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Bottle o Tamoxifen

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Comments

  • kfinnigan
    kfinnigan Member Posts: 490
    edited October 2009

    PattyB-Eskimo Joe's in Stillwater, we used to go there! you live in a great area.  Yeah, same thing with me on the sore body, that's what I thought, but I started Tamox in February and the pains and sore muscles haven't gone away, even with prescription Ibuprofen and physical therapy and lots of stretching and exercises on my end.  But who knows, my onc just looks at me like it can't be from the Tamox.  But I keep telling her maybe it is.  

  • Brendatrue
    Brendatrue Member Posts: 487
    edited October 2009

    Yep, I also have noticed an "enhanced effect" with alcohol; I finally had a chocolate martini after months and months of no alcohol, and I really noticed a difference and quickly! I'm already sensitive to alcohol and drink rarely to occasionally.

    By the way, I have recurring neck stiffness and joint pain that "moves around," in ways that I didn't experience before Tamoxifen. I just keep stretching and exercising to reduce the discomfort. And,unfortunately, I now have thinning eyelashes and brows again, this after a return to nice lashes and brows following chemo. I'm trying not to notice if the hair on my head looks thinner....

  • awb
    awb Member Posts: 213
    edited October 2009

    I took tamox for 5 years, but never noticed any increased effect with alcohol (with my very occasional glass of wine). I did have lots of little aches and pains, but my oncologist always insisted that tamox wasn't the cause, but I was always skeptical. He felt the achiness was more due to my lack of estrogen from my total hysterectomy/oopherectomy (estrogen lubricates the joints and with lower levels of estrogen, there's pain and stiffness), and  now I'm beginning to think he was right. (I didn't have the achiness while on tamox before my surgery and I still have it after being off tamox)

    Anne

  • awb
    awb Member Posts: 213
    edited October 2009

    I took tamox for 5 years, but never noticed any increased effect with alcohol (with my very occasional glass of wine). I did have lots of little aches and pains, but my oncologist always insisted that tamox wasn't the cause, but I was always skeptical. He felt the achiness was more due to my lack of estrogen from my total hysterectomy/oopherectomy (estrogen lubricates the joints and with lower levels of estrogen, there's pain and stiffness), and  now I'm beginning to think he was right. (I didn't have the achiness while on tamox before my surgery and I still have it after being off tamox)

    Anne

  • PattiB
    PattiB Member Posts: 107
    edited October 2009

    Rachel - Very cute little boy, love the one of him jumping on the bed playing with the cat.

    No difference with alcohol for me.  I don't drink very often, maybe 1 a week if I feel I need to unwind, gin and tonic in a beer mug.  It's a large drink and gets me tipsy, probably equals 2 or 3.

  • pkb143
    pkb143 Member Posts: 69
    edited October 2009

    Kari, pass the cheese fries!Tongue out

  • Rachel_BC
    Rachel_BC Member Posts: 679
    edited October 2009

    kari- Lessee... from that list I want

    Microdermabrasion, laser and glycolic peel

    for the age spots on my face- if it doesn't mean I have to take special precautions for the rest of my life... I AM going back in the sun

    The Jowls thing- but I am going to try try try to lose weight first.  

    I will go for these things in February, after the next mammo check up, assuming all is well, and after my kid's birthday Feb 17.  I hibernate from February to April anyway, so no one should notice... 

    Getting drunker on Tamox?  Well hell's bell's girls, if that is the case I am sure we'll be seeing it sold on the streets... I can just see my musician friends now saying hey, uh, you got some extra  Tamoxifen babe?  Reminds me of one time I was in Japan with the Rolling Stones.  I was on this diet that gave you sugar pills, the idea being that it would raise your sugar level so you wont be hungry.  (Yeah, right, like that would work.) Meanwhile, you know Japan is where they put Paul McCartney in jail for pot.  So the RS tour was dry dry dry.  No one had any drugs, and its an island, you know, not at all easy to score.  So at lunch I take out these sugar pills and the tour folks all went nuts.  I tried to tell them they were just sugar pills... but I ended up giving them to them.  I'd hate to see what they'd do if I was on Tamox on tour in the same circumstance and they thought there was ANY chance of it getting them higher. :D

    Helena QOTD- I double checked before I posted, that's their typo!!!!! I thought it was kinda funny, in the sad way that now even our media doesn't give a rat's ass about spelling or grammar.

    PattyB Part Deux- I think that's brilliant and I agree.  Today i was thinking very similar, and also to whoever was talking about AGE being the cause of crap happening.  I think its empowering to think of EVERYTHING ELSE FIRST as a cause, and only think of Tamox as the cause for stuff as a last resort.  I'm doing a hell of a lot of things different because of SFBC and RADS, and already was hearing "at your age" every time something happened... like I need bifocals, like it's harder to lose weight, like I get tired earlier, like my periods went all screwy, like the age spots... I always think about Helena's nits... and I also think about how I needed stuff when I was young too, pimples, braces, period stuff, glasses... at every age our needs change.  Here's another one... when I saw this pic:

    I noticed that my bad boob is significantly higher than my good boob.  I checked and yes, its the bad boob.  That's the way it looked without a bra during RADS, with the bad boob up like Pamela Anderson and the good boob drooping as usual.  Bad boob still looks funny when I take off my underwire bra, but it goes away after some hours.  But I started freaking when I saw this pic.  Do I look that uneven all the time and hadn't noticed it?  Does  it puff up when I exercise? I decided to chalk it up to the way I was walking down the stairs. I asked my nanny and she said it was the way I was walking down the stairs.  I can't do anything about it anyway.  Oh well.  But kari- you have been through so much shit, it could be the Tamox, but it could be all the other crap.  

    Oh and what;s the kid playing in?  Well that playground is also a kind of water park for the summer, so it has these sprinklers and it has a little canal to make a river run through the playground.  A lot of the parents and caregivers, almost all, let their kids play in that water, often naked.  I am a total germophobe so there is NO WAY I'd let my kid play in that water.  When my kid sat down in the water I scooped him up and changed his diaper and clothes and used wipes and ran home and gave him a bath and prayed a lot. But, for his feet to get wet in sandals with no open wounds on a hot day to jump in puddles... this I had to allow.

    You can see video of him jumping in the puddle here.

    This is typical- my son with his nanny, and he's got a sun protection had and clothes- while the other kid is naked:

     

  • Rachel_BC
    Rachel_BC Member Posts: 679
    edited October 2009

    and thank you everyone for the kind words about my kid :)

    I don't know where the cheese fries came in, but pass them over here if there's any left...

    :) 

  • pkb143
    pkb143 Member Posts: 69
    edited October 2009

    Rachel, glad to see someone else has a case of the disproportionate boob levels! My real one is 60 years old and feeling the effects of gravity. My new one is like "Hello, World! Aren't we cute and perky up here?" Trying to get the two to meet is getting more and more difficult.

    EWWWW  yeah, no way would I let my naked kid play in that water, either.....

    Let's hear more about the time you were in Japan with the Rolling Stones!  Specifically, define "with." 

    Maybe I am going to try to concentrate on the good things that will come from taking Tamoxifen. Stronger bones? reduce my cholesterol? and of course, I'll just assume it's helping prevent a recurrence or new breast cancer.

    **oh, the cheese fries are from Eskimo Joe's.  You're welcome!Wink

  • AllieM22
    AllieM22 Member Posts: 188
    edited October 2009

    hello lovely ladies! I am back from Yosemite--so amazing and beautiful on such a Large scale! The rock faces are enormous! We had perfect Fall weather too--good for hiking which I am proud to say we did two days in a row. (And ouch--sore legs after day 2!!) I am out of shape considering the last time i was there we climbed Half Dome which is 14 miles! But did some good hikes--about 8 miles each day and an altitude climb of 1,000 feet each.

    had to catch up here--

    Chelev and Kari--no way you ladies have 25 yr old daughters...you must have started in 4th grade (as we say)... :)

    Rachel--love the pics of "The Kid". I will live vicariously through your pics as my "kid" walks on 4 furry legs--although I have to say, he's pretty darn cute! Loved the laundry list of cosmetic surgery items--so glad to hear you aren't working your way down the list... :)  I would vote for the peel rather than the microdermabrasion. That is supposed to be really bad for your face (they are basically sanding your face) according to my facial guy that I love. Good luck on the pre-school. Good grief. Also laughed when I saw your trip to PA. I have both family and a good friend who live down there in Doylestown and Yardley.

    I think that is funny about the wine--I don't have much anymore so have a low tolerance from that. I always found I had a lower tolerance a few day before my period which is actually when your estrogen drops so maybe that is why we feel more effect on tamox since it makes our estrogen absorption lower. 

    Also Rachel--LOL on the sugar pills in Japan.... :)  You need to write a blog... 

  • LeggyJ
    LeggyJ Member Posts: 195
    edited October 2009

    Rachel, I can't even wear a bra, and you can wear underwire?  Yesterday, I went to Victoria Secret, and tried on five bra's(wireless), NOPE.  Then I went to Macy's and tried on about 15 (wireless) Nada.  My scar from the lumpectomy's is at 3 o'clock.. I used to be a C and now with weight loss from chemo, I'm an A-B nothing fit's, so I wear a spandex camisole, and it rides up.  The worst part is when it's cold, one nip's on high beam and the other one is still hiding and riding higher. But, in your case the stair's are making you look lopsided, SFS.

  • Rachel_BC
    Rachel_BC Member Posts: 679
    edited October 2009

    eh, the Rolling Stones stories are best laid out in small bits... I was in the end officially "Entourage", but started out as a lucky charm...

    What's the deal with the problems with the bras? I have read some of you posting but I don't understand.  It hurts your lumpectomy scar?  Mind you, all I can wear is these big cotton sports bras because I am so large...Natori Sports bra

    And Oh YEAH on the one nip on high beam... I used to be "weather report" on both sides so often I just gave up and wore sweaters.   Now bad boob just can't get it up, or only with encouragement.

    What's SFS?  Yay for the frikin stairs. 

  • AllieM22
    AllieM22 Member Posts: 188
    edited October 2009

    Mean to comment on this--

    I agree with leggy--I think it's just that pics and you aren't normally looking that uneven. I worry that I am too--the bad boob was the slightly smaller of the two to begin with (again not fair) so now it's a little worse. As someone mentioned, after rads, it's a lot firmer and 'riding higher' than the other one. I can wear underwire probably since it's a year (this week actually--yikes)  from my first surgery so I am healed up. Mine is horizontally at 9:00--from the front--so it's a problem with bathing suits and sometimes tops but none of my tops actually are that low cut anymore so not too much of an issue. Did need to scramble for a new suit as a little of the scar peeked through my old one.

    Leggy--I have ones from the Gap or rather Gap body--they are like a camisole at the top--cotton and no underwire--but end under the boobs with an elastic bottom. Wore those for months. Granted they do nothing for uplifting the boobs but were really comfortable.

    Rachel--you will have to dribble in the RS stories occasionally... :) 

  • lisa-e
    lisa-e Member Posts: 169
    edited October 2009

    Yosemite! Allie, you're right that this is a wonderful time fo year to be there. And you made it home before the storm hits. It is starting to rain here, which given how dry it has been, is a wonderful thing!



    Bras-I hated shopping for bras before I had mast; they never really fit and were uncomfrotable. So

    not having to buy them is nice.



    I am so tired I am nodding out - I went to pilates and did an aerobic workout at the gym. So I will take my tamoxifen and go to bed. Good night all!





  • HelenaJ
    HelenaJ Member Posts: 304
    edited October 2009

    Leggy - I took out all the wire from my bras after my exchange surgery thinking they would be fine... nope... they just looked and felt wrong.  My DDs were so bored last week as I hunted around for some nice bras without underwire.  They even make A cups with wire now.   Anyhoo managed to find some nice ones in the "teenage" section without "bad girl" or "foxy" or "spankin" written all over them.  They also have some padding to help with my new fipples which are always "on", seems to be a theme here.

  • Mary22
    Mary22 Member Posts: 428
    edited October 2009

    Rachel, where can I sign up for all those procedures and will my ins pay? LOL

    About the bra, I always wore underwire bras, but after my lumpectomy, the wires hit the scar. Then during rads I started wearing a tank top flexees to hold everything in place. When I started wearing a bra again, I had pain in my rib behind the rads site the bra aggravated it more. I have started to wear a bra again, but still get uncomfortable.!!!!

  • LeggyJ
    LeggyJ Member Posts: 195
    edited October 2009
    Rachel, I work at a place that has nothing but stairs, and we all say StUPID F#$%ING STAIRS!!!!  Mary, I wish I could wear something with more coverage, but Flexees is all I can wear, and it's been a over a year...and I can't stand the pain of bra.
  • LeggyJ
    LeggyJ Member Posts: 195
    edited October 2009

    Hey, CA girls, getting enough rain???  Wow, it's pouring down here, so I stayed home, from work. 

  • AllieM22
    AllieM22 Member Posts: 188
    edited October 2009

    Holy cow, I know. I just got back in from walking the dog at the park--I was the only crazy one out there throwing the ball. But the dog didn't mind--had a great time. He had been boarded the last few days and although they go out twice a day to run around open space, I don't think the guy throws the ball so Beemer missed that. At least it's not cold--that would be brutal. Also good as we fund our heater was out when we got home--ugh! Hoping the guy can come today...

  • lisa-e
    lisa-e Member Posts: 169
    edited October 2009

    Isn't the rain lovely?  I am so, so happy to see it, flash flood warnings and all.

  • cd1234
    cd1234 Member Posts: 40
    edited October 2009

    Well, I am glad to hear some of you are getting drunker with the Tamoxifen. I didn't really mind it, I was just curious if anyone noticed it but me. Actually, I like the fact that I can drink one glass of wine and be drunk.

  • cd1234
    cd1234 Member Posts: 40
    edited October 2009

    Well, I am glad to hear some of you are getting drunker with the Tamoxifen. I didn't really mind it, I was just curious if anyone noticed it but me. Actually, I like the fact that I can drink one glass of wine and be drunk.

  • kfinnigan
    kfinnigan Member Posts: 490
    edited October 2009

    A girl in our Sacramento office just emailed pictures of a huge oak tree that fell down and just missed the windows at the office there!!  Its crazy weather today!!  Can't wait for the drive home....NOT!

    SF bras....with my mast on the left side, the wires from my new bras kill at times, but it is getting better.  My problem is the stupid foob that goes in the pocket, doesn't fill the pocket and it looks ridiculous if I have a tight top on....Helena, spankin just cracked me up girl!!

    Crystal, you're a cheap date! haha 

  • LeggyJ
    LeggyJ Member Posts: 195
    edited October 2009

    Yeah spankin cracked me up too!! 

  • pkb143
    pkb143 Member Posts: 69
    edited October 2009

    Bras, UGH!! still too painful for me. My mastectomy was in June and I'm still undergoing reconstruction on my new foob. Went for a manicure and newspaper interview today so decided to wear one of my zip-up mastectomy bras. Now, shouldn't it be comfortable??  NOT. First thing I did was take it off when I got home. It seems to dig in at the bottom of my scar and the tissue expanders don't enhance the bra experience any, either.

    HOWEVER, at the top of my "to do" list soon, is to buy a sexy 38C bra that I like so that when my foob gets to the size where I like the way it looks in that bra, I can tell my PS to "STOP THE FILLS!"

    Perhaps I should drink a little wine before I go bra shopping....hmmmm, that Natori sports bra looks serious.

  • bcamnb
    bcamnb Member Posts: 334
    edited October 2009

    Well, as an IM of Tamoxifen, I am avoiding anything that remotely suggests phytoestrogen - all inhibitors of Tamox. -  hops(beer) and all resveratrol, including chocolate and red wine, which I love! White wine is OK....YAHOO.

    Love the boob up, boob down discussion. Mine were south and west but the west IS becoming more north as the rad swelling diminishes. Anyone tried a partial prosthesis? (and where did you get it?) I think my usual DD is now mismatched with a C!

  • AllieM22
    AllieM22 Member Posts: 188
    edited October 2009

    Ok ladies--I want to chk that site that shows what interferes with tamox and I went back a few pages but cannot locate. Can whoever posted pls show that again? Many thanks...

    After reading about them, I think I am comfortable with phytoestrogens. Unless they show up on that list. Which I need to review. (Sorry--I am spent...can you tell???)

    bcamnb--I haven't although I have thought about it. Anyone know where to find one for us lumpectomy girls who only need a little 'stuffing'? 

  • shelleyr25
    shelleyr25 Member Posts: 19
    edited October 2009

    Hmm...I wonder why with my vit D level being a 30 they said it was ok and to just continue with my regular supplements (calcium plus D).

    As for the Zoloft and Wellbutrin...I am just getting myself off of them, that is my priority right now. I have cut both doses in half and will take them for another few days and then come off one at a time. Psych should call today and let me know what else to do and when to start the Effexor.

    I love hearing about all you PA ladies. We have a vacation home up in northeastern PA and just love it. Is anyone from that area???????

  • Rachel_BC
    Rachel_BC Member Posts: 679
    edited October 2009

    GGGGggrrrrrrruuuuummmmmbbbbLLLLEEEE!  All night bothered by underboob rash on the bad boob thanks to RADS.  Plied with cortisone.  Boy am I pissed off.

    Don't even think about telling me to stop chocolate.   

  • j414
    j414 Member Posts: 58
    edited October 2009

    Allie- original post is from 10/1. I think the "safest" procedure is to search anything in the first link that you may be using in the Medline Plus database (the second link). I searched diphenhydramine (the ingredient in benadryl) and my favorite allergy med was the list (and one that I take often) and identified as a "moderate inhibitor".

    http://www.breastcancer.org/treatment/hormonal/serms/tamoxifen.jsp

    http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/meds/a682119.html 

    http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/meds/a682539.html

    Rachel - Started getting severe melasma in my early 20s and it was awful as I approached 30. Tried everything, glycolic/tca peels, microdermabrasion, nitrous oxide, many different lasers and met with at least 5 of the "best" (yeah, right) derms in manhattan. Cost me a fortune and the results were neglibile. Finally, went to a great derm and he suggested fraxel - the results are amazing, down time is only 3-4 days and it only took 3 sessions. I go for a couple of refreshers every year (usually at the end of the summer). The only maintenance is daily sunscreen.

    Helena - we saw a fellow Australian in the west village a couple of days ago - Hugh Jackman - I thought my friend was going to faint. He was with his kid and wife, just walking down the street. I never realized he was so tall and handsome and buff ;-). 

    Helllo and best to all!

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