Hi
can anyone advise if it’s safe to take Vitamin D and Omega oils whilst taking tamoxifen? I spoke to my oncologist and he said there wasn’t enough evidence to state whether there is any benefit or not, basically it’s a grey area. I want to be reassured that taking vitamin D and omega oils won’t interfere with Tamoxifen.
any advice would be helpful.
thank you
Hello @Sab53
You may wish to check out the American website which details all the side effects of all supplements (sorry I don’t have the address to hand) but as far as I’m aware there are no contraindications for Vitamin D or omega oils for Tamoxifen. As someone whose had an oestrogen positive tumour you will be aware that you are strong advised against HRT for menopause symptoms and therefore you may look at other supplements to help with these and things like these are often suggested
Don’t be disheartened by what the oncologist said: they know an awful lot but not everything! (No-one does!) I don’t know if I’ve recommended her before but Dr Annice Mukherjee’s book the Complete Guide to the Menopause is a really helpful source for breast cancer ladies as she herself had breast cancer and took Tamoxifen for 10 years
AM xxx
Hi Sab53
I believe both are safe, but you could also ask your pharmacist as they will know more about any potential drug interactions.
My sister (retired GP) took vitamin D3 with letrozole and I take Menopace multivitamin with anastrazole. I’m a PhD biochemist and plan to do more research on this area. From what I’ve read so far, there is clear evidence that vitamin D3 is of benefit to breast cancer survivors but the jury is out on pretty much everything else (apart from possibly soy in Asian populations who consume up to 50mg/d and metabolise it differently to non-Asian populations). A lot depends on your genetics, your gut microbiome and your metabolism, so its complex and difficult to show cause and effect. As mentioned in other posts, its always best to meet your nutritional needs with a balanced, varied diet, in our case ideally plant-based Mediterranean.
Have you had your vitamin D3 levels measured? I asked my GP to do this (plus cholesterol etc.) when I started anastrazole. My dexa scan was good and my vitamin D3 levels were within the normal range after surgery and RT. When that’s the case, 400iU/day is recommended - which is the quantity found in most multivitamins. You’d need to eat a forest full of mushrooms to reach this, so supplementing is necessary particularly through winter and spring in northern climates! Some recommend very high dose (10,000s iU/day) but I would definitely take advice if you’re considering this.
I eat lots of oily fish (think SMASH - salmon, mackerel, anchovies, sardines & herring) as part of my Med diet so probably get sufficient omega fatty acids this way. One of the best supplements however to take is krill oil, which has a higher bioavailability/absorption than others. Indeed, I think I might go back to taking it myself!
Hope that helps.
JS64