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Bottle o Tamoxifen

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Comments

  • tinkertude
    tinkertude Member Posts: 1,998
    edited January 2011

    Thanks Chevyboy encouraging to know that he se can ease up.  Funny about the drinks, at the last appt the onc asked me if I drank and I said no but I was seriously considering it.lol... I am so glad I found this board as well, makes me feel alot less "alone" with it all. I have great support, but nothing like sharing with people that understand really understand what your going through, . Off to the treadmill, I have found that helps alot as well!!!

    Thanks for letting me on board!!!

    Smile

  • jo1955
    jo1955 Member Posts: 7,545
    edited January 2011

    Chevyboy - Us boring?  I don't think so.  The pics and good conversation make us far from boring.  We have to joke and carry on about this BC thing or it will drive us crazy.

    I came across the same website saying the hormonal therapies were a form of chemo - found that interesting.  Whatever it takes to keep the beast away, I will do it.

    Tinkertude - Welcome to the train!  I am making my way to the platform to get on board.  Will be boarding the Thursday train.

    Beans - Are you still holding that seat for me next to you?

     

  • LtotheK
    LtotheK Member Posts: 487
    edited January 2011

    I am almost a month in, and doing quite well. However, I did want to report in that I am experiencing depression, and this can be very serious for some of us.  So do watch out for it.  I know it's the drug because it feels very particular, and coincided exactly with getting on it.  I usually do not have problems with depression.  I plan to do some more exercise, as that can be enormously helpful.

    Also...I hate even posting it, but the digestive system is at a complete standstill. Quite unnerving, as I'm taking magnesium AND miralax daily at this point.  For those of you who tend towards it to begin with, keep a watchful eye. The doctors really don't take that seriously, either.

  • jo1955
    jo1955 Member Posts: 7,545
    edited January 2011
    MHP70 - Good to know these things.  Don't hesitate to post anything that is going on related to Tamox.  Everyone experiences different SE's and it is good to have a list of things to watch out for.  Thanks for sharing.
  • jo1955
    jo1955 Member Posts: 7,545
    edited January 2011
  • peg119
    peg119 Member Posts: 190
    edited January 2011

    Phew - lots of women report problems with appetite and sleep.  I was very hungry for about the first couple of months but that tapered off.  Sleep is still and issue and I take Ambien when I need to and also Melatonin.

  • jo1955
    jo1955 Member Posts: 7,545
    edited January 2011

    peg119 - How much melatonin do you take?  I tried two and it did nothing for me.

  • phxsunshine
    phxsunshine Member Posts: 156
    edited January 2011
    jan508 - my Naturopathic Oncologist told me I could consume dairy as long as it was hormone free and low fat.  My friend's husband runs Shamrock Dairy out here in AZ, so I know their cows are hormone free.
  • phxsunshine
    phxsunshine Member Posts: 156
    edited January 2011
    jo1055 - I am taking Hesperidin Methyl Chalcone -2 500mg 3x a day, the last right  before bedtime, it is a flavenoid.  This was prescribed by my Naturopathic Oncologist and has helped tone down the hot flashes.  They are made by Douglas Labs and you can buy them online.  The hot flashes are not gone, but they are better.  For the new gals starting Tmox: I tried taking it at every different time of the day to see if that changed the hot flashes, but it had no effect, so I take it with breakfast and mark it down on my calendar so I don't forget.  Seems I can usually count on one around 5-6:30 PM and usually 1 or 2 during the night.  I didn't feel well during the holidays and took echinacea as I have for years.  I got hot flashes about every hour while on it, they were short lived but they were constant.  Will ask my Doc about that when I see her next.
  • Chevyboy
    Chevyboy Member Posts: 10,258
    edited January 2011

    Hi gals...just wanted to add something....I had trouble sleeping also, so I tried Melatonin.... WELL, I found out after about 3 days, that I couldn't stay out of the bathroom!  So THEN I had to make a run to get some Imodium AD...(pun intended) and after awhile, I was taking 2-3 a day!

    So I said to myself, SELF, what are you doing?  I figured out the Melatonin worked differently on me....sure I slept better, but it caused me problems, which led to the Imodium AD.  Once I stopped everything, I got back to normal....

    Sleep, and dreaming now, are better, just by doing nothing, or maybe it's because it's so nice to turn on that electric blanket, & crawl into a warm bed.....just sayin'.

  • phxsunshine
    phxsunshine Member Posts: 156
    edited January 2011
    MHP70- My Naturopathic Oncologist prescribed Glycine to help me sleep.  I take 3 500mg capsules before bed and it has worked like a charm from day 1.  I was not sleeping on the Tamoxifen and had a lot of anxiety.  Gone, poof.  The SE of Glycine are: reduces anxiety and helps you sleep. My PCP had prescribed anti-depressants to me during the summer after my surgeries and before my rads and before I found my Naturopath.  All they did was screw me up and I took myself off of them after a week.  Good luck to you.
  • Beanius
    Beanius Member Posts: 1,494
    edited January 2011

    wow! this train moves fast....yes jo, I'm starting tomorrow with 5 mg in the am (just dangling my toe in the water) - tee hee!

  • swanseagirl
    swanseagirl Member Posts: 171
    edited January 2011

    Jo and Beans joinning us on the train. Yipee!

    So far all my aches and pains are from chemo/rads.

    I've had night sweats for years (even though I'm only 43) The day sweats have come on strong since chemo. However, saying that I swear I was born peri menopausal. LOL

    For the last few week I have had achy leg/joint pain. My onc says this can be experienced from chemo. Of course my mind is racing and coming up with all sorts of problems. I know you all know what I mean.

    Surfette I too take so many meds/vitamins there isn't a good time to take any of them.

    Tinkertude, welcome aboard. Everyone meet in the lounge carriage. I have a bottle of bubbly on ice for us.

    Love & hugs to my girls xxxx

    Jules

  • phew
    phew Member Posts: 143
    edited January 2011
    phew says phew:   i thought i knowing guts!   i go from days and days of no sleep to sleeping fr 15 hrs!!   AND NOTHING TASTES!!!!!!  how cruel is that?   haha....dont like wine  AND THATS what tastes not bad    oy!   but certainly good to know others have sim experiences     yey that!
  • Klawless9
    Klawless9 Member Posts: 5
    edited January 2011

    Hi there

    I have a question. I am 35, will be 36 this month. The end of this month will be a year on Tamoxifen for me. My period is very much so irregular from the Tamoxifen. That's the only real SE i had from it, except for hot flashes when i started taking it and those stopped. I'm wondering if there is anyone out there whose periods are crazy too? 

  • phew
    phew Member Posts: 143
    edited January 2011
    klawless  cant even beging to asnswer that one!!  2 decades since i bled    but that malkes sense---T is a hormone therapy, memses is a hormone thing, thus.....   so sorry that you have the irregular periods AND hot flashes......something up there has a bad sense of humor!
  • phew
    phew Member Posts: 143
    edited January 2011

    ha ha! this time i MEANT to type screwy words!!  sometimes a brain that doesnt work works!

  • tinkertude
    tinkertude Member Posts: 1,998
    edited January 2011

    Hi Beanus, thats what I did when I restarted it 5mg for a week then 10 and so on until I got to 20mg. I take 10mg in am and 10 in pm now. So far not as horrible as before. Could really feel the chamge though after 2 weeks on the 20 with my moods. I have become one big ball of sappyness lol!!.. Exercise does help though!

    Good luck and keep us posted!

  • didel
    didel Member Posts: 733
    edited January 2011

    swanseagirl I was having night sweats warm flushes and every joint in my body hurt as a result from Chemo. I was in misery for about three months. I did acupuncture for both and must say it did help with the joint pain. I started T in August and my night sweats and warm flushes were fading then by September they were totally gone and i got my period back..yeah! I haven't had any of those symptoms since starting T and the return of my period but like Klawless9 it has been quite irregular

    WELCOME ABOARD all the newbies...hope your ride is a smooth one.

    Di

  • jan508
    jan508 Member Posts: 724
    edited January 2011

    short term memory loss from Tamox?

    Jan

  • jo1955
    jo1955 Member Posts: 7,545
    edited January 2011

    Had a lot to catch up on.  It sounds like good advice to start the T dose small and work up to the full 20 mg.  Since I have bad hot flashes now, I am thinking of asking my onc for Effexor - or see what he thinks about it.  I get about 5 hours sleep as it is - not all at one time and I would love to have a few hours more a night.  

    swanseagirl - I will take you up on the glass of bubbly., 

  • tinkertude
    tinkertude Member Posts: 1,998
    edited January 2011

    Yes Jan me too and " fuzziness" and I didnt even do Chemo, so it has to be the Tamoxifen...

  • peg119
    peg119 Member Posts: 190
    edited January 2011

    jo1955 - I take one and they are 5 mg.  Sometimes they help and sometimes not.  Same with the Ambien.

  • phew
    phew Member Posts: 143
    edited January 2011
    chevyboy    a)  luuuv the profile pic   #2  your follow quote is marbelous!
  • awb
    awb Member Posts: 213
    edited January 2011

    jo--melatonin takes about 5 to 6 days to get into your system, so give it time if you've only tried it once or twice.  I take 3 mg about an hour before bedtime.

    Anne

  • phew
    phew Member Posts: 143
    edited January 2011

    not for me but i know others have had good reslults with valerian root  &/or the new combo:  for got tcommercial name but melatonin/valerian root/triptophan   ? ?  ? ? ?

  • SusansGarden
    SusansGarden Member Posts: 754
    edited January 2011

    Jo ~ My naturopath oncologist prescribed 20mg  (yes twenty!) melatonin from the moment I was diagnosed.  He said studies shows too low melatonin levels have higher reoccurance rates, so wants me to stay on it for awhile.  I have no trouble sleeping (but never had) and don't feel any side effects from it.

  • jo1955
    jo1955 Member Posts: 7,545
    edited January 2011

    awb & SusansGardens - I will give it another try with the Melatonin.  I only used it two night and only took 2 mg.  Will up the dose and see what happens.


    Thanks for the tip.

  • Sandeeonherown
    Sandeeonherown Member Posts: 1,781
    edited January 2011

    I just read on another thread that if you take the Tamoxifen at bed time instead of in the am that your hot flashes will lessen or disappear so I am going to try to take mine atnight starting tomorrow night to see if there is a difference. I feel like global warming started a month ago. I started Tamoxifen on November 23rd and wake up nightly soaked....also having hot flashes during the day...this from a woman who usually wears three sweaters in the winter!

  • June2268
    June2268 Member Posts: 926
    edited January 2011

    I got sick from the melatonin, however I started walking 3-4 miles a day and I am was sleeping like a LOG for many months!!!  Not any more, but I am pre menopausal as I just turned 45 and I got my period when I was 9 1/2.....so I wonder if this is normal and not due to Tamox....

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