Bottle o Tamoxifen
Comments
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Revcat,
I agree - I think Tamox IS a super drug, when you realize the stats are from ALL the metabolizers thrown together. Just imagine how EXCELLENT a drug it will be for all of us as we help it along, as we each see fit - and as an IM, I'm prepared to help it a great deal.
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(((Stefie))) sorry to hear about your weight loss problem...I really do not have information on that but wanted to wish you well...I think I'm actually experiencing the other Tamox SE...weight gain...
Be well ladies.
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Stefie - Sounds like you're being hit hard. Are the pains you're feeling in the upper right abdomen ? Now, I am by no means a medical type but one of my concerns, because of my family history, is liver issues so I've noted that the warning signs may be pain in the upper right abdomen. This is easily checked with a blood test (liver panel) or an ultrasound. Of course, since you've said that "the docs can't seem to find the problem", I'm guessing that this has already been looked into.
Many women on this thread have taken temporary Tamoxifen breaks so that they can verify whether symptoms are in fact Tamoxifen Side Effects or something else. Is a Tamox-ication (i.e. vacation from Tamoxifen) something your doctors might be on board with ?
Please keep us posted.
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well, my surgery is in the morning and my GYN and ONC still cannot agree on treatment afterwards...lets hope they can come to some agreement in the next few days!
hysterectomy and oopha-whatever-theycallit
at 11am tomorrow, get to spend the night in the new fancy-schmancy digs at the hospital and then back home before my 24 hours are up...also heard something on the news tonight that now they think that mammograms should begin at 50, not 40! If I had to wait until I was 50, I would be 7 years into the disease and probably dead...what the hell are they thinking!!!
Susie, hope you achieve victory in your bug battle!!
be back in a few days! (and I'm sure I'll have 10 pages to read through when I get back
)Patti
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Good luck on your surgery tomorrow, Patti!! I hope things go well and you're back here soon.
**The new mammography guidelines!!! OMG!! Ridiculous. The moderators have created a thread about it and you can sign your name if you're opposed to the new guidelines.
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Those guidelines are crazy....I was dx at 43, imagine if I was forced to wait until I was 50 because my insurance wouldnt cover it....absurd!!!!!
Good luck with the surgery Patti!!
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Good Luck Patti We'll See Ya Back Soon !!!!!!!!!!
I just cannot believe they are trying to change the guidelines from age 40 to 50.
It is to save the insurance companies all the money it costs them for those 10 years inmy humble opinion.
Susie ~ guess no one could help you post your bug for me to see. Sniff SniffBut I think you have the same bugs I do the way you described them.
Bonnie
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Patti, good luck tomorrow - wishing you a speedy recovery!
Patty B, my onc ran a Vitamin D blood test last week and I am deficient - I scored around 25 and I should be about 50 - he was not pleased. He and my gyno both said to up my D3 intake to 3000 iu a day.
MTG - I'm entering the tamox clinical in two weeks. My onc said they will also be looking at how genes other than CYP2D6 impact the metabolization of tamox. It's just a couple of blood tests and they will monitor my tamox metabolization over the course of a couple of months (or maybe even a year). Both my onc and gyno were pushing it and I finally caved. I hate taking blood tests.
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J414 - I'm definitely not a joining study type girl but unlike the ones where you give up your right to pick you're treatment, this one helps the docs AND us as well. The looking at "genes other that CYP2D6" will give us additional information which may well be helpful. Plus we retain control over whether our dose is upped or not. Hey, it couldn't hurt...except for the blood test part. ~smile~ By the way, I always have a nurse not a doc draw my blood, they've had lots more practice.
Patti - Good luck tomorrow. We'll all be sending positive thought your way tomorrow.
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Zachmomma - you are tucked into my prayers tonight. Best wishes
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Anyone know how you sign that petition on here????????????
I must be Uh Duh. I click on the Sign Petition but all I get are the emails ???????
Dense Catbird
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Here's the petition thread:http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/110/topic/744011 check out this link for more info:http://www.breastcancer.org/opinion/mammography_guidelines.jsp **** Also, Dr. Marisa Weiss (Breastcancer.org President and Founder) is going head to head with Susan Love 11/17 on Good Morning America (8:00 a.m. EDT). Dr. Weiss will be defending the role of mammography for women between 40 and 50. ************Dr. Marisa WeissMelissa Jenkins0
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PattyB part deux- have your D3 level checked BEFORE you start taking D3... too much is as bad as too little
zachmomma - all the best
revkat - I'm opting for the test...
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rachel -- I'm still mulling things over about the test. Maybe I should just do what the doc says and switch to an AI and it then it wouldn't matter. But I don't want to, and so far I've done everything I was supposed to in treating this cancer even if I didn't want to so now, I want a little say. My husband says he can't think of a better use for $300, but I'm the one who manages the money . . .
I would love to be part of a study like J414, even though I hate needles too. Thanks for doing that for all of us and our daughters to come.
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Rachel.....
thanks for the thread.
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Thanks, Revkat. I have a very strong family history of early onset breast and ovarian and a lot of cousins who are at risk, so the more info about my genes the better. In exchange for my blood, I will be grilling the oncology and genetic peeps without mercy and will post whatever I learn.
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Good luck Patty with your surgery! I will be praying for you! Post when you can and let us know how you are!
Susie
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Can anyone tell me how to post a pic on my posting? I wanted to show a picture of these darn bugs. Thanks
And, I cannot believe what the guidelines are now for a mammo. Are they kidding? This will take lives, a lot of them.
Susie
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I went up to your pic and right clickedclicked on copy
Came down here.... right clicked on copy and then on paste.
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revkat- I am totally confused on the worth of the test, but figure I should find out first and then see what's what. Chatted with Genelex today, they said 70% of claims for the test are fully covered by health insurance.
Catbird- You are WELCOME
and J414- you are my hero! (heroine)
Seriously, revcat is right to thank you, THANK YOU! 0 -
Catbird - I'm borrowing the tip you gave Susie to show off the Thank you cake I made for my rads team. I posted it via Photobucket on the rads site but OMG, photobucket found it obscene and deleted it. It's just a cake !!!!
I just wish I could show off a larger photo, it even had the tattoos and a breast cancer ribbon !0 -
OMG!!! MTG, that is great!!!! Although, I do see why they deleted it!! LOL!!!!
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Hi, all--I also have been having leg cramps but especially foot cramps since starting Tamox, and I very rarely had them in the past. I've just been focusing on keeping my body well-stretched and using stretching to combat the cramps, but I probably don't have them as often as some do. I have noticed a new change in my vision, some blurriness, and I am wondering about that possibly being related to Tamox, too. (I had my eyes checked and new glasses in place prior to my chemo earlier this year.) I am hoping it will be one of my "roving" or temporary side effects.
Stef, I am sorry that I can't be especially helpful about your GI issue. I have not been able to gain weight since starting Tamox, and I am about 12# under my normal weight (thanks to the lovely chemo). At least I am not losing. With chemo I had a lot of GI problems, and I was prescribed Nexium but could not take it. I take an old med, carafate, 2 x day, and that seems to be helping, slowly. Of course, my system also may be healing because of the restricted diet that I have maintained to help it heal, although, thankfully, I have been able to eat more of a variety lately. Have you had a second (or third) opinion on your problem?
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Brenda ~I had the foot cramps in the arch of my right foot for about a month and a half and then theyleft. Hope yours do. I only got it in the leg once....always my poor foot for some reason makingme feel like dancing a pain jig.
MTG Oh Just LOVE Your Cake !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!0 -
Brendatrue - There are several possible remedies for foot cramps. (1) My medonc suggested drinking a little tonic water before bed, apparently the quinine in it acts as a muscle relaxant. (2)Another option - and this will sound wierd but many people here and on other internet sites swear by it - put an unwrapped bar of soap (some prefer Ivory) under your bottom sheet at the bottom of your bed. There's some speculation that in works in kindof the same way as drinking Gatorade, "Most leg cramp maladies can be associated with dehydration and depletion of potassium. Gator-ade has sodium chloride, which replenishes lost potassium, as well as rehydrates. Amazingly enough, most bar soaps also contain sodium chloride. During sleep, it is absorbed through the skin from the bar of soap " Here are two links: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_does_a_plain_bar_of_soap_under_the_sheets_help_leg_cramps
http://physical-sabilities.suite101.com/article.cfm/can_a_bar_of_soap_relieve_nocturnal_leg_cramps.
Others try (3) eating a banana or (4) having mustard ! SInce I've just started T, I haven't tried any of these yet but I'm researching and noting them for when I do need them.
As for blurry vision, I know that Tamox can cause cataracts but I'd imagine there are other causes as well so it makes sense to talk to a doc. If you're concerned about eye health, I'm reading an article that says B vitamins help; I haven't researched it yet so I dont know if this is as commonly uses as soap under the sheet. ~smile~
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shelley25 & CatbirdC - Thanks for the votes of approval. IMHO, the only part which was overdone is something you can't even see here. The cake was strawberry so cutting into it, it was a dark speckled red. Maybe a little over the top ! LOL0
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I have six months of tamox left and will be so happy when I am done. I remember my feet hurting so bad that I could hardly walk but that went away after a couple of months. My hips give me some trouble and that hasn't stopped but mild pain killers help. But the worst has been the SUPER HIGH BODY TEMP. Keep the air at 66 degrees... Meat locker... It's all doable. One day at a time. Best of luck to you all.
Lori
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Hi ladies -
Just finished RADS yesterday. Have two more Taxol treatments and then onto my Tamoxifen. Trying to do my research and get my questions together for onc.
I've read Tamoxifen causes weight loss, but keep seeing that people are having weight gain. Is that the norm? I had very few and very mild SE's from AC, RAD and Taxol. Hope that's the same with the Tamoxifen.
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Kimmer,
If you search on here by typing in "Tamoxifen and weight gain" on our search space,
you'll see that neither weight gain or loss has been able to be proven in studies where
some got the T and some a placebo. Most swear to weight go though.
) ??????I bet your chances are very good of few SE. Wishing that for you.
Bonnie
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Do you think that the weight gain thing has anything to do with the fact that the women who are put on Tamoxifen are frequently at a stage in their lives that a slowing metabolism and menopause are likely to be factors, and we know that they both contribute to a tendency to gain weight?
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