Tamoxifen and hot flashes

ender
ender Member Posts: 167
in Breast Cancer #1
Hi everyone.

I have been on Tamoxifen for almost 3 months now. My MO expected me to have no side effects, as I am still menstruating and am so young (29). Nevertheless, I have started to experience mild hot flashes. I did have bad hot flashes during chemo, but they stopped once I was done with chemo. These new hot flashes are milder, but perhaps they are just getting started.

Did any of you start having hot flashes 3 months into tamoxifen? If you did experience hot flashes, did their frequency and intensity stay the same over the years?

All comments are much appreciated.

Eva

Comments

  • missingtexas
    missingtexas Member Posts: 146
    #2
    I am also pre menopausal. I
    I am also pre menopausal. I started having hot flashes about 6 months into it (maybe even a little longer). They come and go...never very severe. It's been less than 6 months since they started and I would actually say they may even be more infrequent now. :)
    Dana
  • mollieb
    mollieb Member Posts: 148
    #3
    Effexor
    I had severe hot flashes with Tamoxifen. I am told they go away after up to six months -- I don't know because I started taking 75 mg. of Effexor a day, which took care of them in short order. Now, seven years later, I am taking Arimedex, and when the hot flashes started I went straight for the Effexor and they are now very mild. Mary
  • Kat11
    Kat11 Member Posts: 1,931 Member
    #4
    mollieb said:

    Effexor
    I had severe hot flashes with Tamoxifen. I am told they go away after up to six months -- I don't know because I started taking 75 mg. of Effexor a day, which took care of them in short order. Now, seven years later, I am taking Arimedex, and when the hot flashes started I went straight for the Effexor and they are now very mild. Mary

    I also have hot flashes.
    I also have hot flashes. They did not go away after six months. It's been 24 months just about. However it is getting better. You learn to wear summer clothes all year round and keep a fan next to your bed. Turn down the heat, turn up the air. Pretty much drive every one around you crazy for awhile LOL. It does get somewhat better or maybe you just get use to it.
    Kathy
  • ender
    ender Member Posts: 167
    #5
    missingtexas said:

    I am also pre menopausal. I
    I am also pre menopausal. I started having hot flashes about 6 months into it (maybe even a little longer). They come and go...never very severe. It's been less than 6 months since they started and I would actually say they may even be more infrequent now. :)
    Dana

    Thanks do much for sharing.
    Thanks do much for sharing. I'm glad to hear your flashes are not too bad. If mine stay this mild it is not too much to complain about. Do you know if there is a connection bw hot flashes and tamoxifen and how close you are to menopause?
  • TraciInLA
    TraciInLA Member Posts: 1,994 Member
    #6
    Kat11 said:

    I also have hot flashes.
    I also have hot flashes. They did not go away after six months. It's been 24 months just about. However it is getting better. You learn to wear summer clothes all year round and keep a fan next to your bed. Turn down the heat, turn up the air. Pretty much drive every one around you crazy for awhile LOL. It does get somewhat better or maybe you just get use to it.
    Kathy

    Like Kathy says, you learn what works for you
    Hi, Eva -

    I'm nowhere near menopause -- I started Tamoxifen when I was 40, and have been on it for 2 years now.

    Hot flashes are the Number 1 most common side effect of Tamoxifen. I had never had a hot flash in my life until the 2nd day I took Tamoxifen...whoosh! I mean seriously -- I had no idea what was happening to me! I don't think they've lessened much in 2 years, only that I've learned what works for me to manage them:

    - My hot flashes are definitely worse at night, so I take my Tamoxifen pill in the morning instead of at bedtime -- helps a great deal.

    - With my doctors' blessings, I take a Vitamin E (400 IU, standard drugstore strength) twice a day, morning and evening. Doesn't work for everyone, but definitely helps me.

    - It's really important to try to identify your own particular hot flash triggers. Mine are hot weather and hot rooms. Some women find that caffeine or spicy food triggers them -- not the case for me.

    Like Kathy, I've given up on wearing winter clothes -- layers only, so I can "strip off" down to short sleeves whenever I need to. We installed a separate air conditioner in our bedroom, so I don't freeze out the rest of the house at night, and I have a fan next to my desk at work that someone would have to pry out of my cold, dead hands.

    The "beauty" of being a premenopausal breast cancer survivor is that I'll get to go through this all over again in about 10 years, when I go through menopause for real...yippee...

    :-) Traci
  • RozHopkins
    RozHopkins Member Posts: 578 Member
    #7
    Tamoxifen
    Hot flashes straight away afraid. Spicy food, hot weather, hot drinks, exercise and just nothing sets them off. It has been one year and perhaps they are a little better. I now have a ceiling fan in the bedroom and like other ladies, only wear summer clothing in layers. Sometimes even necklaces are unbearable. Feel like I'm glowing. Ah well, only nine years to go. My oncol wants me to take this for 10 years total. Est Pos, and pre meno, infiltrating lobular. Hopefully you will not be as bad, we are all different. Good luck.
  • missingtexas
    missingtexas Member Posts: 146
    #8
    ender said:

    Thanks do much for sharing.
    Thanks do much for sharing. I'm glad to hear your flashes are not too bad. If mine stay this mild it is not too much to complain about. Do you know if there is a connection bw hot flashes and tamoxifen and how close you are to menopause?

    I'm not close to menopause
    I'm not close to menopause either...I don't think there is any correlation between the two...just a common side effect. :(
  • ender
    ender Member Posts: 167
    #9
    RozHopkins said:

    Tamoxifen
    Hot flashes straight away afraid. Spicy food, hot weather, hot drinks, exercise and just nothing sets them off. It has been one year and perhaps they are a little better. I now have a ceiling fan in the bedroom and like other ladies, only wear summer clothing in layers. Sometimes even necklaces are unbearable. Feel like I'm glowing. Ah well, only nine years to go. My oncol wants me to take this for 10 years total. Est Pos, and pre meno, infiltrating lobular. Hopefully you will not be as bad, we are all different. Good luck.

    Thanks everyone for sharing!
    Thanks everyone for sharing! Good tip on timing when to take the tamoxifen. For now my flashes are not bad and I really feel for those of you who want to toss off your cover at night. Reminds me of my hot flashes during chemo. Most calming to know that hot flashes are not an indication of earlier menopause!

    Eva

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