Tamoxifen

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Josie1971
Josie1971 Member Posts: 2
edited May 2021 in Hormonal Therapy - Before, During, and After

Hello, on May 12, 2017, I was diagnosed with Stage 1 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma. The size of the nodule was 8mm. I had a lumpectomy. My margins were clear. The ER/PR receptor was positive and HER2 was negative. My Nottingham score was 9/9. My Oncotest Recurrence Number was 37. I then had chemo followed by radiation. I have been taking Tamoxifen for the past 4 years. I am wondering if anyone else has had this same type of diagnosis? If so, how long were you on Tamoxifen? Also, how did you deal with the side effect of excessive sweating?

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  • Kikki
    Kikki Member Posts: 17
    edited May 2021

    Hi Josie 1971,

    I too was diagnosed with stage 1 invasive ductal carcinoma in December 2019. I had a nodule 8mm in size removed with clear margins. I had 3 lymph nodes removed and all were clear. My oncotype score is 10, so I didn’t need chemo. I did have 4 weeks of radiation to my right breast one month after my surgery from February to March 2020. I have been on Tamoxifen for a year now. I had a period last fall, where I was getting horrible hot flashes and sweating for about 5 months. At the same time, I was getting vaginal yeast/bv infections due to the hormonal imbalances from the Tamoxifen. I was treated twice for the infections and after the second time the horrible hot flashes and sweating subsided back down to once a night as it was before. I asked my medical oncologist while this was going on and he said it wasn’t from the Tamoxifen, lol. My OB/GYN was wonderful and helped me get some relief.

    I don’t know if your sweating is worse because you had chemo, but I wanted to let you know that I understand what you’re going through and that if your sweating is interfering with your day to day life that is unacceptable. There are some forums on here that deal with things you can do to help balance the hormonal changes/hot flashes (maybe they’ll help with the sweating too)? One of the pages talks about eating a very small amount of 70% dark chocolate daily. I tried this when I first started my medicine and it did help. Also, I’ve noticed exercising helps as well as not eating too soon before I go to bed. Another thing I’ve noticed is if I’m not properly hydrated, the hot flashes are worse/more frequent. I am 44 years old and was told I will need to take Tamoxifen for 10 years.

    I hope you can find some way to lessen the sweating and feel more comfortable. I don’t know your age or if you’re pre/post menopausal, as obviously if you’re premenopausal you could be going into menopause. It takes a little bit of digging, but as I said, there are some very knowledgeable people on here in different posts relating to this. You are not alone

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