Bottle o Tamoxifen
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Maggs09 I'm still taking Tamoxifen along with Lovenox and warfarin. I have a dr Appt today. Haven't been seen since releases from the hospital. I will probably know more today Sorry you are going thru this as well. I guess the Tamoxifen really has some side affects. Hope your day goes great.
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Stheresa987, how was your app today? Are you going to continue with Tamox and anticoagulants?
Or did your dr have different recommendations?
I hope everything is well!
Hugs!
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stheresa987 I'm in the same boat. I was laid off 3 weeks ago. It's been a roller coaster ride for sure. I was the one who made the most and provided the health coverage. I'm still having issues about it. I'm not sure if I can still weld because of the BMX, but I'm gonna give it a shot. I can't sit around a twittle my thumbs or live of unemployment either. If you need someone to listen I'm a pm away!
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Ok—got test results........B9!!!! Can I get woohoo!!!!!!!
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And a three cheers!
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Yahoo mstrouble!! Doing a mental cartwheel of joy for you!!!! WOOOOOHOOOOO
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mstrouble - YooooHoooo!!! Doing a happy dance for you. Way to go!
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Happy Friday all! Do a little dance!!!!
Enjoy!!!!!
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Paula - It is Friday!!! Can we get some eye candy please????? You are the best!!
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MsTrouble - I am so glad it worked out for you. Whoooo Hooooo!!!!
My MRI is Tuesday, hoping for same.
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Paula - LOL! You must have read my mind. We must have been posting at the same time. Yours posted before mine. Thanks for the eye candy.
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Ok I have a question, since I've been on tamoxifen I have been having the joint and bone pain, it worst in my tailbone, kness and hands. My oncologists and breast specialist are a little surprised, they both said they see this Arimidex not tamoxifen. Has any one else had these side effects?
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mstrouble I pretty much have pain everywhere. I was never like this until I did chemo and tamoxifen!
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Ok girls it's Manday so you all know what that means! It's Manday of yea!!! Here's for my Texas sistas! Oh and the rest of us get to enjoy as well, lol!
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Paula - You rock sista! I do live in the Lone Star State. So I can will be close to the front of the line. LOL!
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Paula for some reason I cannot see the Manday picture.
mstrouble after being on Tamox for about 4 or 5 months I had horrible hip pain. Then my arthritis in my neck really got bad. MO said the tamox was aggravating my arthritis. I finally went on effexor because the hot flashes finally got unbearable. I noticed that my arthritis is not as bad and MO said effexor has some properties that help chronic pain. I told him whatever it takes I am just glad I am not in the constant pain I was in to begin with.
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mstrouble - lots of the women on this blog complain of joint pain on tamox. Not sure why they insist it isn't a side effect.
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I went to my oncologist for my check up and filed my compaint about always being in achey pain. He told me to lose 10 pounds and when I go back in May we will see if that helps. (his PA assured me it had to be the tamox) He also told me to take advil or motrin. My hot flashes are annoying but managable. I hate this achey pain.
Another question was how was my libido.......These pictures sure are helping!;)
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I've been on the tamoxifen for six weeks and have decided to wean off due to the increase in body pain and jaw clenching. I think it's a negative reaction and not worth it. Horrible pains radiating from the tailbone area and crawling and soreness in the legs. Afraid part of it is due to discontinuing bupropion that I took for twelve years to manage fibromyalgia pain. Doc tried switching me to Effexor and after four days I couldn't tolerate it. I have other health conditions that are being treated and I want to cut back on medications, not keep adding to the list.
My Mom survived breast cancer fifteen years ago and took the tamoxifen. The only thing she remembers is it probably contributed to the blood clot she developed in her lower leg. She doesn't recall having the issues that I am.
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mstrouble - hooray for B9! I like Jo's picture there - wouldn't it be nice to REALLY sit in a giant martini glass holding a martini? I'm having aches and pains all over, just like Paula said. Never hurt like this before chemo & tamoxifen. I finished chemo 2 years ago and as I type my body hurts all over. So I don't know if it's permanent body pain from chemo (the docs would never admit that) or constant pain from the tamoxifen.
My MO did confess one pain I have was caused by Tamoxifen the last time I saw her - my calves and even the skin are sensitive to the touch. I was worried about a blood clot and she said, no that was caused by the tamoxifen. Weird, huh? The more you know....
So glad we had Manday this week! Good for the ol' libido, for sure!
Sherry - when I read the effexor has some properties to help relieve body pain, that made me think twice about it. I've heard it's hard to get used to at first, but I have about 20 hot flashes per day. That's alright for now because I'm not working where people would stare at me like I was from outer space, but they are annoying. I was depressed yesterday for some reason and I wouldn't mind not dealing with that. I might see if I can get some samples from my doctor. I hear it's hard to go on and hard to come off so I'll quiz him thoroughly about that, too.
I keep trying to wean myself off prescriptions, but then I realize I need some relief and that's what they're for. Of course, our grandmothers didn't have all these drugs but maybe they would have improved their quality of life? Who knows, I can't decide if I'm for 'em or against 'em!
Today I saw my gynecologist for my annual and she scheduled me for a transvaginal ultrasound in 2 weeks. I'm so tired of tests, but I need to know if my uterus has thickened over the almost 2 years I've been on tamoxifen, plus I'm having some pelvic pain. But at least I got the pap smear over with! My blood pressure was high - 140/90 - so I need to practice some meditation twice per day and see if I can lower it naturally. Another doctor told me to do that twice per day for 10 minutes at a time. He said the idea is to train your body to keep blood pressure and pulse rate down. If that doesn't work, I guess I'll have to add a new medicine to my collection. And I better get my own blood pressure monitor!
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heartnsoul I did have a rough time at first with the effexor. Caused really bad neasea. I learned if I took it 5 days a week then I was OK. I did that for a while and then went to 7 days per week. Now I have constipation with it which my MO says only 10% of people have so my gastro dr has me taking Miralax daily as long as I am on Effexor.
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Hi everyone. I am sure it has probably been mentioned here before but I have had no luck finding info.
I have been taking tamox for two months now. Two days ago I had what looked like a period was starting, then it tapered to being mucky and old looking blood. I know people get their periods back but I cant believe the pain around my ovaries, absolute agony. I cant get into docs for four more days. Just wondering if this is just everything waking back up? Sorry if TMI.
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Tamox can make your periods crazy ... almost not there or super bad. It can also cause ovarian cysts in premenopausal women. I have many on both ovaries now and can be painful at times.
Edited to add: if you have a lot of pain and get a fever, seek medical attention. Cysts can occasionally rupture and cause an infection.
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I thought I'd share my experiences with Tamoxifen (or, as I call it, TFK). When I was taking it and had all of the side effects I didn't think it would be worth the trouble. I had the aches and pains, tiredness, nausea--but all resolved themselves (except the aches). Indeed, I was not always happy with it and wrote a blog post about it.
But I had a PET scan last week and the 4cm Death Star in my right boob has halved in size, the pulmonary lesions (which were tiny to begin with) are even tinier, the suspicious lymph nodes in the subcarinal region of the chest aren't suspicious anymore, and the lesions in the lower spine (L4 and S1) are also smaller.
If I were not Stage IV and had been put on TFK for post-treatment, I can fully imagine that I would either put it on hold or just stop altogether because of these side-effects. Hell, even now I have to set my cell phone alarm so that I'm reminded to take it every evening at 6:00pm. But the fact of the matter is: Tamoxifen works. I'll be on this until it stops working and then move on to something else--which I hope will not be for some time. But I take it religiously. Ibuprofen or Aleve helps with the aches.
It is easy to blow it off because your treatment is over, but try to think of that larger context of your treatment and endure. It works.
Disclaimer: I have been taking Effexor for some fourteen years now, so hot flahes were never an issue. There was one day when there was a brief few seconds (literally) where I felt something coming on, but it left as quickly as it came. Taking Effexor helps with the hot flashes, but you need no more than 75 mg. With Effexor you absolutely must remember to take it consistently. Missing doses will trigger withdrawal and it is awful (dizzyness, lightheadedness, nausea). When going off Efffexor you must be weaned very carefully.
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I just started taking Tamoxifen three nights ago. I read somewhere on this site, that taking a baby aspirin each day might help against blood clots, but can't find the thread to re-read it.
Does anyone here know about or take it? Thanks!
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Even though I have issues with aspirin (history of bleeding ulcers) my on insisted I take a baby aspirin daily. I take the enteric coated ones.
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I take a low dose of Ecotrin with each dose of Tamoxifen. I take Ecotrin since it dissolves in the small intestine and spares the stomach.
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Scorchy - thanks for that post! I don't know for sure what's causing me so much pain (chemo, fibromyalgia or Tamoxifen all by it's purty little self), but I will endure it because how surprised & shocked my onc was when we thought I had a recurrence (fortunately, I didn't). I could tell she had absolute faith in this drug to keep the cancer at bay. Posts like yours reinforce that for me.
I'm still considering trying Effexor, in fact my onc suggested it last month. Sherry's doc said it has some pain-relieving qualities to it, too, so I might give it a try. But I know to be very careful taking it!
I love your blog! That picture is hilarious and oh, so true!
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I've been on Tamoxifen 2.5 years and the hot flashes were not unbearable but they were uncomfortable and annoying. My onc suggested I try acupuncture and one of the chemo nurses was actually doing a study about the effectiveness of acupuncture in breast cancer survivors post-treatment. I enrolled in her study and have been going since August.
IT WORKS! My hot flashes are few and far between and the ones I do get are far less severe and intense than before. I don't know if it's a placebo effect or what, but I would recommend anyone who doesn't want to manage them pharmacologically give acupuncture a try!
I had sessions 2x a week for a month and then about once a week for a month, and then every other week for a month. Now I'm down to getting seasonal "adjustments" of my energy, quarterly.
My insurance will cover 24 sessions annually, but I won't use all of those.
Something to consider!
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Alaina good to here accupuncture works for hot flashes. I was going last year for my breast and neck pain. Now that you mention it my hot flashes were not as bad then. They got really bad after I stopped. I never thought about the accupuncture helping it.
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