Tamoxifen & Breast Cancer

Updated

Fellow breast cancer survivors beware of Tamoxifen!
I have just found out that Tamoxifen Increases your chances of getting a stronger and more deadly form of endometerial cancer by 50%! I'm so angry at my Doctors for telling me that because I had breast cancer I had an increased (30 to 50%) higher chance of getting uterine cancer. They didn't bother to tell me the percentage increased due to the Tamoxifen. All they told me about this drug is that it would decrease my chances of the breast cancer returning by 35 to 40%. Thank God I had so many issues with the Tamoxifen that after one year I made them switch me to Arimadex over all their objections that it would screw up their statistics. I'm not making this up. Please research this drug beyond the standard B,S. we have been being fed. Our Doctors know about this too. It's not too late to switch. For every year you are on this drug your chances for the other cancer go up ten fold! Good Luck ladies. I'm in the process of getting diagnosed for endometrial cancer right now, this is how I found out about this. My new Doctors let it slip out accidently.

14 Replies

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1

Very sorry to hear of your situation. However, almost all drugs carry various risks and cancer drugs are especially well known to be extremely toxic and dangerous.

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2

Verwon,
Do not dare to speak to a woman about being given a medication that increases her chances of getting a secondary cancer after she sucessfully fought off the first one. Your reply insults me and women in general. If we were told the truth this scam would not be continuing today! Do you work for a drug firm? If not, why are you always defending them?

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3

Tamoxifen = Toxin

TAMOXIFEN IS A KNOWN CANCER CAUSING DRUG! BEWARE.

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4

First off, I am a woman and I have lost several very close members of my family to various cancers! I am disabled woman who works from home to try to help others and maybe prevent just what happened to you from happening to someone else.

I do not work for a drug firm, nor am I trying to defend them and I did not mean to insult you.

I was simply trying to explain the reality of the situation. Cancer fighting drugs, especially, are extremely toxic agents.

I am very sorry that no one told you upfront what the hazards were of being treated with it. That is why I am here, to help educate people. We have far too many doctors and pharmacists who DO NOT tell people the truth about the medications they are taking.

Some of them don't even give people the basic monograph with the little information it contains.

Many doctors prescribe drugs and just hand people the prescriptions and don't even tell them what it is, or why they are prescribing it. So side effects and dangers are not even mentioned.

In the years I have been working in this capacity, first at other websites and now at this one, I cannot count the number of posts I have responded to and the number of emails I have received were people have no idea what the drug they have been prescribed is for, or what to expect when taking it.

The same thing happened to us when my husband ended up on the hospital due to his depression. They just handed him drugs, never telling him the side effects or dangers and most doctor's don't even look to see if it is safe to take with other medications you are already on.

After having my husband's life placed in danger several times, I began to research drugs and pursued jobs doing such to help others.

I, in now way, meant to insult you. I just wanted others who read your post in the future to be aware that regardless of what medication they use for cancer treatment, or treatment of any medical condition, there are always dangers involved.

By your response, I am assuming that your doctor's didn't even tell you the most basic information about cancer treatment drugs and I find that to be a very sad state of affairs.

When doctors are too worried about getting out of an appointment or someone's hospital room as fast as possible, so they can move on to the next patient to up their income, then I find this a very sad state of affairs indeed.

However, the truth is, regardless of what drug it is, being the extremely toxic cancer fighters, or just a basic prescription for Ibuprofen, there are always dangers that the patient is not made aware of and knows nothing about and most of them don't even know how to find it.

The little monograph sheet that you are given by the pharmacist is, by law, only required to list a certain number of the MOST COMMON side effects. Regardless of how dangerous they are, or how many more they are, they only have to list that certain number and no more.

As an example, I will use a link from our site here to a basic drug monograph for Xanax:

http:/­/­www.prescriptiondrug-info.com/­drug_information_online.asp?title=Xanax&page=1000076&ad=true

This is the basic monograph, just like what your pharmacist would give you if you were picking up a prescription for it, or the generic equivelent.

Now, here's is a PDF link to what is called the Physician's Prescribing Information or the Full Prescribing Information :

http:/­/­www.pfizer.com/­files/­products/­uspi_xanax.pdf

If you look at these links, you will see that there is a huge difference. The basic monograph is very short and brief, the one for doctor's is 22 pages long!!

That is a lot of information that is not normally available to the average consumer.

If you read more of my posts on this site, you will see that I DO NOT DEFEND the drug companies and I never would.

I am also very, very sorry that you misunderstood me, I apologize and realize now that I should have been more detailed in what I was saying in that post.

This prescribing information is not the only information hidden from the average consumer of drugs.

You are given medications and assume that they are going to help you, but as you have experienced, the dangers from these drugs, in a lot of cases, can be just as bad and sometimes worse than the condition they are being prescribed to treat.

In my own personal case, I began taking narcotics years ago, first starting off with the very mild medication Darvocet, due to my multiple degenerative spinal conditions that cause chronic pain.

I was much younger back then and did not know anywhere near as much as I do now about drugs. Years later, far after it was too late to do anything about it, I was doing my research and found out how dangeorus Darvocet really is and the dangers it presents to all users.

I, like you, blindly trust my doctors to do the best for me. I never even suspsected that the mild drug they started me out on is actually a severely cardio-toxic agent that has caused the deaths of many people, even those who used it exactly as prescribed and did not once abuse it and had no addiction!

There has been such an outcry over this that there are many groups trying to get it removed from the market, but their complaints and petitions keep getting ignored and just like Tomoxifen, it is prescribed and used by more and more people every day.

There are some additional facts that I want to post here for you and others who may read this, but this post is extremely long, so I will make that a seperate post.

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5

Now the topic I would like to explain has to do with generics drugs and I am sure this will shock you almost as much as the truth about Tamoxifen did.

I am sure you have heard, or even been told by doctors and pharmacists that generic drugs are the exact same as their name brand counterparts. They claim there are no differences and they are just as safe, the only difference is the price.

Well, I have posted this on here before and I am posting it again for new users to read.

Generic drugs, under FEDERAL law, are allowed to differ from their name brand counterparts by as much as PLUS OR MINUS 20%!

I am sure you can do the math and realize, especially with drugs that must be prescisely calibrated such as blood thinners, that this can create an extreme difference when someone switches from the name brand to the generic.

To do a simple break down for those that need it:

Say you where taking a 100mg tablet of a name brand drug, the drug itself doesn't matter, it could be anything.

Now, suddenly, either to save money or because your insurance company says you must, you have to switch to the generic equivelent.

This means that your new generic medication may contain as little as 80mgs of the active drug, so you aren't getting enough, or it may contain 120mgs so you are now getting too much!!!

In addition, the active ingredient in generic drugs DO NOT EVEN HAVE TO BE THE SAME as what was in the name brand at all!!

The company manufacturing it only has to prove to the FDA that it is Bio-Equivelent! Meaning that it must act the same way and have the same therapeutic effect in the body.

Thus your dosage could be off and the drug could be entirely different, but since it falls within those guidelines, the FDA is happy and they are allowed to claim that it is the same thing!

For anyone who wished to check my information, here's a link to an article that also provides links directly to the government laws that permit this to happen:

http:/­/­counsellingresource.com/­medications/­discount-drugs/­generics.html

If you read more of my posts on this site, you will see that I have had many people ask why they have sudden problems when they switch to generics and I tell them the honest truth.

If I were cuddling up with the drug companies, I don't think they would approve of my spreading this information around the way I do. LOL!

So, I hope you accept my sincere apology. Rather than play down your concerns or insult you, I was actually trying to support your post by letting others know that it is true that almost all drugs are extremely toxic. I see now that I should have been more detailed to avoid upsetting you.

I would never, ever, play down the fear and concerns of someone who has just been fighting for their very life.

When I was 9 years old, I watched my beloved Uncle and best friend waste away due to stomach cancer. It was something I will never forget and have never gotten over.

The reality is though, that no matter what drug we take, there are always hidden risks that this site is not told about. The only way to really find out the truth is to find out for yourself.

Unfortunately, in the case of possibly terminal conditions, such as cancer, patients most often find themselves just being grateful that these drugs exist to give them another shot at living their lives, and they do not think to question the problems that may arise from them and the doctors, who are terrified of being sued or scaring patients away from desperately needed drugs, are afraid to tell them.

So the thing that I want everyone else who reads these posts to remember is that Cancer treatment drugs are Poisons!!

They are literally intended to poison cells in your body, in the hopes that they do not kill too many healthy cells before they kill over the cancerous ones.

That is why so many people die just from the treatments, even if their cancer was responding to the drugs. That is why the side effects are so horrible.

I am still appalled that this drug raises the risk of your having to fight another type of cancer and they do not bother to tell you that fact before you start treatment. That is just incredibly ridiculous.

Honesty is always the best policy. Patients should always be told the truth, so they can make informed decisions regarding their treatment!!

Ginny, I pray you are one of the lucky ones who NEVER has to fight any type of cancer, or other life threatening illness again!

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6

So basic summary, I was intending to agree with you, not insult you or play down the horror of what you have learned about this drug.

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7

Verwon,
I appreciate your explanation and apologize for coming across so angrily. You have responded to many other postings and I always got the impression that you were downplaying the dangers that others were posting related to drugs. I was wrong. The thing that has me so angry as I go through these test is that I am one of the few that did study like crazy before I made any decisions following my initial breast cancer diagnosis. I read a huge book written about breast cancer and the various treatment options and how one's cancer is actually scored for the potential of reoccurrence based upon their pathology report. The first Oncologist I met with following my double mastectomy was that I had to undergo Chemotherapy ASAP. I questioned his opinion because while I was recuperating I analyzed my own pathology report which added up to a very, very low score for a potential reoccurrence. Unlike millions of women, I understood that Chemotherapy only benefits about three women out of every hundred that receive it, and the Doctors don't ever know who those three will be. I felt that since my pathology report scored hardly a one, that getting healthy was probably more to my benefit than ripping up my immune system for potentially no reason at all. I also felt more secure about questioning this because I had both breast removed given my families breast cancer history and I was only a stage one. I went for a second opinion at UCSF Breast Care Center and met with the lead Oncologist at the center. At the time I did not have access to the internet as I do now. He asked me if he took my case to a team of Doctors that met each Monday to discuss tuff cases if I would do Chemotherapy if they recommended it. I said to him, If five Doctors and Surgeons from UCSF study my pathology report recommend this, yes I will do it. The following Monday he called me and said that they discussed my case and concluded that my own pathology conclusion was correct and that building up my immune system, verses tearing it apart with Chemo was most likely more effective in my case. That was seven years ago. He then told me that Tamoxifin would reduce my chances for a reoccurrence by at least 30%. I made him explain how it worked in the body and he never mentioned that it caused Ovarian cancer! He did tell me that because I had breast cancer that I had between a 30 and 50% chance of getting Ovarian cancer. Within the first year I made him take me off Tamoxifin because of the side effects and because I had read the newly released clinical studies done in Europe on Aramidax which showed it was doing much better than Tamoxifin overall. He reluctantly switched me to Arimadex because as he said, He no longer could use my case statistically. One year later I began having unusual bleeding and they started looking for Ovarian cancer. I figured that was just the way the ball bounces. They found nothing for two years. Now, seven years later I met with a new OBGyn. and she too became concerned. As the testing began every Doctor I met with asked me if I had used Tamoxifin. I just asked them straight out if it causes cancer and two different Doctors laid it all out for me how it increases the chances for Ovarian and Uterine cancer by 30 to 50%. I can't believe that this is not being told to the women who are automatically put on this drug. It is a huge scam. I had this licked and they increased my odds for a secondary cancer needlessly. This is a sin against women.

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8

Verwon.
Like you, I too was placed on one drug after another for my degenerative spinal disease over the course of many years for pain control. Again, I did not have the benefit of the internet as I do now. Now that I do know what the many side effects are, it's far too late and difficult to remove myself from a majority of these life altering and damaging drugs. I feel the best I can do at this point is to stop allowing my Doctors to add to the list I'm already coping with every day. Now I'm using my internet resources to help prevent further damage from occurring to my Mom. In the last year in a half, my previously healthy, vibrant and
intelligent 82 year old Mom's health was stripped from her almost overnight due to a prescription given to her which the Doctor never should have put her on due to an existing health condition which was listed in the warnings as potentially causing a fatal reaction. Her body responded exactly as the warning label said it would by bleeding out from every body opening for fifteen straight days because of the immediate damage this drug caused. She survived that ordeal and was then put on a potent antibiotic for a minor infection which has seriously affected every area of her body and it's functions. Following these assaults on her body, she now requires 24-hour care at home and can hardly walk. You would think the Doctors would stop after acknowledging the damage the drugs caused, but they continue to try to shove more powerful drugs into her. If it weren't for my diligent investigation into every drug they try to put her on, and which I've stopped, they would have had her on five potent new drugs since January 08 in addition to her already daily medications which is eleven different drugs several times a day. She is of the old school where they would never question their Doctors advice. However, since I've stepped in and began questioning and stopping almost all new prescriptions with a ton of data to back up my decision, she finally is beginning to realize these Doctors only dole out drugs, they don't even bother to look for obvious dangerous cross drug interactions. Her Doctor's hate me and if I'm not present at her appointments they always try to slip her a new, potent prescription. I am very aware and afraid of what Doctors are doing with prescriptions and how evident it is that they are in bed with the drug manufactures.

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9

Thank you for accepting my apologies. I am in no way supportive on drug companies. I am appalled by what they get away with and the information that they hide from consumers and the FDA just lets them get away with it.

You have really been through the ringer and I am very sorry to hear about everything you have had to struggle through.

Everytime I hear horror stories like yours and your mothers, it just makes me cringe, because I know the information is out there, they just don't like to make it easy to find or easy for the layman to understand. It is ridiculous.

Just for future reference, if you find yourself without internet access again and needing to take a drug you have questions about, go the nearest large library or University library you can.
Look for the professional edition of a recent PDR, they still don't contain quite all the information that the drug companies have, but they do have more than the ordinary monographs.

Like you, I found it best to take control of my own treatment, I don't just take any medication they hand me anymore. I will not swallow a pill or allow an injection until I have read and researched everything I can find about it.

My husband and my dad have both adopted the policy that they will not take something without my checking it out first, either. There have been times, that like your mother, both of their lives would have been at risk if they hadn't asked me about something first and whether or not it was safe.

I am just so astounded that they took that kind of risk with an elderly woman, the older someone is, the easier it is for them to experience side effects and the worse they will experience them. Every doctor should know that.

For most elderly, (my dad is 79) they have to start of drugs at a very small dose and slowly adjust the dose if necessary, as their bodies get used to the medication.

Giving them something that is dangerous with their existing health conditions or existing medications is far to risky to be worth it.

Another note, if you want information, I mean the full information, on any medication in the future, just contact me and I will gladly help you find it, that way we can make sure they can't hide anything from you again.

Or for that matter, if you just need talk or ask any other questions, feel free.

I have to go for now, getting late here, but I will be back online tomorrow.

You can reach me at [email protected]

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10

I have been on tamoxifen for 4 yrs. due to breast cancer. I have a intrauterine ultrasound done every yr. I have 10 more months to be on tamoxifen. I am seriously thinking of getting off this medicine. I have gained 30 pounds and have no sex drive at all. I feel this medicine is the cause of this. What is your opinion of me getting off tamoxifen.

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11

what are the usual prescribed pain and nerve medications after being told you have breast cancer?

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12

I was on tamoxifen for 7 months. I've been off of it four days now. I don't know all the initials for some of the terms but my cancer was estrogen positive and ductal carcinoma. I don't have the breast cancer gene. I'm the first and only on either side of my family to have breast cancer. It had not spread to the lymph nodes. The tumors were fairly small. I had a mastectomy on my left breast in November 2012. No chemo or radiation. Just tamoxifen. After living with the horrible side effects for 7 months I did a lot of research. Then after a lot of prayer and looking at the pros and cons I decided the risks outweighed the benefits for me personally. I asked my oncologist yesterday what my percentage of recurrence was with and without the tamoxifen. It's 20% without it and between 16% and 18% with it. For me that's not a big enough margin to make it worth the risk of the side effects from the tamoxifen. I had brain surgery march 13th, 2012. I had the mastectomy November 15th 2012 and just had two discs removed from my cervical spine last month on may 30th. I also have truncal lymphedema which is pretty painful. I just want to feel normal again. I guess my question is how do other people cope? Thanks for letting me share. The decision to take the tamoxifen or not is a personal one and is something every individual has to decide. I did what I felt was right for me. I would never tell anyone not to take it, but please research it first!

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13

Breast cancer is very common problem in among all populations due to its queer pathophysiology and bothersome complications.The only this that can prevent the breast cancer incidence is awareness of breast cancer and its social impact on human life.Please share you contribution positive manner so that it may proves beneficial for those who are fighting with this disease.

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14

Just today I found out my bone density is poor due to Tomaxifen use for 5 years!

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