Tamoxifen Side Effects`

My mother is 59 years old and was diagnosed with stage 0 breast cancer approx. 1 1/2 yrs ago.  After radiation her oncologist started her on tamoxifen.  She has had severe side effects since taking the drug.  The most significant is the hot flashes or "night sweats" she experiences, which cause her to have only 2-3 hours of sleep each night.  She's taken effexor with no results.  Is there some other course of treatment she should be asking her MD to explore?

[CCF-RN,MSN-JS]

Dear Globetrotter, The basis for treatment of Stage 0 (in situ) breast cancer with tamoxifen is in terms of prevention of invasive cancer or cancer in the opposite breast.  Currently this is the most studied and only approved chemoprevention treatment for breast cancer in high risk women, although other agents are being studied in clinical trials (i.e. raloxifen in the STAR trial).

Regarding the hot flashes, hot flashes may be precipitated by: psychological stress, hot weather, caffeine, spicy foods, or alcohol.   There are a number of nonhormonal medications available for the treatment of hot flashes.  Their goal is not to eliminate hot flashes altogether but to diminish their intensity and frequency.  Vitamin E 800IU daily, Vitamin B6 200mg daily or Peridin-C 2 tablets 3 times a day, are over the counter agents that may be of help.  Prescription medications are sometimes prescribed such as the effexor your mother has tried others that have been used are bellergal and clonidine.  I don't know if your mother has made any alterations such as cutting out caffeine, spicy foods, alcohol, or tried any of the over-the-counter or other prescription medications.  I hope there might be a suggestion in this answer that may be of some help to her.