I have been on tamixifen for over a year, though I did have a 3 month break recently. Now I am back on it and I feel like Robert DeNiro in the awakenings. I am a different person on tamoxifen. I am tired all the time and feel really down, if I do exercise I am shattered, though I have recently tried pilates which I found quite energising.
I have tried all the drugs to combat the side effects but they just had their own side effects.
Does anyone else feel like this? Has anyone overcome feeling like this?
Hi princess2 I too have the same feelings. I am tired al the time and am exhausted if I do a little excercise or exert myself. I have been on Tamoxifen fo 22 months now. I have mentioned it to my consultant but he doesn’t think it is related to the tablets. I have tried cod-liveroil and evening primrose oil combined to help with some of these feelings . I also have a constant headache, its an headache that feels like i have got a head full of things that are bursting to get out. I do hope it helps you to know others are in the same position, and also hope that someone else gives us an idea on how to combat this feeling we have.
Me too. Even asked for diabetes test as my eyes feel constantly blurred. Yesterday I slept on settee for 4 hours in afternoon then slept alnight too. Been on Tam for a year…
Yes I’m having exactly the same side effects from Tamoxifen. I’ve been on it a year and a half now, and inspite of being told that the side effects will calm down after a few months, they hav’nt. In fact they have got worse, since I had a total hysterectomy back in Febuary. The constant hot flushes, night sweats, tiredness depression etc are really dragging me down now,plus recently, blurred vision and joint and muscle pains. I am going to the docs next week to see about going on antidepressants to help me cope as I feel everything that I’ve been through in the last year and a half has suddenly caught up with me and I’m finding it harder and harder to put a face on things all the time.
I saw onc this morning and had chat and he’s changed me from Tam to Examestane, which he was going to change me to anyway next May. He said that if my symptoms didn’t improve to let him know,
I am so sorry that you are all having finding life on tamoxifen difficult, I sort of hoped it might just be me and someone would have a magic answer :). I have tried loads of things to combat the symptoms and I do find that sleeping with just a summer quilt and a blanket does help with the night sweats and I reluctantly tried pilates last week and I really did feel better after it and i enjoyed it.
Does anyone else find that they are forgetful with tamoxifen? Has anyone found anything that helps with the side effects?
Goodness, this is amazing. I actually ended up in A&E last December with the most awful feeling that my head was about to burst. The depression at that time, the extreme tiredness and the tummy pains were awful. I stopped taking the tamoxifen, had ovaries removed and now on Arimidex. Still get the tiredness, not as bad, still get low moods but no where near as bad as with tamoxifen. A lot of it is menopausal symptoms but as everyone above has said, what can we do about it. HRT is out For me the worst symptom is the low mood, I am normally so happy and bubbly, just can’t seem to shake the doldrums off.
Im on tamoxifen, only been on it since august, so its still early days. I was doing fine on it, occasional sore ankles and knees and the odd hot flush every now and then…but a piece of doddle, for me anyway. I had zero appetite, and am still having to force myself to eat but ill get through it. Mind you, think my body is still working its way through my chemo weight gain. However, I had to have a total hysterectomy 2 weeks ago, the gynae found a very large cyst and couldnt say either way…so for safetys sake he had to whip the whole cabooodle out. Needless to say, been thrown in head first into the menopause…which sucks. Im hardly sleeping, the hot flushes are a mare, lethal mood swings.
I know this thread was a few years ago but wondered how everyone was? I have been on Tamoxifen for three years and have been so tired and it seems to be getting worse. My energy levels are very limited. It was only last week that the consultant admitted to me for the first time that tiredness can be a side affect from taking Tamoxifen but he said he wanted to keep me on it for at least another two years.
As I have not gone through the menopause yet, he said it was the only option available to me.
Did any of you find ways and means of coping with the tiredness?
I do get hot flushes as well but keeping off alcohol and anything with caffeine in it, definitely helps.
I have just had a reoccurance of breast cancer after having a double mastectomy and reconstruction in 2009 developed under the skin. I have been put on Tamoxifen for the first time I am so tired I can hardly function. I will be asking my consultant for an alternative I am a mature student doing a degree and I also am finding I cannot think straight.
For me the worst symptom is the low mood, I am normally so happy and bubbly, just can’t seem to shake the doldrums off.