Tamoxifen

[Annlash35]

I'm 35 years old and was diagnosed with breast cancer in September 2004. The lump was a little over a 1/2 inch in size. I had a lumpectomy followed by lymphnode removal (4 positive out of 13), chemo, and radiation. My last mammogram (9/05) was good. I'm now taking tomixifen and have received 1 lupron injection. About 2 1/2 weeks ago, I started experiencing flu like symptoms: Nausea, loss of appetite, chills, indigestion, diarrhea, body aches, and fatigue. I've been to the doctor twice and she advised me that I had some sort of bug and to let it run it's course. She also said that some bugs could last up to a month. Since my last visit, most symptoms have subsided except the fatigue. I'm still feeling tired, and a little light headed. I have also lost about 10 pounds. I'm so frustrated and scared. I was off work all except one day last week for the holidays. I tried to rest as much as possible. I returned to work yesterday and felt fine until after lunch. I was totally wiped out when I got home and had to lie down for a couple of hours. Could these symptoms be a side-effect of the Lupron or Tamoxifen?

[Epp]

I can empathize with your concern over the tamoxifen.  I took Tam for six months and then was switched to arimadex for six months and then stopped taking anything at all.  The side effects from these drugs were so bad that i was left with no quality of life at all.  My cancer was not quite as severe as your, There was no nodal involment so with my fingers crossed I'm off all medications.  My symptoms were: fatigue, nausea, sever joint pains, and worst of all the inability to think and function in a rational way.  My oncologist has seen these symptoms rarely but they are documented.  The reason for the mental confusion is that in some rare cases the aromatase inhibitors deplete serotonin in your brain as well as estrogen, or maybe the lack of estrogen affects the brain, they're not quite sure.  Ask you doctor to go over with you the difference between your chances of recurrence while taking The inihibitors and then without taking them.  The difference for me was a 9% chance of recurrence on the meds, and a 7% chance without him.  So I opted not to take them.

These are such difficult decisions to make.  My thoughts are with you.

[Annlash35]

Thanks so much for your reply.

[CCF-RN,MSN-rf]

Dear annlash35:  Considering both of these drugs, the most common side effects are hot flashes, changes in sex drive and some (usually transient) nausea.  From what you describe, your symptoms could easily have been related to some sort of "flu" and could take a while to stop feeling wiped out.  Of course, some people have less common or unusual side effects of medications.  Whether this could be the case for you depends on how long you were on the medications before the symptoms started and whether they resolve in the usual time frame of the flu.  Your doctor will be best able to sort through these issues as they pertain to this particular situation for you.