take it after I healed up a bit after my mastectomy. I'm flying up to visit my family in a few weeks and was going to start it a couple weeks before my trip as I am worried about the side effects. I want to see how it affects me before my trip. Is it better to take it in the morning or at night? Thank you

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  • AliceBastable
    AliceBastable Member Posts: 3,461
    edited September 2019

    You'll just have to experiment. Some people get no side effects, others are miserable 24/7. My worst were hot flashes for the first month or so, and horrible cramps in various parts of my body when I woke up. For the hot flashes, I found that taking the pill in the evening worked for me - but I'm retired and a night owl, so the heat would hit before I went to bed. The cramps can be horrible, but Co-Q10 has pretty much eliminated them.

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  • gb2115
    gb2115 Member Posts: 1,894
    edited September 2019

    I take mine in the morning. The package insert says to take it with a full glass of water. If I did that in the evening I would have to wake up to pee, and that would be annoying!! I'm not sure how much timing really affects side effects, because once the drug reaches a steady state, it's a steady state. I have had to skip a pill on two separate occasions and I can't say I felt any different on those days.
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  • ksusan
    ksusan Member Posts: 4,505
    edited September 2019

    Whenever it works for you. There's no right or wrong time to take it.

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  • bcincolorado
    bcincolorado Member Posts: 5,758
    edited September 2019

    I had a dose of 2 pills a day. I took them as one in the morning and one before bed. Then it was even and not as intense all at once. I never had an issue taking it all taking it that way.

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  • DorothyB
    DorothyB Member Posts: 305
    edited September 2019

    As the others said, you will need to see what works for you. I started w/ 10 mg each night and once that was in my system, I started adding another 10 mg every other morning . . . but had nausea for a few hours about 24 hours after taking the morning pill. After the third or fourth time, I actually vomited 3 times in an hour.

    I took some days off from the extra and then started again taking just 1/2 of 10 mg pill every other night along w/ the full 10 mg pill. So, I am alternating 10 mg and 15 mg each night. I still have a little nausea, but not really bad and it is more at random times. Eating a little bit fixes the nausea.

    I'll be increasing dosage soon by doing a 1/2 pill every night giving me 15 mg each evening.

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  • Ingerp
    Ingerp Member Posts: 2,624
    edited September 2019

    I only have experience with an AI (like Tamoxifen, but for post-menopausal women), and many of us here on BCO take it earlier in the day--some women had their sleep impacted when they took it later. I think it also can't hurt to take it with food. I don't eat breakfast so take mine with lunch. There are also some of us who started with a reduced dose--either half a pill every day or a full pill every other day (the AIs are tiny!). It seemed to help with SEs. If it were me, I'd consider waiting until after your trip. I didn't start mine until after surgery, chemo, rads, and a post-tx check-up. It ended up being about four months after I finished chemo. A few weeks won't matter when you're going to be on it 5+ years.

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