hi there
i started tam in march 2010, pretty horendous for the 1st yr to be honest, every side effect under the sun until i changed brands a few times
the anxiety, and panic didnt change though and it made my asthma worse
i would lay and in bed panicing about my breathing! hod to go to hospital once!
anyway…
had cbt therapy and citralapram and im MUCH better
have just been on a caravan holiday with my little boy which i would never have b een able to do before
I have been taling Tamoxifen now for a few days and I cant bear it any longer. I am a complete nervous wreck and cant sleep whatsoever so I have had to result to taking Diazepam which I’ve been prescribed, not exactly what I expected the Dr to do!!I have to return to work Monday but feel I wont be able to cope and my husband has had enough of me as I am a sniping miserable old bag and we never row usually!! I am going to speak with the Onc as have radiotherapy appt next week so see if theres an alternative to this horrible drug as Im seriously now considering not carrying on with it, Im so stressed about it as Im pre-menopausal and there arent many other alternatives - does anyone know of anything else or other options that could be tried??? Any help advice much appreciated !!!
Hi Charlyann
Have found various articles on Tamoxifen and its interaction with Prozac, obviously I was researching this 2 and a half years ago and things are constantly changing but essentially what the study found is that Prozac affects the way your body metabolises the Tamoxifen and that taking certain anti-depressants may interfere with how well the Tamoxifen works. Obviously because it’s to do with metabolism I think it might be different for everyone and we do have to be careful about everything that we read on the internet but when I mentioned it at the clinic they went off to research (probably in the same way I had - on the internet) and came back agreeing that maybe I should change what I was on. I went back to my GP and she looked it up and we settled on Citalopram which I think is also sometimes prescribed for hot flushes, I would recommend mentioning it to your GP and seeing what s/he says as these things are constantly changing.
Hope this helps and I didn’t panic you too much.
Pam x
Rocketdog, there is an alternaive for premenopausal women but it involves basically making us postmeno by shutting down the ovaries either on a temporary basis with a monthly injection I think it’s called Lupron and it affects the central control mechanism of hormones, or else permanently with either surgery or radiation, Your choice between these might be affected by factors like might you want any more babies and how healthy are your bones etc and how well you could tolerate the whole hotflush cr@p-memory scenario. Surgically induced menopause is obviously quite abrupt and much more intense than the natural process, the injections let you tailor it a bit or stop and try a different approach if it’s all too much. Once your ovaries are knocked out, you can then be given the other anti-oestrogen drugs instead of tamoxifen. Depending on the details of your cancer diagnosis (ie your recurrence risk) this may all be “taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut” and out of all proportion to the possible improvement in your cancer risks (remember it still doesnt guarantee you won’t have a recurrence, it only reduces the likelihood) but may be safer than feeling suicidal from the depression aspects, you need to get a balanced view and the medics tend to only see their own specialty. Quite often your GP is best placed to get the overall picture. Wishing you all the best
Hi Pam
thanks for the info. I’ve done a bit of research myself and think I will mention it to my GP and BC doctors. If there is something else I can take instead of Fluoxetine then I will. I think we all need to take responsibility for our own health to a certain extent and even if the risks are tiny I’d rather investigate other alternatives than do nothing at all. Don’t worry you haven’t panicked me. Thanks for your help.
Charlotte x
Have found this discussion train fascinating. Have been on Tamoxifen since early April. Suffered some depression initially, hot flushes, night sweats and insomnia. Oh and have gained some weight 
Have stuck it out and kept going - worth it as all side effects have diminished (except the weight gain - another issue!!). Someone on this forum recommended evening primrose oil and I can definitely recommend that - very useful in decreasing all the SE’s and it certainly helped me.
Cyara
x
Hi ejenks, lincs lady and anyone else having CBT therapy. This has just been suggested to me to help with stress and slight depression (not just from cancer, but other health issues and personal probs). How have you found it? Does it really help?
Hi all
I’m on Mirtazapine - an anti-depressant which is not an SSRI like Fluoxetine. It’s also a mild sedative and helps me sleep. Seems to be reducing the number and severity of hot flushes as well. I’ve also had CBT which I’ve found very helpful.
Lilac x
Hi Captaininvincible!
Yes I have found the CBT very helpful. It’s a slowish process but just helps you to look at things from another angle. The idea is to change your behaviours & the way you would normally react to situations. I would wholeheartedly recommend it. You should be able to get a referral through your doctor. Have a go x
Hi, im new to the forum but wondered if anyone can help. I’ve been taking tamoxifen for 8 months now, had aps brand to start with which seemed ok, just hot flushes the main se and since then been on wockhardt which as well as hot flushes have made me feel dizzy and given me a funny feeling in my throat off and on. Didn’t realise you could get all the different brands until i read it on here! Just got my new prescription and these are made by Generics Uk! Does anyone take this brand and if so could you tell me what the se are like, i can cope with the ones i have from the wockhardt brand as dont seem to be able to get the aps ones. Thanks