Reducing my Tamoxifen dose

hey Lizz

how are you ??

I have no idea

more importantly I don't think there will be trial data. 

Someone may correct me but as I understand it, from the nice man and NICE, once the trial has been conducted and shows favourable results it would be unfair to then put a 2nd set of trial participants on a reduced dose.

it sounded too complex for me to argue it out in my head but seemed reasonable

Obviously, with something like sleeping tablets or pain killers I happily break them in half but this isn't like that is it.

on the sweats someone else was asking this the other day, , may have got some responses

does that help ??

Carolyn

xx

Hi Carolyn

I'm very well, thanks. How are you?

I understand what you're saying, but no, it doesn't help!  I've done a bit of reading around (but it's very detailed stuff, not easy for me to follow) and it seems that a significantly reduced dose (so 10 or even 5mg a day) has the same effect in one regard (so is a good thing) but not in another. There need to be more studies. 

I'm just lowering a tiny bit, which when you consider that our weight / height are not taken into consideration when the prescription is given, seemed reasonable, but I realised I'd never heard anyone talking about this.  

I'll check out Chrysalis's posts.

Thanks

Lizz x

Hi Lizz your article interested me as ive been on tamoxifen for nearly 2 years, and was ok at first apart from hot flushes, but of course I still had oestrogen in me as I had been on HRT for years, before I got BC , was told my BC was caused by HRT. But last year I started getting more side effects, bloating, some joint pain etc, I went to my doctor, after saying "well of course you do have to think about Ovarian cancer" total rubbish, cause I had  hysterectomy 9 years ago, for fibroids, and complete ovary removal, she agreed to give me 10 mg dose,.  I do take 2 at different times of day, but sometimes as I find if I take the two for a longish time the side effects come back, I go to the loo a lot, so sometimes if im going out or somewhere special I take one a day or sometimes miss it altogether, which does seem better.  Ive always thought that with HRT which as I had an early menopause and my mum had osteoporosis very badly I took from 41 till I I got BC when 67 I as a petite slim women, im 7 stone and am 4.10, did I overdose on that, do small slightly built women need to take as much of a drug  as say a 11 stone woman who is 5 8.  Does 1 size fit all, after all children usually up to 12 are only told to take smaller doses, and my friends 12 year old daughter is bigger than melol.

I don't think enough research is done on different amounts of drugs for different people. like you im not at all keen on taking the drug at all but feel I have to as I don't want BC back.  I cant take any other hormonal drug, as others thin bones and my osteoporosis risk is too high for that. and id have to take yet another drug if I took one of them, this has even worse side effects than tamoxifen.

June

Just wanted to say don't cut the tablets in half.  They have a coating so that they can be absorbed without irritating the stomach.  Ask for a lower dose tablet or take alternate days, if advised to reduce, but I think that cutting tablets is a bad idea in this case. 

Not a medically trained professional, yada yada 

Thanks for the replies. I'll try to talk it over with the surgeon on 3rd April, but I always feel at a disadvantage because I'm speaking French, and he doesn't really listen. That's wHat I like so much about all the people on here -  they really take the time me to consider and reply from the heart.

Thank you all.

Xx

Hi

I know your post on lowering your dose of Tamoxifen was in 2017 but I just wondered if you did lower your dose and how it went? I have been taking it now for 6 months and would be interested to know also what supplements you take. I also live in France like you.

Thanking you Engel