New Normal

Hi Hazel,

Maybe you could ask your oncologist whether you could switch from your aromatase inhibitor to tamoxifen if the side effects are making you so miserable. Tamoxifen works for post-menopausal women too although apparently it is slightly less effective in reducing recurrance. I am post-menopausal since chemo. Periods stopped about 18 months ago. I am now 48. My onc suggesting switching to an AI after a year of no periods but I've opted to stay on tamoxifen because I've had no side effects with it. I seem to have read a lot more stories about people having a terrible time with AIs than I have about women having problems with tamoxifen. My oncologist is fine with my decision.

Of course like any drug tamoxifen does have the its risks - small increased chance of uterine or endometrial cancer, incresed risk of blood clots and one or two other things. But it doesn't create the daily misery that aromatase inhibitors seem to inflict on so many women.

There may be other reasons why you can't take it. But it just seems to me that doctors seem to be automatically putting post-menopausal women on AIs when a very similar protection can be provided by tamoxifen without the premature aging effects on your joints and bones etc.

Could be worth asking. Good luck, Janet.