Tamoxifen has been used for nearly 50 years and has undoubtedly saved millions of lives . However it seems that as long as it works no one cares too about side effects. Go onto any breast cancer forum & you’ll see hundreds of desperate accounts of horrendous side effects , but check out medical papers and what do you see “ well tolerated “ . What that actually means is most people put up with it because they are rightly scarred of stopping it, and those that do stop often do so privately & quietly. The focus on cancer treatments understandably seems to be on efficacy, so oncologists can boast , 99% of people diagnosed with early stage breast cancer will be alive in 5 years , but at what cost? This is particularly acute in case of breast cancer, which I see now as a chronic health problem and not an acute one as I thought it was when I was diagnosed a year ago . We’re going to be on these drugs for at last 5 years , probably ten .
in all the forums I’ve seen I’ve never seen any one try & explain mechanisms of tamoxifen to understand side effects , you cant really deal effectively deal with side effects understand side effects unless you understand the why .
I’m focussing on trying to manage just one side effect at a time, awful night leg cramps. I’ve come to learn the relationship between sex hormones and circulatory system & why sucking all the oestrogen out of us effects circulation & decreases blood flow, why HRT has cardiac benefits . I’ve been researching nitric oxude which seems to have some benefits in increasing blood flow. It’s naturally found in beetroot , so trying to increase intake that & just found out that Holland & Barrett do a beetroot supplement so I’m going to start that too & dandelion tea .
Very interested to know if anyone has tried them ? Did they work?
sending lots of 
to fellow leg ramp sufferers , hope you find a solution
