Tamoxifen better for 10 years?

It seems sometimes it is too much and not many get that it doesn't really finish.  And you are correct about coming back - I felt like I was dragged away from the life I was living and then put on a parallel pathway, and then when all the treatment had finished I was expected to get back on the original pathway.  But I had changed, things had changed.  It wasn't easy, but with the support of my amazing beautiful friends, counsellor and the bcna network I have managed.  Some days, not very well others better than expected.  Going back to work and getting back on the water through dragon boating all helped and still do. Do what is right for you and great advice from one of my friends is to take one day at a time.

I have been on Tamoxifen for a month. I have pure Micropapillary breast cancer so the chance of it coming back is quite high, originally 50%, now around 30%. I had a lumpectomy then a week later a mastectomy, followed by 6 months of chemo and radiotherapy. I had 5 cancerous lymph nodes, stage 2B, grade 3 tumour. I'm 43. 

I have trouble sleeping and get so hot at night time. It's quite distressing. Yesterday I decided to give it up, panicked and started taking it again. It's just too much sometimes. People at work think I should be fine now that I've finished chemo and radiotherapy. They keep saying how happy I must be but I feel like I've come back from a war zone. I'm just emotionally exhausted. Is anyone else feeling this way? Does it get better? 

It is interesting hearing about all the side effects, l also have prickly heat very bad on my arms & shoulders, l scratch until l bleed, l find that an ice pack numbs it & l am able to stop scratching for a while. I thought the lose of memory was due to my age also, then l read about chemo brain, but l finished chemo last Oct. The more l read l am beginning to think that it is the Tamoxifen. Lets hope that we don't have a really hot summer this/next year for us girls on tamoxifen :)

Keep cool Sharon

I have been on tamoxifen for about 20 months and have had very minimal if any side effects from it.  I was 46 when I had chemo, had one period between finishing chemo and starting tamoxifen and none since then so am menopausal now (don't really know if that's caused by chemo or  tamoxifen or combination of both.)

I had mild hot flushes several times a day to start with but they barely trouble me now. Only very occasional. And I do sometimes wake up at 5am too but I used to do that before my BC diagnosis so may not be related. I guess my libido has dropped off a bit too, sadly, but I put that down to menopause itself rather than tamoxifen. 

I suspect the key thing to avoiding/minimising side effects in my case is exercise. I ususally do an aerobics or weight class or a run at least 5 times a week. It can be a drag sometimes but it does make me feel good, it reduces the risk of recurrance and it has helped me avoid gaining any weight. 

My oncologist wanted to swap me to an aromatase inhibitor once it became clear I was definitely menopausal but I hate the sound of the side effects they cause so I opted to stay on tamoxifen. She didn't seem to think it mattered much.  At this stage she has only suggested taking hormone suppressing drugs for 5 years. Wouldn't want to take it for 10 unless absolutely necessary. I do worrry sometimes about the risk of uterine/endometrial cancers. Good luck , Janet.