Tamoxifen and aging
Has anyone noticed an accelerated aging process while being on tamoxifen?
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Hi @waves2stars, would love a little more detail about what you're experiencing so others can weigh in wieth their perspectives.
Also, we thought you might find this article interesting:
We hope this helps!
—The Mods
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Well, I was one way a year before dx, muscular, energetic, quick thinking and with a pretty good memory. Now my muscle mass is just gone, crazy bad memory and cognitive processing, and tired. People I haven’t seen in a year are startled when they see what I look like, and it isn’t normal in my family at all. I expect to get tired and old, but this is much faster than what the people in my family experience. There are side effects from tamoxifen like joint pain, hair thinning, dry skin, etc, but I’m not talking about that. I have another cancer dx that is advanced, so maybe it has more to do with the toll two cancers took on my mind and body, but there was a marked difference the month after I started tamoxifen.
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Hi @waves2stars, I had bounced back from several illnesses and surgeries in the recent past so I was surprised when I didn’t completely recover from breast cancer treatment. I haven’t taken tamoxifen or AIs so that is not the cause but I did have complications from radiation. It was a bit of a shock when my medical notes showed an ECOG score of 1 and a KPS score of 80 when they had previously been 0 and 100. Many others manage to return to their pre bc treatment level of functioning but in spite of my efforts I haven’t been able to.
I exercise to the best of my ability and PT, acupuncture and meds have helped some. While I would prefer to be hiking in the woods and on trails I now have to walk on fairly level paved surfaces.; at least I can do that. I have accepted the fact that while I’ll do what I can there are some things that are out of our control. It’s worth seeking help to try to improve your symptoms (maybe trying an AI instead of tamoxifen) but don’t beat yourself up if you have to live with a new normal.
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@maggie15 What complications did you have from radiation? And how did you decide no hormone therapy?
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I ended up with radiation induced pulmonary fibrosis. It is pretty rare and my pulmonologist told me that a lung cancer RO would have seen the red flags in my medical history (upper GI bleed and Barrett's esophagus) and recommended against radiation. I decided not to use HT since I am also at risk for esophageal cancer and estrogen is protective for this. Also, since I had grade 3/4 ILD AEs there are very few treatments I could use in the event of progression. AIs and SERDs are relatively safe while CDK4/6 inhibitors are moderately risky. Everything else could be deadly so I'm avoiding ER resistance in the event I need something. Most people have many other options so my reasoning wouldn't apply.
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@maggie15 what a crazy experience!!! My onc said since I had a mx and was early stage I didn’t need radiation. Two other oncs later shook their heads at this, but I ended up with lung cancer a year later and needed radiation that they would not have been able to administer if I had previous breast radiation. Sometimes unorthodox treatment works better, and thankful there are clinicians out there who are willing to treat us on an individual basis!
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@waves2stars , It was indeed fortunate that you could have radiation for the lung cancer. My pulmonologist said that RIPF upped my risk for lung cancer and in jest told me to make sure any future cancer occurred elsewhere since all treatments (surgery, chemo, radiation, targeted therapy) were just as deadly as the disease for those with ILD. I guess we just move forward and hope for the best.
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