Hi
I have been struggling with the side effects of Tamoxifen and just wanted to hear from other people with a similar experience and any solutions that you may have.
I had a lumpectomy in December 2025 for a grade 2 invasive ductal carcinoma. I was then given Tamoxifen end of January and had radiotherapy in March.
Initially I found the tamoxifen was bearable but over the past two months I have suffered extreme mood swings and debilitating brain fog. I don’t even recognise myself. I saw a GP who told me that mood swings weren’t a side effect of tamoxifen (extremely unhelpful!) then spoke to breast care nurses who said come off for 2 weeks then go back on for 12 weeks to see how things are.
I am now 1 month into retaking it and the mood swings and brain fog are back. It’s like I’m not in control of my body and I flip out at the slightest thing which is very unlike me pre tamoxifen.
I’m 34 years old with 2 young children and I don’t want to risk a reoccurrence but I am starting to feel that my life is being so severely affected by this drug that I the risk is outweighing any benefit it might have.
My next step is to speak to the oncology team again and they said they might refer me to a menopause clinic for advise or suggest anti depressant (which I really don’t want to take only to counteract the effects of another drug) However I’m struggling to see that anything is going to counteract these horrible side effects.
just feeling very helpless with this if I’m honest, so reaching out for some help/advice. Has anyone made the decision to stop taking tamoxifen? Has anyone been prescribed anti depressant but still on tamoxifen and felt better?
Xx