I love green tea and drink lots of it anyway ! no supplements though - before dx I’d taken selenium religiously but thought bugger it now -I really am not sure whether these things work !
am feeling not quite right today btw…queasy and headachey -am thinking I just might be very tired and anxious,rather than looking for side effects.I walked into town just now and my left hip joint felt odd from time to time - do you think tamox. makes the ligaments relax,as in pregnancy ?
One of the main side effects i have found with the tamoxifen is the aching joints and nausea in the mornings. I end up taking painkillers but not keen on doing this long term. I do feel strange but under alot of stress at the moment so difficult to guage which is causing the problems.
Rachy
I am just so tired…again!! Having to resort to a sleeping tab tonight,as I went to sleep at 11pm an woke up at12.25 and got another hr in after that. I also have really bad nightmares (when I do sleep)does anyone else suuffer from really strange dreams???
I am 57 and have been on Tamoxifen since May, and have found I have become very anxious, fearful as well as depressed. I had a mastectomy and going through the reconstruction where a tissue expander is inserted under the muscle and every 2 weeks I get pumped up [so to speak]. But it is the emotional side that I find very worrying where for no accountable reason I become anxious. I did get very depressed for a few days and thought I would never recover, went to the doctor and I found talking to him lifted my spirits, but each day I wake up and wonder is it a good or bad day and inevitably its starts of good and gets bad. Is anyone else suffering emotionally.
the lack of sleep is one of the worst things. My flushes and night sweats are really crappy. My back always aches too 
I am not convinced that depression is an SE of the drug though - I think that it is probably a common and completely understandable consequence of going through this process. I also went through a phase of nasty cancer dreams but haven’t had any since starting tamox so definitely not the drug in my case. The sleeping tablet trap is so easy to get into. I was taking half a tablet but then when I tried to go without I’d have a really bad night. Haven’t taken any for ages but when I go back to work I suspect I will fall back into the trap again!
alex
xx
hi everyone
i too find im getting a little low at times, and very very tired at other times. i dont even have any negative thoughts going through my head when the low moods come, so im thinking it must have something to do with the tamoxifen, cos i feel i have accepted the idea that i have cancer, because underneath im the same person, and now im having a break from treatment, i live a better life than before.
i guess well just have to hope it will get better, and just try to calmly accept where we are at the moment. ( easier said than done sometimes i know.) but whats the alternative?
take care all x
Hello ladies i am due to my last TAX 30.09 and soon join you on Tamoxifen as my CA is estrogen positive …i want to say that hot flashes start with first TAX and now i am just week after second one the hot and colds flashes during nifgt are horrid and i feel so tired i am not looking forward to tamoxifen …i want to think that i will be better after tax finish …so from what i read here it seems never ends…i am also having radiation for 1 month so i have been told that tamoxifen will start 5-6 weeks after the last TAX …i have been thinking of having surgery and get rid of my ovaries ect (to escape the tamoxifen if possible) i dont know what to think about it …any of your opinions will be helpfull…Christina
Hi, I’ve been off line for the past few days,so just catching up with all your posts!!
I have been fine on Tamox until the last few days and I seem to have developed painfull hips and knees.I’ve not beeen very active recetley because of dx so hope its just that.
I posted on bone scan as well, I have after a long consideration decided to stop tamoxifen, it was costing me my mobility and also mental ilness, no sleep, low moods etc. I was informed that reaccurance was 20% without any treatment, i will be going to radiotherapy which may reduce it by two thirds and tamoxifen by further 1% PERCENT. Is it worth it for 1 percent and shitty quality of life? Also at the end of the day thre is no guarantee? with all that. it may come back regardless, so if i am able to deal with that
re accurance, why not. I may feel differently when i tell my family.do anyone think i am selfish?
Dear Shenay, No you are not selfish at all. It’s your life and you choose what feels best for you. Apparently 37% of women come off Tamoxifen because of bad side effects and that’s the one’s that admit it!!!
best wishes
Leadie
Hi everyone,
I blame e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g on Tamoxifen (anything from MPs expenses row to global warming!) but do acknowledge it is important to take it to keep my cancer at bay. So, please may I join you - I only joined this site today and it was wonderful to find so many others who understand about the side-effects of Tamoxifen. An earlier contributor mentioned someone saying “well, it’s not chemo… it’s only a little pill” (forgive me if I misquote) but three cheers to you all - perhaps we should all beat the drum and tell our friends EXACTLY how we are feeling instead of the usual “I’m fine” answer.
I am post-menopausal but I’ve had severe leg cramps, fatigue, sleep-disturbance, joint pains (now on co-codamol) especially having pain in my elbows. I sort of expected pain to be in weight-bearing joints… but in my elbows? My internal thermostat is all over the place - feeling cold when others are hot and vice-versa.
Good luck to you all and don’t let the beggars grind you down!
AlexG
Hi,
I still feel Ok on Tamox,but early days I suppose!!
Headache has gone so has pain in my hips. (I take asprin and Oil of Eveniing Primrose) But I’ve developed spots. never had them even when I was a teenager. Keep trucking girls xx
day 12 here (I think it must be- 2 weeks on Monday anyway) and ok so far…had aching hands and hip last week but I think maybe that was tiredness/possible cold bug. Hope you are all rattling along ok too 
Am on day 8 of Tamoxifen. Have had quite noticeable mood swings and been more inclined to be tearful than at any time since diagnosis. Queasy feeling in morning,but not too bad and still eat breakfast.
Cramp in toes at night (twice) but sometimes get that anyway and can usually get rid of it by moving foot around, massaging it etc.
Jellylegs, I have a nice crop of spots on my jaw line and and forehead too! It should be my 12 year old son starting with these not me !!( luckily for him, he still has lovely soft little-boy skin!)
Anna x
Hi,
I’m not sure if this is Tamox or not but last night I just cried and cried I just felt so sad at the way my life and my families life has been affected by this bl…dy cancer. But I did feel better afterwards. I think I’ve finally let some of the pain out I was feeling.Looked like hell this morning though.lol
Hi Ladies,
just wanted to add my pennies worth.
I started taking Tamoxifen (nolvadex d) on Arpil 1st this year (apt date), I haven’t had a period since January half way through chemo, I’m 47 now. I haven’t gained weight (10lbs thoughout chemo) although I’m having trouble shifting it. I don’t get headaches or feel sick, in fact my moods are more ‘level’ than they used to be. My sex drive hasn’t gone, actually I’d say it’s increased.
The only thing I’ve noticed is very achey joints, hot flushes (awful) and sleepless restless nights. So on the whole not too bad.
On the plus side, my onc said the more side effects you get the better as it shows it working.
x
Hi all,
Hope everyone is coping OK. Can I just pick up on your last point Gingery? I’ve heard that more and more that the more SE’s you get it means that the Tamoxifen is working. I’m quite worried by that because for 15 months (started Tam Nov 2007) I had absolutely no side effects at all. I mentioned that to one of the surgeons and he said did you have Se’s at the beginning and I said yes, that’s fine then he said. I’ve recently been having flushes again although no where as bad as they were in the beginning. Does this mean the tam is not working as effectively now? I’m just confused by the whole thing.
Cheers, I hope everyone has a lovely Sunday,
Take care
Veggie
that is quite worrying though, no side effects indicating tamoxifen not doing it’s job - my bcn assures me that many people don’t have side effects at all, and in a lot of people,even if they do experience some aches and pains,flushes etc they don’t register them too much - must depend on general sensitivity and tolerance of these things…am hoping I’m in that camp as I am very seldom bothered by physical probs - my main area of trouble is my mind !! Anyway, it’s day 14 I think and am still feeling ok - I was on a bit of a high last week for various reasons and feel myself coming down a bit.
Aggghhhh it’s all so confusing. I am another one that is not getting side effects with tam, and was told by my bcn that not everyone gets side effects and it doesnt mean the tam is not working. But then again the bcn told me prozac and tam is ok, and some on here saying no way is prozac and tam ok. BCN also told me evening primrose oil is ok (I’ve stopped taking that tho, as some here had said it stops tam working).
Cant just stop the prozac though and still waiting for GP to change it to effexor but is still looking into it due to what bcn has said.