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Thursday, February 9, 2012

Tamoxifen Worries

I am not always predictably well these days, I have been noticing -- that's why I haven't been posting rides, and I've even been leaving signing up for yoga classes til the la, a breast cancer drug I'm on. Might actually be dangerous side effects..... I'm going to see if I can move my oncologist appt up and talk with him about stopping the drug early. Today is my 3 year anniversary of starting to take it. It's supposed to be 5 years, but look at this:
http://www.all-natural.com/tamox.html


I found it after looking up some symptoms I have which I found might indicate liver damage.... so then I looked up tamoxifen and liver damage....of course all drugs go through the liver, so I knew I'd find SOMEthing, but wow
! It's also known to have effects on the bones, joints and muscles.

Oh yeah, and I believe I'm taking the standard adult dose -- not adjusted for body size/weight, etc. I thought of this because yesterday I had my blood drawn for a physical and when the nurse took my BP she said "95/80. That would be low on anybody else, but it's probably about right for your small frame." I've always had "low blood pressure" and no one ever made a connection before with that and small body frame/size. The radiation dose was too much for me (and I think that WAS adjusted to body size/weight/frame) and gosh, I can only drink half a beer, usually..... why would anyone think I could take a standard dose of tamoxifen???

My known tamoxifen side effects include:

pebbly poop x 1 month (unusual before then,)
the shakes, on and off, for a good few weeks --
increasing frequency and lasting longer.
Last Tues it started w/Ginny's class and lasted
all afternoon
Teeth problems -- resorption of lower right molar!!
(The tooth next to it is in danger too -- and the
dentist says implants are not an option given the
bone loss.)
Fatigue -- increasing -- this is hard to pinpoint of course
Hot flashes -- THIS since the beginning, every half hr while awake,
and waking me a couple of times a night -- on a good night.

But I can deal with those things, if it's NOT the right thing to do. HOwever I'm starting to wonder now if maybe it's NOT the right thing.......