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v-ness · 07-29-2012, 08:40 PM

dear mary jo

i tried effexor too. actually, i am still on it and would like to go off, hate the head rushes when i forget to take it. it only worked on hot flashes for a short time, and not very well at that. same with the Chillow. however, i did my own intensive research 2 yrs ago when the hot flashes were driving me insane. i had countless flashes day and night and so intense. i found ditropan aka oxybutynin and asked my onco if i could take it. it is a med given to women who are having bladder issues. it has minimal side effects. the study i found showed that 70% of women had relief of some level from ditropan to hot flashes. these were cancer patients. the study is here:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17204995

i have been on it for 2 yrs now and it made taking tamoxifen bearable. even if you are not a 'pill taking' person, you may want to give it a try. my oncologists had never heard of it, but ever since my success it is the #1 drug they turn to for relief for their breast cancer patients. see, oncos know cancer, they don't necessarily know this kind of stuff. it is not even that well known, and i don't know why. i just saw my onco on friday and he told me he was so glad he learned about it from me. (he also learned friday that arimidex can cause blurred vision, but that's another story). anyway, if you are having quality of life issues, as i was, with the hot flashes, this is something that could help. i am supposed to take it 3x daily, but i take it 2x daily. it can be drying, thus you have to drink a lot of water. if you look it up, you will see that it is FAR less troublesome than effexor.

i wish you and everyone else luck with coping with the hot flashes. they are horrible. valerie

07-29-2012, 08:40 PM	#18
v-ness Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: western ma Posts: 280	Re: Effexor Question dear mary jo i tried effexor too. actually, i am still on it and would like to go off, hate the head rushes when i forget to take it. it only worked on hot flashes for a short time, and not very well at that. same with the Chillow. however, i did my own intensive research 2 yrs ago when the hot flashes were driving me insane. i had countless flashes day and night and so intense. i found ditropan aka oxybutynin and asked my onco if i could take it. it is a med given to women who are having bladder issues. it has minimal side effects. the study i found showed that 70% of women had relief of some level from ditropan to hot flashes. these were cancer patients. the study is here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17204995 i have been on it for 2 yrs now and it made taking tamoxifen bearable. even if you are not a 'pill taking' person, you may want to give it a try. my oncologists had never heard of it, but ever since my success it is the #1 drug they turn to for relief for their breast cancer patients. see, oncos know cancer, they don't necessarily know this kind of stuff. it is not even that well known, and i don't know why. i just saw my onco on friday and he told me he was so glad he learned about it from me. (he also learned friday that arimidex can cause blurred vision, but that's another story). anyway, if you are having quality of life issues, as i was, with the hot flashes, this is something that could help. i am supposed to take it 3x daily, but i take it 2x daily. it can be drying, thus you have to drink a lot of water. if you look it up, you will see that it is FAR less troublesome than effexor. i wish you and everyone else luck with coping with the hot flashes. they are horrible. valerie __________________ 8/09 - IDC 1.8 cm triple positive, lumpectomy left breast 10/09 began chemo (taxotere & carboplatin) and weekly herceptin. 1/21/10 finished chemo, continued on herceptin every 3 weeks until 10/2010. 2/10 began 7 wks of radiation 6/10 mom dies of primary peritoneal ovarian cancer 8/10 got my last remaining ovary out 10/10 mammogram all clear 3/11 MRI shows 5 'spots' in right breast, largest 1 cm unidentifiable on US needle biopsy proved the largest to be old inflamed cyst -phew! 7/10 switched to Arimidex 8/9 switched to Femara - allergic to arimidex Femara made me lose hair quickly so switched to Aromasin Aromasin made my hair fall out too and the bone pain was too much. back on Tamoxifen 1/2013. blood clot from trains and planes 5/2014 so on coumadin per onco for as long as i am on tamoxifen tamoxifen was supposed to be up with my 5 yrs in may but my boyfriend was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer so i am staying on tamoxifen indefinitely because i want some ammo against BC, given the stress. lost my husband in only 10 wks in 2007 to stage 4 esophageal cancer. cancer's screwing with another man i love 2/2016 - 6yrs in remission, off tamoxifen and off coumadin - yay!