BEST TIME OF DAY TO TAKE TAMOXIFEN?

Going through breast cancer treatment Hormone therapy
1

Hi all,
am after a bit of advice please. Am due to start taking tamoxifen on Wednesday and wondered if anyone had a view on what time of day to take it and whether this has any influence on side effects. Am thinking I will take it just before I go to bed each night. What do you all do?
Thanks
Al
xxxx

1 Like
2

Hi,

I was advised to take it just before I go to bed as any side effects will occur while you are sleeping. Some people can feel a bit queezy and dizzy but I have been fine…I have been taking it for 6 months now and have been ok…I also take cod liver oil and evening primrose oil which helps with my joints and sweats…

Hope all goes well
Fiona xxx

3

Hi

I take mine just before I go to bed. I’ve been on Nolvodex for about 4 months and have been really lucky so far as I’ve had hardly any side effects.

Good Luck

Helen

4

i took it for 3 years before my current diagnosis and just started again last month and take it before bed for the reasons stated above… but never had any major problems with it although did have erratic heavy bleeding but the hot flushes etc all settled down within 6 months which is pretty standard for many new medications particularly hormone based ones.

good luck Al

Lulu xx

5

Thanks girls - you’ve confirmed what I thought. It’s strange that I’m so worried about a pill after having survived the horror of chemo!!

Al
xx

6

I take mine at breakfast each morning. Have been on it 3 months and so far the only side effects have been hot flushes, but they have been confined to night time and not really all that bad. It sounds like different times work for different people. Just experiment - start either morning or night and if you have problems you can always change the time you take it. Have found a Chillow great for cooling me down from hot flushes (in particular I like the mini chillow as it isn’t too big and cumbersome). Good luck on the Tamoxifen.

7

Hi, l am like most of the other girls and take mine at bedtime, l think if you are going to get any side effects then most of them should happen during the night.
Good luck with it,
Love,
Barbara

8

Hi

I take mine at bed time too. I felt sick afterwards if I took it at any other time of day.

I’ve been on it 16mths now, and, having found the brand that suits me best, the side effects are nowhere near as bad now as they were in the first about 9mths.

Good luck with yours

Kinden
x

9

I take mine in the morning! Tried it at bed time but found I was sick when I got up. I’m ok now, think it’s because I’ve not stopped eating!!

10

Night time for me

11

bedtime for me too… one day i forgot and took it next morning. i was like an evil angry witch all day. poor husband. xx

12

I take my tablet at night too. I used to take it in the morning but gave me alot of aches and pains. Also very tired. So it suits me better at night.

rachy xxx

13

I take mine at night but am really suffering with the hot flushes which I get mainly in the evening and through the night, so might switch to the morning. Don’t get any other side effects with it, or none that I’ve noticed, anyway!

Helen.

14

I have 10mg tablets so I can take one in the morning and one at night. I found that this way the hot flushes were more bearable. I had tried taking the 20mg tablet both in the mornings and the evenings and found I got hot flushes round the clock either way. Taking half the dose twice a day still gives the flushes around the clock, but not so intense.

15

I take mine at night with one of those little pots of drinking yoghurts to line my tum. I kept forgeting it in the morning what with the school run and getting out the door for work.

Kat x

16

Ali babe, my number one chef breast buddie!!! I take mine at night, started just before xmas. been ok apart from hot flushes and sleepless nights… great eh. Also been given an AD to help with the flushes which has reduced them greatly and is a new none addictive one too. So dont suffer if u dont have to. Good luck hun miss u, Pauline xxx

17

I take mine in the morning with breakfast, as I worry about forgetting it if I leave it until later in the day. I also take evening primrose, cod liver oil and calcium tablets - and clonodine for hot flushes as primrose oil did not do enough on its own.
Victoria

18

Hi. Im a ‘newby’ so its good to know there are others with similar questions and fears.
I started Tamoxifen in Dec and wondered when folks started to get flushes?-if at all? Im finding the tiredness and blurred vision are enough to cope with so far!
Thanks

19

I also take it in the morning. Partly because I think I’m less likely to forget it if I take it with my breakfast and partly because it is easier to keep to more or less the same time in the morning than it would be at night.

I have more night sweats than daytime flushes anyway so I don’t really want to risk making them worse.

Eliza xx

20

Hi Al, I’ve tried morning and evening now settled on evening!! Felt a bit queasy when i first started but thats ok now (started in Oct)do get hot flushes at night and during the day and very achy, stiff knees in the morning!!
Good luck, lots of love Debs xxx