Hello, I’m new to this forum. Have had a mastectomy, just about to complete radiotherapy tomorrow (hooray!) and start tamoxifen on Thursday (…) as my cancers are oestrogen and progesterone receptive. I was quite happy about this, to reduce future risk (even though my cancer was stage 1), but having read some of the side effects, I am getting a little concerned. My oncologist (male) seemed completely oblivious to any concerns about menopausal symptoms. Having heard from someone in their 50’s on tamoxifen who has just had a stroke, and my mum having recently had her 3rd stroke, I am a bit worried. I believe my oncologist about my risk of cancer recurrence on tamoxifen being reduced significantly and this being a good reason to take it. I just want to be more educated on risks of side effects.
Happy to hear everyone’s experiences so far, both recent and years on.
I’ve also read a scientific paper about the effect of alcohol on tamoxifen (not a great mixture - my understanding is that it greatly reduces the effectiveness of tamoxifen), I am looking for advice (here and from my oncologist and pharmacist) on whether to cut out alcohol apart from birthdays and special occasions or just limit to one drink a week. [If you’re interested in the paper, which seems to be a reputable source, you can find it here: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4681367/ ]