Forum Discussion
Hi Carole,
You are definitely not complaining unnecessarily. This is a great place to seek understanding and maybe minimize some of those awful side effects that many of us experience.
I was placed on Tamoxifen after my treatment back in November 2013 and stayed on it until I had my ovaries removed last year. I then changed to Letrozole (Femara) last October. So kind of the reverse of your situation, I guess.
I was fortunate to not experience many side effects on Tamoxifen except for some mild nausea to begin with and then some fairly unpleasant mood swings. I don't know if it helped but I did exercise regularly (just a daily 30 minute walk) and also really watched what I ate. I avoided alcohol and caffeine to help with some mild hot flushes. Nothing helped the mood swings though!
On Femara I felt instantly calmer but very tired and about a month into it, incredible muscle and joint aches. My brain fog was pretty bad too. I was to the point of thinking about asking to change back to Tamoxifen as I was concerned about how the pain was affecting my ability to function. However, I persisted a little and tried increasing my magnesium, fish oil and glucosamine supplements.
Somewhere about the 3 to 4 month point it all started to settle and the joint pain is only mild now. I am just a bit stiff until I get going and then I can do pretty much everything I want to. I did also start doing some extra weight bearing exercise and think this has really helped my joints. I have heard lots of ladies recommend yoga too.
My oncologist and a few ladies on here told me that it can take about 6 months for the side effects to settle. My osteopath also said in her experience with breast cancer patients, any change in medication can cause an inflammatory response. Maybe this is what is happening with your change to Tamoxifen? All my doctors recommended I give my body time to adjust and for me that has ended up working. It was not pleasant to go through though! Hope you get some helpful advice from everyone on here who has some experience with this situation too. Take care. Deanne xxx