been reading threads to try and find out about tomaxifan. apparantly i will go on it for two years to thicken my bones up and then change to a modern one which thins your bones.
I had a hysterectomy years ago. apparantly I am now post menopausal, but I never had any of the normal side effects appart from osteoporossis.
I am not having chemo and the tomaxifan is not starting till several months after radio therapy so i should be in good health.
Anyone in a similar situation who can tell me how likely i am to have the side effects other younger women are having. My breast care nurse was not much help. She kept talking about bleeding (well ihave not got a womb) cervix thickening(not got one of those either) etc and I felt she was more used to talking to youger women.
YAT,
I might be slightly older than you, (66 now) but I had a hysterectomy in my thirties and I was put on Tamoxifen after my BC op. I was on it for nearly three months.
I didn’t get hot sweats that I noticed but I did get cramp in the feet and legs and couldn’t stretch in the night because I’d get cramp.
I was absolutely foul tempered and moody.
I was taken off it when I got a little blockage of the artery behind an eye - so only half vision in that eye for 5 minutes. (Family tendency for bad cirulation there.)
I am now on the hideous arimidex or its cheaper lookalike. As long as I take glucosamine & chondroitin supplements I don’t really suffer too much with joint stiffness, so I much prefer it to tam.
I’ve also got osteoporosis in the lumbar region and taking Adcal and strontium for that. Only four more years of it to go!
I declined rads, and only time will tell if I was a complete idiot about that.
OaL, did you have a fully radical hysterectomy (with oophorectomy) or do you still have your ovaries? Tamoxifen acts on the ovaries, AFAIK, the uterus doesn’t secrete any hormones.
no they left the overies.Several years after the op they discovered from a bone scan that i had osteoprosis, did blood checks and told me I was post menopausal–how bizzare–never felt a thing. Very lucky not ot have had symptoms. Mind you I never had problems with periods. no pains, no mood swings. The pill made me a bit suicidal though
YAT,
Re declining Rads
It was nearly 3 months after the op before I got to go the rads planning because they were replacing the machine at the hospital so I had weeks to work myself into a lather about damaging all the freshly healed breast innards and I dreaded losing any function in my arm as I am the main lifter in the house. I started to develop cold sores without a cold.
I had a 7mm IDC stage 1, and when the onc?/rads man started talking about a tumour bed of 13 x 4 cm that would all need irradiating I internally screeched with horrific laughter at the lunacy of it. It wasn’t all tumour bed of course it was because the guide wire had little barbs on it to hold it in place and I then realised that they’d cut the wire out with the tumour.
He also said that it would give only a 1 or 2 % increase in the very low risk of the BC coming back.
So I said no and rushed out the door to burst into tears.
If it comes back in that breast I can have Rads next time!
If I had had rads the little artery blockage would have taken place during the treatment and it may not have been so obvious that it was pretty likely due to the tamoxifen. I can’t remember the brand.
I had one ovary removed and I did suffer at menopause with hot flushes.
cheers
Hi OAL I am post menopause, have had the hysterectomy a good few years ago (still have ovaries) and on Tamoxifen. Been on 'em about 3 months only. It has just dawned on me this week that I’m feeling pretty down and have a “couldn’t give a toss attitude” to situations. Even my grandchildren couldn’t make me smile yesterday and I adore them. I have also had fairly mild itching all over particularly my head and arms. I do get foot cramps in bed if my feet are cold but that’s easily solved with bed socks!.Having got over the extreme hot flushes during the menopause my flushes now are pretty mild TBH. I have made the decision to come off the tamox. I hate feeling so miserable and I don’t think the benefits are that great either.