National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc.

Hi there...me again with Q's about Tamoxifen.

I saw my oncologist last week, and as expected, he's prescribed 5 years of Tamoxifen therapy for me. He pretty much told me (in not so many words) that I can expect the hot flashes and night sweats to start within the first week. Oh, joy. I'm hoping I'll be one of the lucky ones who doesn't have it so bad, and I'm just waiting for my period to start before I start on it -- may sound silly, but I figure if it's going to interfere even the slightest with my cycle, I may as well know how it's interfering so I can report back to my doc if need be.

In the meantime, I'm trying to do a little research on how to possibly outsmart some of the side effects. One of you mentioned your doc suggested a low-dose aspirin to possibly curb the increased risk of blood clots, and I think someone mentioned melatonin. I'd be interested to hear more about this if you have more details.

Also, I was just reading on-line about melatonin possibly working in conjunction with Tamoxifen (and possibly, even by itself) to starve ER+ BC cells. Has anyone heard of this and/or discussed it with their oncologist? I was pretty surprised to see this...was really only hoping to find that melatonin was safe to use to help with the side effects. If it does double-duty, very cool!

Thanks loads for any info you can share. Hugs to all!!!

Judy