Bottle o Tamoxifen
Comments
-
Alicia: had you tried using a chillow for the hot flashes at night? I couldn't survive without mine during the summer months. Now that the weather is cooler, I've been managing without it. Now when I wake up during the night, I flip my pillow and that helps.
Yesterday in Kolhs, I say a memory foam pillow with some kind of a stay cool feature. Just wondering if anyone else has tried something like that?
0 -
Hi Ladies,
Just a quick FYI on this site you can go to treatments and side effects, then on the left to hormonal therapy, then to selective estrogen receptor modulators(SERMS), then to tamoxifen & scroll down to a list of strong inhibitors list. the only one I thought was pretty common was benadryl. My onc said to "watch the soy" and she's really old school conservative so there must be something to it. I've noticed that it is in every product I pick up- even English muffins have soy in them!? It's almost impossible to avoid it- lots of organics have it too... even Quaker oatmeal! I'm going to be aware- but not nuts about it- we have to have some normalcy in our lives. Happy Sunday! Valgal
0 -
So soy is in English muffins and oatmeal...oh great! My 2 favorite breakfasts. Next I'll find out it's in Honey Nut cheerios too!!!
I'm beginning to really believe that anything in moderation is ok.
I can't live on cardboard and water
Jan
0 -
Fran518 - I do the split dose of Tamoxifen and it is working out great for me - other than I have to split the pills but it is worth it. Give it a try and see what you think. I discussed this with my onc and he said no problem doing it that way. No vision problems with me.0
-
Thanks. Has this caused liver problems with anyone? That's why I thought it might be better to split my dose up. Anyone take milk thistle to help their liver? I read a couple of places that said it was o.k. and others say no so I'm confused. Sorry to sound like such a scardy cat, but I've never had to take any medicine long term before.
0 -
Fran - First, you are not a scaredy cat - you have real concerns. Second, sounds like you need to make a list of questions and take them to your onc. He/she would be the best person to guide you as each person responds differently to medications and supplements. What works for one may or may no work for another. I understand your concerns, I had some of the same ones but my onc put me at ease.
(((HUGS)) TO YOU
0 -
Jo1955 said ~ A medicine the doctor gave me caused my BC not chemicals in foods or cosmetics.
What medicine caused your breast cancer?
Alaina
0 -
Alaina - The hormone replacement therapy drug Prempro. I was on it for 2 1/2 years - go figure0
-
Prempro Alaina? Me too.
0 -
Yes soy is in everything but notice it usually says "soy lecithin" which I have heard we are not to be concerned with, it's supposedly harmless.
0 -
Ok Jo1955. I've heard that the HRTs can put women at risk for BC.
0 -
Jan - Sounds like we are in the same boat.0
-
FRAN.. Splitting the dose has helped me as we.. I was having horrible se before surgery for revisions in Nov, so much so that they did a CAT SCAN. When I came off of it for surgery I felt so much better, so when I had to go back on I went back on slowly 5mg/wk 10mg the next etc and then my onc perscribed the 10mgpills so I could do 1 in am and 1 in pm. It is better than it was before so it does help. Some days are better than others lol
You are not alone sweetie.... Hugs!...
Thanks for the explanation on it being a low dose kinda chemo I certainely can relate to the fogginess and memory, least I know I am not going koo koo...
0 -
Yes, jo, but I had ILC and DCIS not IDC.
Nevertheless, it's still BC and we are beating it!!
Jan
0 -
Thanks. He wanted me to take it, but now that I've read up on it I guess I do have a new list of questions for him. I guess I've been lucky that I haven't ever had to take medicine for anything before. I know people sometimes take all kinds of medicine all the time (my husband for one), but it seems like some of the medicines have worse side effects than what they are trying to cure!
In this case, as long as their are no serious side effects for me, then I can deal with the more minor ones like hot flashes. About to take my first pill - wish me luck! 
0 -
Fran:
I'm sure you will be fine. Some of us don't really get any SE's. I put on a little weight and get some 'warm flashes' but I'm doing ok.
Not everyone gets SE's.
Jan
0 -
Fran - You are gonna do fine on the T. Hoping for no se's.
0 -
Pennythoughts. - the zopliclone has been working for me....you can actually feel it working after 15-30 minutes...but it also makes me eat at night if I get up and if I try to write a message after I have taken it, it is all gobbledigook....but it makes me fall asleep and that is what I am aiming for at this point in time.
MaryNY - thanks for the info. re. chat rooms. That makes sense!
Jo1955- Yep...Nova Scotia...I feel blessed that I am here because of the breast cancer navigation system.
As for leg cramps- when I wake up with them, I put my foot flat against the cold bedroom wall and i goes away immediately! Not sure if that would work in this case or not but it is worth a try:)
0 -
I have been taking half in the am and half in the pm and have only had a couple of mild hot flashes...( can I even say that? what is a mild hot flash?...let me rephrase...I have had some power surges but they have not been as powerful since I split the dose in half).
However, I forgot to take it this am so midafternoon I took the whole dose... we shall see.
0 -
0 -
may try the splitting the dose ~ seems to be helping several of you!
Someone mentioned the chillow ~ have one, don't like it... lump and doesn't really work.
0 -
fran -- from what i understand, the liver filters EVERYTHING so yes it might take a hit, but any drug can do that, so given that, i opted for that benefit outweighs thje riskes idea and i wanna reiterate you have every right to be scared and confused, but that doesnt mean you are a scarde-cat. this is a wierd journey that we are all on
Alaina -- i dont think i have heard of something CAUSING breast cancer. i know there are drugs that arrest its advancement but hmmmm....
~ ~ nancy-carol
0 -
phew - Prempro which is a hormone replacement therapy drug has as a side effect the potential to cause breast cancer. This is a very dangerous drug and the drug company was sued over it in 2000. Why it was not taken off the market is beyond me and doctors are still prescribing it. I have found this out since I was diagnosed. The risk of getting breast cancer is 26%. That to me is a high number and if I had known all this 2 1/2 years ago, I would have refused to take it. My onc tole me I have Prempro to thank for the cancer0
-
26%??? That is appalling! I can't believe a drug like that is on the market, and that doctors would prescribe it.
0 -
Tell me about it. I have to learn this information the hard way and when it was too late.
0 -
must confess i forgot about the hrt risk... .after my hysterectomy my gyn started me on it without even asking! thats a man for you! when i asked he said, yes but it also aids d in osteoperosis minimization. so er uh WTF? just like all the drugs they give us....wish all thos men had to have our bodies befor they could graduate med school. our bodies and the risks our bodies encur! looked up the hrt percentage of help, harm debates studies research and saw only conlicting info rebuttin conflicting info ended feeling helplessly alone andcofused and of course angry AND then we do life0
-
I have had the leg cramps....muscle spasms since I was a child!! I would wake up crying and screaming in the middle of the night and my mom would put warm compresses on them... I walked quite a few miles one day with some friends of mine when I was 15! We lived in Calif at the time and got stuck at the beach, so we walked home! By the time we got home I couldn't straighten out my legs!! Three days in bed with heat on them, and drs. visits! Muscle relaxers.
Got them off and on for years but never knew I had RLS....until a few years ago, when a dr. put me on REQUIP *sp*. I took it along with muscle relaxers, sleeping pills, pain meds, anti-despressants, etc.... found I also had fibromyalgia.........OY JOY!! Meds off and on for almost 10 yrs, and finally decided that they were making me more groggy and not able to do my work too good. . so I quit all meds!
I changed jobs in the mean time and haven't taken anything since. Now, bc, and having to be on anxiety meds, and the tammy. Hope things go back to as normal as possible soon!Having hot flashes, yucky taste in my mouth, not wanting to eat, but eating anyway, and fatigue bad!!! Work helps thank goodness to help keep my mind going on.
0 -
My oncologist also started me on the tamoxifen before rads... I started them last Tuesday and start my rads today. He said there will be nothing wrong with it. Don't know yet, cause I haven't started the rads yet, but hopefully someone will help us out with this info, or we will be finding out soon enough I guess......
0 -
Morning Girls...... Alaina, I just read where the discussion started about Prempro...I was told by several of my Doctors over the years, that the birth control pill, which I took since 1962 until I had my hysterectomy in 1980 would be no problem.....THAT's when I had a hysterectomy, but after 3 months of blisters, welts, I was put BACK on "the pill" and my skin cleared up...."Some kind of hormone imbalance"..... Later I was put on Premarin, for lots more years, JUST because of my skin problems.
I honestly don't think hormones had anything to do with my cancer...I didn't get it until I was 73. My Mom had breast cancer at about the same age, and at that time they only did "Radical Mastectomies"....
She never took birth control pills, because there weren't any, and never any hormones.I know I would like to be able to blame something for MY breast cancer also...but because I took them, doesn't prove to me that that's what caused it. My understanding is that "something" causes our normal cells to go crazy, to divide & cancer begins...And the sooner we know this, the easier it is to treat.
I remember my Mom talking about their friend who got breast cancer...THEY thought that it was caused by getting hit in her breast at a factory....And some think, that the toxins we get while smoking, also start this chain of events....I know that's usually true for lung cancer.
So who knows? I don't think there is anyway to prove "why" we got it...I just thank God that we HAD the "pill" and that I was very much older than most of you gals when I did get cancer! I'm so sorry you younger ones are fighting this... But at least we have come soooooooooo far with the surgeries & treatments than they ever were!
When I asked if I would have trouble with "strokes" from Tamoxifen, the Doctor said, "After all those years you took the pill, & hormones, I wouldn't worry about that now!" I just felt like "That's right!...I must not have to worry about THAT SE!"
And at my age...I prefer not to worry about too much "stuff!"......
0 -
My husband is a food scientist and he said soy leithethen not sure I spelled that right is ok not soy protien. Soy oil he said should be ok as well. It is so very confusing.
There are some anti=depressants that can't be taken with Tamoxifen as well.
0
