I went on Tamoxifen for 4 months and I was in the group of women it doesn't work for...I am kind of glad I did';t stay on it though...these are the side effects I had
Headaches
anxiety (also possibly related to procesing cancer stuff post treatment)
depression (as above)
Achy legs (especially on the side with varicose veins)
Fuzzy head
I am now on Zoladex injections and the only real thing I have noticed apart from the long list of menopause symptoms is that i have gained a little weight but that can be from the menopause it self! I am soooo over all the drugs I am going for the surgery to have my ovaries out and there is a possible alternative to Tamoxifen called DIM or Indolplex...although no studies have shown it to be effective at all but in theory it MAY be effective I wasn't willing to stake my life on it personally and lets face it, that's what we're doing...What I found helpful was getting them to caluclate the differences in treatment options, ie with and without hormone therapy to see what kind of difference it will make...for me no hormone therapy at all meant a 30% reductionin my survival rate so I wasn't willing to try a herb that wasn't proven to work...there is just too much at stake...There is also another herb that they say may work but again I wasn't willing to chance it...I am all for herbal and alternative medicines but I also have 3 kids and don't want to play with my life like that either...Once I get my ovaries out I think I will be taking indolplex instead of aromatase inhibitors though, as once your ovaries are out I figure that's getting the estrogen pretty darn low anyways..... Hope that's helpful :O)
