A break from tamoxifen???

[Kellennea]

Today I had a follow up appointment with my oncologist. My only complaint is the horrible joint pain that I am experiencing.

Up until this whole cancer nonsense I was active in yoga and excercise, now I'm lucky if I can get from a squatting position to a standing position without having to take a break on the way up!

I think its the tamoxifen, my Oncologist thinks it may be RA, possibly caused by chemo. She suggested a 2 week break from tamoxifen to see if it helps... but now I'm kinda freaking out thinking about not taking it. Has anyone here even taken a tomoxifen break?

I am so torn...

[Jackie07]

Hi,

Below is a thread on the same subject. Looks like your oncologist might be right. Perhaps you can ask your oncologist about the solutions for RA if you are concerned about taking a break from Tamoxifen?

http://her2support.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=51090&highlight=taking+break

[tricia keegan]

I take arimidex which gives stiff joints and pain too and tried glucosamine/chondrotin in my first two years on this med which helped, although you need to be taking it about six weeks before noticing a difference.

[BonnieR]

I took a break once. My onc said it is commonly done and not a problem.
I developed painful trigger thumb on Femara so switched to Aromasin. My onc told me that these drugs are interchangable so that if we develop a bad side effect, we can switch to another. And that we all react differently, so you might not get the same issues as someone else. Anyhow, since there are a couple of options for AIs, it seems we can switch around and get thorough the recommended 5 years at least.
Keep the faith.

[tricia keegan]

I agree and switching is always an option, however I think I learned to live with any small side effects and don't notice them now and just agreed to another two years (at least) on arimidex as its working so well for me and prefer this to a recurrance and possibly more chemo!!!