I have been to my Doctors this morning to discuss going on Tamoxifen which has been prescribed following breast surgery. I have read this site often and am worried by the side effects that many women seem to have on Tamoxifen and asked if I could have Nolvadex instead. He is more than happy to give me this but he said that it is exactly the same thing, and looked it up in his book and showed me. So my question is if they are the same why do people have less side effects on Nolvadex? I felt I couldnt argue the point with the Dr as they are the same. Can anyone explain this to me? Am I missing something?
mmmm…my mother had both…Nolvadex is the more expensive version and when my mother was on it she had less side affects than the ordinary tamoxifen… hope this helps.
Nolvadex D is a brand of Tamoxifen. It is consider a purer form - and as BabyBoo said, more expensive, which is a big reason why GPs don’t like prescribing it. Everyone is different as far as how the side-effect affect them, and which ones do, but I have noticed that most people find the Nolvadex D to cause less problems.
I’ve always been on Nolvadex, so can’t personally compare the difference.
All I know is that I have been on Nolvadex D since the beginning of September and I specifically asked for this because of the good things I’d read on this site. I’m 39, have had not one hot flush, still have my periods, slight achiness in joints but not enough to say it’s the tamoxifen (could be sheer enertia) but quite a bit of rattiness. Took me 8 weeks to pluck up the courage to start taking it but I am absolutely fine - well, a little bit more tired than normal but aren’t we all?? Stick to your guns and insist on it - from what I can work out from other threads, they end up prescribing loads more drugs to counter act the symptoms so has to be more cost effective to prescribe Nolvadex D in the first place.
I have been on Tamoxifen for a few months now and apart from getting a bit hot in the night, I have been fine. My friend is a Chemist and works for the company who make Nolvadex. She tells me the drug is the same and the only difference is that different companies use different “packing” in their tablets. The drug itself is only a tiny particle, so they have to use other substances to “pack” the tablets to make them into a tablet size. She says that it may be that some people have a reaction to the substances used to pack the tablets, rather than the drug itself. I too was worried that I was not getting the best when I was prescribed with the standard Tamoxifen, having read posts on this site, but so far I have not had a problem with it.
Hi,
When I discussed the possible differences between Tamoxifen and Nolvadex with a pharmacist this weekend he told me exactly the same as Julie’s chemist friend word for word. Oh! not quite, he did drop the word psychological into the conversation, I think my scowl stopped him expanding on that.
Good luck everyone
Love Caz xx
I’m sure your question has been more than answered but I feel left out so here goes!!
I work for one of those nasty PCTs that stops people having the drugs they prefer! I work in medicines management and have a pharmacy background. Generic tamoxifen is equally effective as Nolvadex (D). It undergoes the same strict, rigorous testing as the original brand so as far as efficacy goes, you would still be getting an effective treatment. HOWEVER, different manufacturers may use different excipients in their drugs (the non-drug bits that bind the tablets together and bulk it up etc) and some people will get side effects from different makes.
My personal belief and professional, is that if the patient wishes to have Nolvadex then the GP should honor that. It’s not all that expensive in the grand scheme of things. At least this means continuity in your treatment and less anxiety for you. Just make sure that once the GP has put Nolvadex on your repeat prescription a person like me doesn’t change it to the generic version. They can do this by simply putting a message on your computer notes.
I personally don’t need tamoxifen as I’m oestrogen and progesterone negative. Don’t need herceptin either as HER-. Asked my line manager if I could perhaps have the money instead as I’m triple negative!!!