Let me first say hello and welcome you. I am a breast
cancer survivor and was on Tamoxifen. I had very severe side effects to
this drug that left me pernmently disabled. I will be including some
information at the closing of this message.
Permit me to first explain that the drug Tamoxifen normally
only works for about 2 to 2 1/2 year's and then it has a way of turning it's
course and doing the exact opposite. That mean's that at some point where it was
keeping cancer cells at bay it feeds them.
There are two other medications that work the same way as
tamoxifen, they are megestrol acetate and arimidex. These also have some
serious side effects; but not as many as the tamoxifen.
I hope this has helped you, warmly, your friend,
lillian
Tamoxifen has been formally declared by the World
Health Organization as a carcinogen. Under State Proposition 65,
California must publish and maintain a list of all known carcinogens. In
1995, the state's Carcinogen Identification Committee voted unanimously to list
tamoxifen. Tamoxifen's known side effects include:
Liver Damage : Britain
withdrew from studies on the use of tamoxifen when it was discovered that
tamoxifen's manufacturer withheld unpublished data indicating that the drug
may induce liver tumors. Liver damage has occurred in every animal study using
tamoxifen. Animal studies show tamoxifen produces potentially
carcinogenic DNA and alterations in the liver, as well as eye damage.
Uterine Cancer :
Although the drug has had some success in preventing recurrences in women who
have been successfully treated for breast cancer, it does promote particularly
aggressive uterine cancer. A large Swedish study, and another in the
Netherlands, found a 6-fold increase in uterine cancer among those patients
who took tamoxifen. In a University of Pittsburgh study, 23 out of 1,000
given the drug, contracted uterine cancer.
Endometrial Effects : A
Danish/British study detected endometrial abnormalities. Uterine tumors,
endometrial thickenings, and cancers occurred in a significant number of women
taking tamoxifen.
Blood Clots : It is also known
to cause fatal blood clots in the lungs, irritating the walls of the veins,
and leading to inflammation.
Osteoporosis : Taxmoxifen
users are at risk of developing early symptoms of menopause, including
accelerated bone mineral loss and osteoporosis.
Other adverse reactions which are seen infrequently are
hypercalcemia, peripheral edema, distaste for food, pruritus vulvae (vaginal
itching), depression, dizziness, light-headedness, headache, hair thinning
and/or partial hair loss, and vaginal dryness.
NOLVADEX has been associated with changes in liver enzyme
levels, and on rare occasions, a spectrum of more severe liver abnormalities
including fatty liver, cholestasis, hepatitis and hepatic necrosis.
My wife has been taking Tamoxifen 20
mg daily after surgery and chemotherapy for breast cancer , for three and
one half years . She has experienced dizziness and a sense of imbalance at
various times for a year now. The dizziness lasts for a number of
weeks occuring unpredictably on and off throughout the day. Has anyone
reported similar symptoms linked to continued use of Tamoxifen, and if so what
strategies have been successful for alieviating them
