Just seen this and yes yes yes!!! Thank goodness other people are saying this.
What is it about the medical profession? They look at you as if you are a complete numpty and look up their little books and say no no no it’s not a side effect.
Well IT DAMN WELL IS!!!
Thank you all so much for posting about this. I’ve been suffering from this and I never had it before I started taking Tamoxifen. So I KNEW that it was causing it. But they made me feel as if I was just being stupid. Which I may be sometime - but not on this occasion!!
can you update me. For the last couple of days ive felt as though cramp is going to come on in my legs but wasnt sure if its my exercising or should i blame everything on Tamoxifen.
Hi Tracey. I just came across the thread about cramp and tamoxifen, but it had been closed. There were about 13 posts and everyone seemed to be saying the same thing. That they get it in their lower leg, feet and ankle area.
In the past when I exercised I would get cramp in my upper leg muscles - never in the area that I get cramp nowadays. I really do believe it is the tamoxifen and so did the other ladies on the closed post.
It’s frustrating that it is not noted as a side effect - I believe it is. Oh they told me to drink tonic water or something with quinine (sp?). Anything to shut me up, I suppose!!!
Take care Tracey and keep well (and keep exercising)
Cramps can be caused, among other things, by low levels of magnesium (and other minerals). My mother’s theory, but I verified it. Then I found this in an article on menopause: ‘as estrogen levels drop during menopause, magnesium levels seem to diminish as well’ (quoted from umm.edu/altmed/articles/menopause-000107.htm).
So if we put two and two together…
I’m not a doctor and I might be totally wrong, but maybe you could try asking your doctors if there is a link and if a magnesium supplement would help? It’s supposed to relieve hot flushes too, I think I’ve read that somewhere… but my brain is in info overload so please google it…
I too suffered terrible cramp and had read in the Amonea magazine that it was a side effect of Tamoxifen. I asked my GP who replied it was not a listed complaint but he would believe the women who took Tamoxifen before he believed his book of known side effects!!!
Now on a presciption for one Quinine Sulphate tablet a night
I have some problems that started or have become worse since taking Tamoxifen several months ago. When I spoke to my bc nurse about this (as was told ‘not a Tamoxifen side-effect’ once too many times), and she said many side-effects are caused more by lack of oestrogen rather than the actual Tamoxifen. Still sounds a bit like white-wash to me cos it’s the Tamoxifen that has been depleting the oestrogen in the first place. Oestrogen is responsible for quite a few things that go on in the body and while getting rid of it helps with the cancer side of things, it causes lots of other misery too.
this is really weird, i had a bit of pins and needles in my left arm last year, had an mri scan which was negative, i had my mastectomy on the left hand side, now i suffer awful cramp in my left hand, i now i have some nerve damage to my upper left arm, but this cramp is agonising, and it only started a few weeks ago. god i hate this tamoxifen!!!
Reading this is re-assuring. Since starting Tamoxifen I have had dreadful cramos in my foot and calf. I will explore the magnesium route (at least I’m not on my own!).
I came across this thread and thought i would bring it back to the top with my experience. I am not on tamoxifen but have suffered severe cramps which have got progressively worse of the the past 5 years. I am permanently on bisphosphonates (pamidronate) and herceptin because I have bone mets. I have no medical knowledge but suspect a number of drugs interfere with our electrolytes. At my oncs suggestion I have tried calcium supplements but on occasion even with minimal dose it has pushed my ca levels too high.
After googling recently I came across an article about magnesium and trials that were being carried out on older folk where bone loss is a problem. They were giving magnesium supplements from 100% - 200% of daily needs and stated that taking such supplements would not cause harm. So I thought, being 63, I had nothing to lose. I told my oncologist what I wanted to do and he said go ahead. I have been taking 100% rda and within 2 weeks noticed a huge improvement. I had been experience nightly cramps in calf & feet which had progressed to daily constant twitching of muscles, and severe spasms in my feet and hands maybe 6 times during a 3-weekly cycle. Now after 3 months of taking the supplement I never get the muscle twitching, very rare night cramps and maybe once or twice I get the spasms in my hands and feet.
The relief has been great because the spasms were starting to interfere with my driving and day to day tasks. But if you are gong to go this route do make sure your oncologist knows - and who knows we may be educating them as well.