Hi Ladies Is anyone questioning or has refused to take the hormone therapy? I have just completed 4 sessions of TC chemo and am about to commence 6 weeks of radiotherapy but this hormone therapy isnt sitting well with me at all - all the awful side effects which I keep reading about sound just like the symptoms I have had with chemo and I cannot stand the idea of living day to day with those for the next 5 - 10 years. I have started doing some homework on alternative options - ie clean eating, exercise, avoiding certain foods, cosmetics etc and it is sounding quite positive although I have to keep researching to ensure I make a well informed decision and feel 100% positive about the choice I make. I am also seeing a naturapath for advise this week too. I am just curious if anyone else feels the same and has the same doubts or if they have already refused the medication. Love and healing to you all Lynn xx

I have been on Tamoxifen for 16 months now and can honestly say that I have no side effects now. I did have some nausea to begin with which settled very quickly and some hot flushes during the first 6 months. For me Tamoxifen reduces my chance of recurrence from about 50% to less than 20%. I found that eating a very healthy diet, exercising and generally leading a healthy lifestyle seem to reduce any side effects. I regard these habits as additional things that I can do to keep myself well rather than thinking they could give me the same sort of protection that Tamoxifen can. I feel very fortunate to be able to take this well-proven medication and am getting on with living my life to the maximum. I am currently training to take part in a charity challenge (raising money for the Cancer Council) trekking to Base Camp on Mt Everest in April this year. I have never felt better in my life and definitely don't feel that Tamoxifen limits my ability to enjoy every aspect of my life. That is my experience so far, definitely not awful at all. Good luck with it if you decide to give it a go. Take care. Deanne xxx

Hi Deanne Thanks for that and it is certainly refreshing to hear a positive side to the medication. That gives me something to think about. Who was it that gave you the statistics about how much protection the medication was giving you - was it your oncologist? Thanks again and well done on your challenge in April - very impressive :-) Take care Lynn xxx

I have my prescription for Tamoxifen sitting at home unfilled too...I have been thinking about this for a month since my BC surgeon gave me the good news that my bi-lat skin & nipple sparing mastectomy with no cancer in my sentinel node. She said I had two areas of cancer but both were small low grade stage 1 and I am both oestrogen & progesterone positive so I she was prescribing Tamoxifen. I asked why, if all the cancer was removed and practically all of the breast tissue with the back of my nipples being scraped off...what were my chances? She was surprised I was questioning her. But why not question it. She had to check with my rhuematologist if my risk of blood clotting would prevent me from taking this drug. Reading about all the other side effects and risks surely makes me question it. I'm not refusing it, but just taking my time, and I am considering starting it after I fully recover from my surgery, but I am not rushing to add more drugs to my life and think making healthy lifestyle changes are good enough for me today. There's a lot to absorb when you are on this learning curve. take care, luv Ali x Take care,

I felt exactly the same as you before I started taking tamoxifen in Jan 2013. I was terrified that I would gain weight, develop terrible insomnia and become moody and depressed. My oncologist actually told me that most of her patients on tamoxifen gained about 5kg. But I can honestly say none of these things has happened. I do think my hair may be affected by tamoxifen - it is less thick and lustrous than it used to be (thought it was a hangover from chemo but I read on here that tamoxifen can affect your hair) Also, I recently had a pelvic ultrasound which found the lining of my uterous has thickened. This is very common apparently. I am off to see a gynocologist about it soon. But otherwise I haven't had any side effects. Like Deanne I put quite a lot of effort into eating a healthy diet and exercisiing regularly. I think being as healthy as possible helps your body tolerate medications better. I too see a healthy lifestyle as offering additional protection against a BC recurrance. I wouldn't now want to stop my tamoxifen as I feel it makes a significant reduction to my risk (11 % in my case). It makes me feel protected. I would say give the tamoxifen a try at least. Some people do experience unpleasant side effects but you could be one of the lucky ones who does not. It is a very effective drug with a proven history of reducing breast cancer risk. Good luck, Janet.

Yes, my oncologist gave me the statistical difference that each of my treatments give to people with a Cancer diagnosis similar to mine. My Cancer had spread to my lymph nodes and I think this is why Tamoxifen makes a 30% difference to my chance of recurrence. I never really saw that I had a choice so just set about doing what I could to help my body cope with the medication. I did swap brands of Tamoxifen late last year (because the chemist was out of my usual one) and found that I had worse side effects (aches and pains and very emotional), so quickly swapped back to my original one. We are all different and just as there can be big differences in how we react to chemo etc, I think there can be differences with the hormone therapy too. I truly believe that a healthy lifestyle can help though. :)

Tamoxifen - doubts??? | BCNA Online Network

22 Replies

lynnexcel
Member
11 years ago
Hi Deanne

Thanks for that and it is certainly refreshing to hear a positive side to the medication.

That gives me something to think about.

Who was it that gave you the statistics about how much protection the medication was giving you - was it your oncologist?

Thanks again and well done on your challenge in April - very impressive :-)

Take care

Lynn xxx
Deanne
Member
11 years ago
I have been on Tamoxifen for 16 months now and can honestly say that I have no side effects now. I did have some nausea to begin with which settled very quickly and some hot flushes during the first 6 months. For me Tamoxifen reduces my chance of recurrence from about 50% to less than 20%. I found that eating a very healthy diet, exercising and generally leading a healthy lifestyle seem to reduce any side effects. I regard these habits as additional things that I can do to keep myself well rather than thinking they could give me the same sort of protection that Tamoxifen can. I feel very fortunate to be able to take this well-proven medication and am getting on with living my life to the maximum. I am currently training to take part in a charity challenge (raising money for the Cancer Council) trekking to Base Camp on Mt Everest in April this year. I have never felt better in my life and definitely don't feel that Tamoxifen limits my ability to enjoy every aspect of my life. That is my experience so far, definitely not awful at all. Good luck with it if you decide to give it a go. Take care. Deanne xxx

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Tamoxifen - doubts???

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