Hi All,
This is my 1st time on this, so here goes!! Day 4 on Tamoxifen and a good night sleep would be great without the increase and intensisty of the hot flushes ( have suffered hot flushes since mid chemo and not yet going thro menapause… I think!)Has anyone tried sleeping tablets and had a goodnight of zzz. I have some left from my breast reconstruction (5wks ago) , not sure try or not but would love a good night,sleeping was hard enough as it was.
I haven’t slept through the night since 2 March 2007 - the day of my mastectomy. First it was the discomfort of the surgery, then the chemo night sweats, and now the hot flushes. I have found ways to deal with it - try to keep as cool as possible, a chillow is useful, as is a cooling spray - keep one on your bedside table that you can reach & use in the dark without disturbing yourself too much. And most of all, try to adopt a changed attitude, so the flushes don’t upset you as much. Do what you can to reduce them, but after that try to accept them, wait for them to pass in the night and go back to sleep. I have found that if I can ignore them, they don’t upset me as much. It’s not always possible, but life is definitely better when I can manage it.
Hi Jenhar
Sorry to hear you are having difficulty sleeping. If it’s any help I too had bad night sweats when I started taking Tamoxifen, but the intensity of mine have eased up over time and some nights I don’t get any. I definitely find certain things trigger mine…alcohol really gets me building up a sweat. I tend to keep a towel by the side of the bed so when I wake all hot, the bed clothes are thrown off, I towel myself down and snuggle down back to sleep…usually to wake later freezing, so bed clothes on again!
Ohhh and I find cotton nightclothes are best for me; they don’t tend to get as clammy as the slinky silky materials.
Hope you get better nights sleep soon.
i was on tamoxifen and had some insomnia at first but think it was more to do with everything going on in my life… just been diagnosed with BC and having rads and worried about work and income and family life and if it would come back etc.
in time i stopped having major sleep problems and started taking my tamoxifen at night… i have suffered long term from sleep problems since splitting from my ex (5 years before tamoxifen) and would only go to bed when i was dead tired otherwise i would start to ‘think’ too much and wake up also being a student and writing essays through the night didnt help lol
i think that its all quite new for you and may take a wee bit time to deal with everything you have been through…
having a sheet and cover on the bed is good so you can chuck off the cover when your hot and pull it up when your cold… i used to get sweats in the night but wasnt aware of them would just wake up naked lol… cant stand anything to high round my neck so always need low cut jim jams, t shirts etc.
if you have long term problems go back and see your GP and discuss it with them… wonder if the effects are worse depending on your age eg women nearer the menopause may have worse symptoms as they may have menopausal symptoms and tam… just a thought.
Lulu x
Hi
Thanks will try with the bed clothes an look out for a chillow. I find it easy to go to sleep but only get 2 or 3 hrs if I’m lucky,so maybe it is my mind and emotions that need to settle down, as today I’m finding myself very emotional (lot more than usual)so I suppose as this is day 5 its the Tamoxifen!!!
When has everybody found the best time to take it? morning ,noon,night??? I have been tryin the morning as within a few hours I’m generally hot and flushing so by nighttime I was hopeing they would have calmed??? Am I getting this all wrong??
Jenhar x
i felt more flushes during the day so after a few weeks i tried taking them at night was also having rads at same time so that probably didnt help with the hot flushes etc as i was getting cooked from the inside too.
would say if its only a few days best idea is to give it at least a month…so if you are taking in the morning at the mo continue with that for another 3 weeks and if its no better then try bed time and see if there is any difference.
you could also speak to your pharmacist when you get your repeat prescription about getting a different brand i found more SEs with the green pack think it was sandoz but was ok with APS and CP pharmaceuticals (now known as woerkhart).
its worth a try anyway.
hope things improve for you.
Lulu
hi jenhar,
i’ve been on tamoxifen since oct 08 and at first i did have bad night sweats, when it got too much i mentioned it to my onc and was prescribed venlafaxin which is an anti depresant and for some reason it helps with side effects. it has worked to a point, i no longer have such intense sweats but i still get hot. i have a chillow and that helps but i have resigned myself to broken sleep - i work hard at getting back to sleep after the disturbance and quality of sleep (bed, pillows etc) i take tamx at night, that is purely because that’s when i am most likely to remember… hpe this helps and you start getting some sound zzzzzzs soon,
love
lenny
xxxx
Hi Lenny, Thats good info re Tamoxifen and Venaflaxine. I’ve just started Tamoxifen and was already on Prozac and according to something I read on the internet the two dont mix well, but Venafaxine is ok with Tam, so will see my GP about that.
Hi Jenhar
I had similar problems, but by switching to taking Tamoxifen first thing in the morning and having high 1500ml dose of Start Flower Oil before bed, I am generally (fingers crossed) sweat-free. Jan