Bottle o Tamoxifen
Comments
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I had a friend tell me yesterday that her DR says the T and and the AI's are only 'chemo in a pill' because they kill cancer cells.
Jan
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Had to comment on the MRIs and detection -- I'm the poster child (babe?) for MRI use. I got periodic MRIs because of epidemic BC family history and the last one was what detected my cancer. Who knows how long it would have taken to show up on mammogram or ultrasound (I was getting those regularly, too)? Three radiologists and a tech couldn't even find it well enough using ultrasound to do a biopsy. Had to go back for a MRI guided biopsy. I was very grateful for the MRI!
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Hadley ~ I've been on T for 8 weeks now, and within the first week I had a pinching feeling on my right side and the next day on my left. I figured it was the ovaries reacting. My Rad Doc didn't know about that, won't see my Chemo Doc til Valentines Day, so I'll ask him too, but I've never had such a sensation before and T was the only thing new thrown into my world. Only happened that one occasion.
megm64 ~ My husband's a runner and my son's a collegiate swimmer and they up their calcium/magnesium if they start getting cramps.
Also, one of my dearest friends is a nurse, and she said they are treating cancer as a chronic disease that needs to be managed indefinitely these days. I don't think any of us will ever let our guard down entirely, after diagnosis. I fully intend to keep following the new healthier lifestyle changes I've made since May, that's for sure. Besides feeling better, I'm looking better. I saw one of my oldest friends last weekend at the Susan G Komen walk and she, seriousy, asked me if I'd gotten Botox!! My complexion has never been my best asset. That's the nicest thing anybody has ever said to me.
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I had found this web-site after a friend of mine told me the same thing! That Tamoxifen is a form of chemo....I think in a broad sense, it is, because if we DO have cancer cells in us, the T pill prevents them from being fed with our hormones.....
And Sunshine! Congratulations on what your friend notices! Yeah! And yes, I also believe that cancer could be looked at as a chronic disease.....& should always be treated....I asked my Radiologist yesterday about why I have to keep seeing her & the Oncologist. And that after the 5 years on Tamoxifen, I "might" have to take another pill! I wasn't happy with that answer. If that time comes, I'm gonna ask to just stay on the T pill....if I can.
Candy....good for you! MRI's ARE a great tool! I too, had the MRI guided biopsy...Also she did the MRI before surgery to place that wire directly to the "clip" marking the tumor. They have come so far, & I thank God for that! Maybe SOMEday, they can find a way to "prevent" Breast cancer.
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I agree with MRIs as a tool. I get the 6-month mammogram/ultrasound, then in 6 months I get the bilateral MRI, ordered by my breast surgeon. She wants to keep following me. I have not seen my radiology oncologist since last day of radiation...no need in my book. My oncologist still follows me every 3 months. I also believe the meds we take after chemo/rads are a form of chemo (hair loss anyone???
)...but not as 'lethal'. Just as with my daily migraines, not to be a 'downer', but we are ALL SO VERY different, I hardly see a 'cure' in the future. Maybe better detection sooner and different treatments. NOT being negative, just realistic. (Went to head pain clinic for a month, ALL of us reacted VERY differently to the 'protocol' for treating head pain, NONE of the 25 of us patients were helped AT ALL...that's reality). We do our best, keep up on our OWN health treatments, keep our DOCS up on that as well (read: vitamin d deficiency for one...what a complicated subject THAT one is). WE DO THE BEST WE ALL CAN...it's the best we can do for ourselves. JUST my .02, for whatever it's worth (or not worth). ~juli 0 -
Hope everyone had a good weekend! What's going on?? Not much with me...just wanted to check in.
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Will the complete exhaustion I've had since starting Tamoxifen go away? I can hardly drag myself across the room a half hour after getting out of bed. I keep dragging but it is so hard.
After rads my onc put me on anastrozole. The SE's started so fast and so several he took me off it in just over a week and had me take a week off to make sure that was what caused the reaction. The SE's stopped so he switched me to Tamoxifen. That was only 10 days ago. Any suggestions?
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chabba: are you sure the exhaustion is from Tamoxifen? You said you had rads. I finished rads in April and I'm still tired. Actually I'm not sure it's just the rads either in my case. Probably everything I've gone through in the last year. I still need 9-10 hours sleep a night and find it really hard to drag myself out of bed in the morning.
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Chaba....I don't think it's from the Tamoxifen either....Darn! I don't know how long you could be tired after the Rads, but I'm like Mary, in thinking it's something else, other than the Tamoxifen.
Good luck figuring this one out, but keep taking the T pill, until you KNOW it's not the SE's from the Rads.....
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Hey everyone, just checking in for a minute. I'm headed to Texas for a week to visit my boys and have Thxgvg. I wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and wish you a wonderful holiday with your families. Now, I just hope I do not have to go thru any body scanner or meet up with a body-groping TSA agent!
Chevyboy,MaryNY and Chaba - I too am fighting the fatigue, my oncologist blames the rads and also says it'll take me a lot longer to feel back to normal due to chemo anyway. If there is a normal for us again. Sometimes I try pushing through it really hard or just giving in and resting. The result varies, nothing works every time or in the same way. But the worst for me is my 'burning tongue syndrome'. It starts out early in the day and gradually gets worse. Looked on line for help, doesn't seem to be anything easy. My oncologist had no answers. He says this is a unusual side effect of chemo. Then tells me something about nerve damage to the cranial 9. Lucky me!
Have a great weekend - ttyl
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Thanks ladies, I'll talk to my onc again, if I can ever catch him or rather his office for an appt.
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Still taking the T, really no side effects. Decided after the 2nd opinion onc that I'll keep the status quo and watch the research. If there are more studies down the line which definitively show that intermediate metabolizers should have ooph then I'll do surgery. As with so many things in bc, I'm just hoping for the best!
Happy Thanksgiving all!
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Hi All- Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
ECT- Thanks for the info from your dentist about acid. I better stop using Listerine and go back to Biotene mouthwash. I haven't talked to a Doc about my mouth yet. I can telll it is gradually getting better. But, gotta emphasize the workd gradual. I also still have neuropathy in my hands and feet and am quite numb in large areas of my sides and chest after my double mastectomy. I've never had nerve problems before. But, it seems like my nerve endings took a hit from Taxol. Also in general food really doesn't taste the way it did prior to chemo. The flavors are different to me. I am hoping that fact keeps to weight off. Although ice cream still tastes fine!
As far as tamoxifen SE's go I am doing well. I think my hotflashes have calmed down some. For awhile I was coming home from work with damp clothes from sweating. Still get the flashes but they are less frequent and less intense.
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I did not do rads and am tired most of the time. I think it is because I wake up for the "tamox-i-train" every single night like clockwork twice a night. Now that it is cooler I can manage it better without getting up for an ice pack and a popcicle and can just kick off the covers. But it is still a sleep disruption. That is my theory at least in my non-medical opinion.
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Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope everyone has a lovely holiday!!! CS
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Happy thanksgiving friends! Hope you are all feeling better, & ready to face the day & that wonderful dinner!
We are going over to DD's boyfriends house, & THEY are doing the turkey dinner! I have cooked one ever since 1957! We got married in September, & November I thought I could have "his" family over...I was 20.....It turned out so good! Good teaching from my Mom & my Grandma! So after 53 years, I sadly let DD do this.....BUT I know it will be delicious.... !!!!! It's HER turn now...sigh....... xoxooxoxoxxoxox
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hi JennyB. I'm post-menopausal (naturally) and have been on Tamoxifen for a month. Just the last few days, I've been feeling bloated though no weight gain. Actually feeling like I used to before my periods. Does anyone know if this goes away?0
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Happy Thanksgiving Everyone !
I've done the dinner since 1975 and I'd be happy to turn over the reins in a way and yet I stillenjoy it. My daughter offered so I can't say I didn't have a chance to opt out.
)We do ours a few days ahead and then heat it back up today. I do the mashed potatoes today but the rest is ready. If you add some turkey broth to your turkey when you heat it, it's just as tasty and moist as day one. And you can enjoy your dinner because you're not exhausted.
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DMS
I've been on Tomaxifen for a little over a month and had some bloating at the end of the first month too. It doesn't feel too bad now so hopefully it will pass.
I can never tell if what I'm getting is a s/e or just something in passing.
We'll see...
Jan
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I have acid reflux...can T make it 'act up'?
thanks
Jan
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I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving ! I have started my 2 week break from TAMOX. I am having new foobs put in on 12/1. So nice to not feel like a granny when I wake up.
Alicia
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Had a nice Thanksgiving and hoping all of you did too.
Justme: Congrats on your new foobs!! I get my 2nd fill on Monday.
Jan
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Can't seem to stop eating...a se of Tamoxifen?
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Well, another gift that cancer keeps giving: Tamoxifen is being blamed for possible retinapathy (will look up real spelling). My eyes didn't bother me on tamox (3 1/2 years), then we switched to Aromasin this past Sept., and then eyes got blurry. Saw eye doc today, eyes have changed dramatically from 2 years ago, and possible retina damage...was referred to a retina specialist. Doc had noted right away when I said I had been on tamoxifen for 3 1/2 years, it's a *RARE* side effect (so no panic here). I will get it checked out, I also have a *freckle* that shows up in a pic of the eye, and doc wants that checked for mets. Will do so. Just another s/e that *POPS* up. I would never change a thing, I'd keep taking the tamoxifen, even preferred it over the aromasin now. *UGH* Is there ever any real *GOOD* news when we have been dx'd with cancer???
Sorry...venting a bit here. Will know more after appt. that I'll call and make tomorrow. I'm the type to 'git-er-done', just say to myself, "Okay, what do we do next?"...and off we go.
Just an FYI from another sister's experience...juli
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Juli:
Good luck on your eye appointment. I'm sure the 'freckle' will be fine. Actually, my dad used to tell me my freckles are from where the angels kissed me
I think I'll keep believing that even at the age of 59.Yes, cancer is one of those diseases that has a way of popping up now and then just to let us know it's still around. All venting is allowed!!! We deserve to be able to do so.
I'll be praying that your eyes will be fine and no mets.
Jan
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Thank you, Jan! Yep, freckles on the face are adorable, one in the back of the eye however is probably not so much, lol. I will post after my appt. (who knows when that will be, I'll call tomorrow) and let you know if an angel had kissed me inside the eye after all...:) THX! ~juli
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Jan, I have the exact same problem. I'm hungry all the time. Lovely.
And Juli, since my diagnosis my body has aged at least 20 years. Ugh. I know I have so many things to be thankful for, I'm just so tired of aches, pains, ...oh, and being tired. :::sigh:::
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Morning gals! Jan, I used to have the WORST acid reflux ever! I mean for years before taking Tamoxifen. I took Ranitidine, the generic for Zantac. But since being on Tamoxifen, I don't have to take it anymore. I've been on it 11 months now.
Maybe try mixing Aloe Vera juice, (from Walmart, for under $8 a gallon) & drinking a "smoothie" for awhile, like 3 times a day! That always used to help me! Just don't go to bed too soon after eating, because that does make it worse.
Julie....did your eye Doc mean something like a "floater"? I have, I mean had those off & on, before I had cancer, but they usually go away! I think those are "calcium deposits' in our eye, but mine left, without much fan-fare.
Do YOU see a little spot in your eye when looking at something light-colored? D*mn things! 0 -
Question ????
I know that Tamoxifen can cause weight loss, weight gain, and/or bloating.
So...I'm wondering why I didn't get any weight gain or bloating until a good 9 months after I started taking it ???
Anyone know WHY?
Thanks.
Catbird
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Catbird:
I'm not sure why? I've only been on T for about 1 1/2 months but from what I've been reading it seems the se's for this med come and go...
Maybe someone who has more experience with the med can answer your question.
Jan
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