Side effects of tamxofin

been on tami now for 4 years and like you keep getting mixed brands,been told it is pot luck,you could ask for different drug but all come with side effects.it is what your body and you can put up with.kind regards

Hi Scouse4 this post makes me VERY angry! Not with you! With the system. I was on Tamoxifen back in 2014-2016 and like you had issues with different brands of Tamoxifen. It took me months to realise that the reason I felt okay one month and suicidal the next, was down to the BRAND of Tamoxifen that I was being given! 

I wrote posts on different sites that I was on at the time and discussed with others, as at the time I ‘assumed’ it was just me and that perhaps I was just imagining it. I kept telling my oncologist that I wanted to stop the tablet, as 10 years of that drug didn’t bear thinking about! 

Once I realised the different brands contained the same active ingredients BUT were bound with different ingredients, I discussed with my very friendly pharmacist if this might be causing my issues. He said “hmmmm it shouldn’t, but yes it could!” 
The only way around it was to ask my Oncologist to prescribe the drug brand I needed/wanted! However the oncologist wouldn’t agree to this as he didn’t believe it made any difference! I fought month after month for him to listen but he just looked at me as if I was nuts! Luckily my lovely pharmacist started keeping the brand I got along with in stock and so I was able to stick to the brand that gave me the least side effects.

This is a drug that we are expected to take for 10years, it has some very unpleasant side effects and yet we still aren’t listened too when we ask for a specific brand. That’s what makes me so cross. Year on year women are saying the same thing, but nothing changes! This drug is meant to help prevent recurrence of breast cancer, but at what cost! If ladies can’t live with the ever changing side effects from different brands, then they will stop taking them! Surely the easiest solution is to keep ladies on the brands that they are happiest with, where possible. If this means adding the brand name on the prescription then surely that’s what should be done.

However sadly it’s left to us to fight our corner. Only advice I can offer is to keep a note of the brands you tolerate best and refuse any others. You can always try an alternative pharmacy. Like I said it’s us that have to do all the running around! It’s sad to think that it’s been 11years since I wen5 through the same thing and NOTHING has changed in that time! About time they started listening to the women who are struggling with some pretty major side effects, instead of buying cheaper drugs and leaving women to suffer!

I hope you find a solution that works for you Hun. Wishing you all the best. Sal xxx