Bottle o Tamoxifen
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Vampeyes, I used to be a devoted user of all the 'smelly products', home and car. The one I loved the most was the Fabreeze clip on for the air vents......gaaawwd, how dumb is that, blasting chemicals directly into my lungs?!? I rarely use a room diffuser with essential oils now, usually at Christmas, but must confess that I end up switching it off early because of what you just said. My father died of lung cancer from asbestos (only worked for the place one year, 30 years previously, it still reached out and killed him) so yeah,environmental chemicals are a big concern. I lived north of Toronto for just over a decade in a small town smack dab in the middle of sod and potato crops that were constantly sprayed, the area had high cancer rates. I've often wondered if it had anything to do with my diagnosis. Not sure, but it probably didn't do anything positive for my health.
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runor I’m sorry you feel that way but I think that any form of education on healthy lifestyles can be useful. The author doesn’t boast that cancer will always be prevented by diet, exercise, etc. only suggests that you can lower your risk factors.
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I think it’s our own bodies reaction to pollutants that causes cancer. Maybe it is plastics and bug sprays and weed killers, but some of us are more susceptible.
I have been a healthy eater my entire life. I’m slim, I work out, but I got this crap. My chances were less than 1%. A friend of mine tried to use it as an excuse to not do those things, but I don’t think that’s the message! I’m still living healthy to prevent a recurrence- I do think it matters.
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HapB - your story reminded me of the pics or vid from the 40s & 50s showing DDT being sprayed from trucks and kids running through it. My mum tells stories about doing it. How many polio cases resulted from this practice?!? How many cancers did it cause? See pic below. Thankfully we know better now!
VL22 - agree, healthy living can't hurt in any way. I practice it myself and keep my fingers crossed that my number doesn't come back up again.
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jadalulu---I think the author of that book is the same one who did the segment on Megan Kelly Today. I'll be curious to see if she gives recurrence prevention percentages in it.
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Lala1---Yes, this is the same author and surgeon that was on Megan Kelly! I will let you know if I see any info on recurrence rates.
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If you are on Tamoxifen please find out if you should take an aspirin a day to prevent blood clots. Went to Emerge on the recommendation of other ladies on the forum and had a chest x-ray and d dimer (sp) blood test done, said no clot. Followed up with GP who felt I had a heart problem. Wasn't feeling great today, like symptoms were getting worse so I called the triage nurse where I had Rads. She advised me to call my oncologist and go to emere. So I did. Well I am still waiting for the oncologist to call back! At emerge they did, EKG, blood work, CT and I wore a heart monitor. Bad news came back. I have a clot in my lungs, started shots for thinning my blood 3-6 months of shots every day. Also found spots on my spine, high probability of bone Mets. Soooo if it hadn't been for the clot they wouldn't have found the spots, but if I hadn't persevered I would have died from the clot. So check into it. If you have chest pain, difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, easily winded, get up to emerge where they can do a CT scan as ther blood test proves nothing.
This all happened since Sunday. Chest pain started April 23, not even 2 full months on Tamoxifen.
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sorry to hear vampeyes. Yea we need to monitor ourselves and go to er if something like breathing, chest, heart, pain, etc feels off. Best not to wait and see.
Im on 80 mg aspirin a day because of the clot possibility and I kept my port for labs and should it come back. Of course you need to run it by your primary doc or whoever knows you best before taking aspirin.
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Omg Vamp, I’m so sorry this has happened! I’m also very glad you got the answers and are being treated. Thank god you persevered! I’m so upset for you. When you get the rest you obviously need let us know how they are proceeding with the spots on your spine please. Are you feeling any better with the shotsthey gave you? I’m going to remain hopeful and postive that you’re going to get clear results! Big gentle hugs!
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Vampeyes that is horrible news! I hope the clots clear up, although it sounds like a tough slog. I also hope the spots on your spine are nothing. Too much bad news! I am so sorry.
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Thank you ladies, I don't know what I would do without this forum.
The ER doctor has put in a rush request for a bone scan to be done asap. I asked him if it could be anything else and he said that with my history and age the radiologist and him felt it was a high probability it's cancer. I wasn't this scared when it was BC.So now....do I need to bother with the awful Tamoxifen anymore? Thankfully I see my oncologist on Wednesday.
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vampeyes- that Sucks! I'm so sorry. Nothing like going to the ER once and being told it's not blood clots and then going back and “Oh, sorry, it IS a blood clot" !! Stupid people. Then the double whammy. ☹️ I hope it turns out to be nothing- heck, they've been wrong once before! (Hugs))
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vampeyes, so sorry to hear. Praying its nothing. Sending huge hugs.
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vampeyes
Sorry to hear of your recent issues. Just prayed for you to have a good outcome.
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Vamp - I’m no doc but I would think you should be taken off of tamox for the short term, all things considered...did the ER doc make no mention of this? Can you call any of them or even your PCP to check on discontinuing them until you’re sorted out? I’m not in favour of ever recommending what a person should do with their meds as it’s dangerous for anyone but a doc doing this...it just seems to make great sense to me. Might be worth checking into sooner than later. Hope you’re feeling better today! Hugs
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Vampeyes,
Wow, so sorry to learn of your very serious SE from Tamoxifen. A good lesson to all of us to pay attention to our bodies and be persistent in getting answers.
Praying for a quickly scheduled bone scan and fingers crossed for better news for you. Hang in there--we're on your side.
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Hi all, I sm breathing a bit better today - yay. I see ther oncologist on Wednesday and tamoxifen is definitely one of my questions for him. I will also be calling the Rads triage nurse Monday morning to inform them of what happened last night.
Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.
{HUGS to all}
Have a wonderful weekend.
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Vampeyes- So sorry to hear what you have been through. It is encouraging that you are breathing better today. We all are fortunate to have this site. My GP did put me on Ecotrine but a slightly higher dose. Tamoxofin scares me- both if we take it & then if we don't. Sending you a hug and a prayer. My "active imagination" has little men in white coats running down halls chasing down a a bone scan tech & machine! (Possibly a memory of a Doc from the TV show SCRUBS) I'm also sending you a virtual huggy pillow-just hug your pillow when you are scared! We're thinking of you.Keep us posted!
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I have been on Tamoxifen and Venlafaxine HCL for 5 years. I am done with Tamoxifen now (5 year survivor) and trying to wean off the Ven now. It has been awful! My OBGN put me on it to counteract the hot flashes. I had a lumpectomy and radiation. She put me on a lower dose ( to wean me off) then told me after a couple of weeks I should be able to stop. I have been completely off for a week now but am finding it very hard to function, which is hard while working full time. Very lightheaded and woozy. I actually found this site while trying to find help with the withdrawals. I see my onc in a couple of weeks so am planning on asking him if I am experiencing tamoxifen withdrawals also? My advice would be to stay away from the Effexor, I wish I had. Hope you find something that works for you! Can update after I talk to my onc. Very happy however to say I am now a survivor. What a journey it has been. Prayers for you!
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effexor is the worst. I felt like crap for a month after the very slow weaning even though i was put on celexa.
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HapB - excellent article, thank you for posting. Why the heck you got blasted for posting is beyond me, the more info we can get as med consumers the better. Before taking any med or supplement now I want to know the good, the bad and the ugly.
I took Paxil years ago, during a particularly low point in my life. It was very short term, 3 months. My PCP told me it wasn't addictive and safe. I blindly took it. Boy did it work! I felt great and got things done like never before. Out of boredom I started researching it and read the type of things that were posted in your article. I didn't like what I read, decided to discontinue and weaned off them. I experienced the mood slump, fatigue, headaches and most scary the 'brain snaps'....very frightening. I could see that while it wasn't physically addictive, it was certainly emotionally addictive for me as I kept wanting to go back on them again. It took months to feel right again. (And I was only on them for 3 months!
I do feel there is a place for antidepressants, for millions it gives relief from severe issues and conditions. It can give people their lives back. So I feel that anyone considering taking antidepressants should first take pause and arm themselves with the good/bad/ugly to weigh the options and risks intelligently. For me, I'd try therapy first and lifestyle changes before ever taking them again. My problems weren't physical, nor a mental health issue and were fixable when I took them, so I wish I had read up first. I hope I never again get to a point of having to consider taking antidepressants, it wasn't worth the fallout in my experience.
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HapB- Excellent article. I have heard from several women on other threads of experiences where weaning off antidepressants was one of the hardest things they have experienced. I think it's just like ANY other substance we put in our bodies. We are each unique, what effects one of us doesn't effect another of us in the same way. We are chemically different.
Egads- I firmly believe in "thinking for oneself" with the most factual data you can acquire. People who simply accept medicine and don't educate themselves can live to regret it. You were so right to research any medication, to know what SE's could occur. I am currently looking for a new Endocrinologist. I don't have a thyroid due to Thyroid cancer. The monitoring process for recurrence involves lab tests. Every time my current Endo runs those tests she runs the wrong test- she runs the ones that state from the Labs used they are only to be used with persons with an intact Thyroid. That when used for persons who have undergone a Thyroidectomy can produce false results. The lab went so far as to give the correct test numbers to be used in my case. The Endo refused to even read the comments on the lab results her nurse had given me. So, my GP is helping me find a new Endo.
Whatever our medications, conditions, health issues, we owe it to ourselves to learn as much as we can. The quality of our lives is important
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HapB- For those with enquiring minds. Look up what "may be" the newest system in the human body. The Interstitium system may be a very interesting find, so to speak, for those of us with cancer.
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HapB- We are now a coffee club of two. Three C is just that. My husband teases me. He claims I'm the only person he's ever heard ofwho went to the dentist in the morning only to return home from the podiatrist. I just try to find something every day to make me laugh 😂 and smile so I can stay away from Crazy 😜 Town.
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Hapb,
I too was talked into HRT to protect my heart and stopped the day the WHS results were announced. However, I do not blame the doctor who prescribed it as I did look at the available research at the time and HRT for cardiac protection was the practice standard at the time. My BS agrees that it was considered the wise thing to do back then. Too bad we're paying the price for it not being the wise thing to do.
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Hey All, just got off the phone with the Triage nurse from Our cancer clinic, I asked why I wasn't told to take an aspirin a day to help prevent a blood clot and she said it doesn't work. WHAT?? Why would so many people be told to take it then? Are they trying to cover my oncologists a$$?
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Vamp - Gee, I guess I better have that triage nurse contact my father's heart specialist along with everyones MO who recommends it so she can fill them in on that news. That's crazy! I mean I'm sure it doesn't always work for everyone, but it's a very common recommendation that she's discounting.....and kind of dangerous too if a patient should be on it and decides to discontinue on her word alone.
How are you feeling today?? Better I hope!
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Hi everyone...Really disappointing how medical professionals are unaware of the side effects of the drugs prescribed. Especially the docs who are doing the prescribing! Some of these side effects can be life threatening and we need to do our research. Scary!
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HapB...I know this sounds cynical but after experiencing more than one life threatening side effect from prescription drugs FDA approved means nothing to me! I'm actually really lucky I'm still around. We have to be our own advocates and not take these drugs blindly without doing our research. I learned the hard way and if I can educate even one person about it than its worth it. Good luck to all.
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I asked my MO at the last appointment about adding an aspirin and she said there is no data to support it. Sometimes, I am not sure how much data she even uses. She seems to prefer to tell me about her personal life.
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