I finished five years of tamoxifen nearly three weeks ago. To begin with I was on a high (to say I had been counting down the days is an understatement after five years of hot flushes and disrupted sleep). The last few days I have been snapping at my family and feeling quite tearful. Is this a side effect of coming off tamoxifen? If so, is it physical as it must be messing with my hormones, or is it psychological now I have finally finished treatment? Has anyone else felt like this after tamoxifen?
Hi RoadRunner
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Hi Roadrunner - I can’t say from experience cos still on it - but was thinking that given how moody i was when I started it I guess we muct be moody when we come off - also I know a couple of friends who have been a bit freaked out about stopping and therefore a bit anxious / snappy / …
but you know what we don;t have to be perfect all the time do we - we do the best we can…
good luck , hope things even out for you, N
Hi RoadRunner
In a word, YES! I finished Tamoxifen just over 6 months ago. Like you, I’d been very much looking forward to stopping taking it, and was counting down the days, so I was surprised when after a couple of weeks of not taking it, I started to feel really down, extremely tearful (even had to come home from work a couple of times because I was in such a state), and very sad. It went on for quite a while, and I was seriously thinking about seeing the doctor to take anti-depressants because I didn’t think I could go on, and then suddenly (or so it seemed) everything changed and seemed much more positive. I reckon it was probably about 4 months after I stopped taking the tablets that I started to feel better, and now I think that in fact I was low-level depressed the whole time I was on Tamoxifen - a price worth paying of course but I suppose not too surprising given that it’s messing with your hormones. A couple of months on and I feel just like myself again, and much stronger and more positive about my future. Anyway, sorry for rambling on, but just wanted to say stick in there, and I’m sure it will get better. Good luck!
Hi Patience,
Thank you for your reply. I am feeling much better already, although still a bit volatile. However, the hot flushes are still there, together with the disturbed sleep. I think I probably need to allow myself a few months before I can hope for those to go away. My final checkup with the breast surgeon is next April, six months on from finishing tamoxifen, so if the hot flushes haven’t gone by then that will be my trigger for trying to get some help.
Hello RoadRunner,
I am almost ready to come off Tamoxifen and very glad of it and have been anticipating that I would feel a bit weird. After all, it blocks oestrogen and I guess when we come off it, the hormones start again. My BCN said she found that most women start to feel better three months later when the T is finally out of their system.
Good luck to you 