Took tamoxifin for six months...caused severe vaginal bleeding. Oncologist switched me to Arimidex...made me feel like I was 100 yeats old (body aches and fatigue) She now has me on Femara and it is working Wonderful. Tamoxifin caused abnormal bleeding and cells in uterus...had total hysterectomy three weeks ago. I would stay away from the tamoxifin! There are others that are safer to take.

If you are premenopausal and want to stay that way, ask about faslodex, evista, These work similarly to tamoxifen, not sure if they have the same risk factors. Going into menopause, either chemically or surgically, can be a rough way to go. It's not what I would choose, as I think it's important to keep those ovaries working for as long as possible. But it does depend on your stage of cancer. If it's advanced you might want to treat it more aggressively than someone like me who is early stage.

Tamoxifen and me were not friends. We broke up after just 5 1/2 n,onths. Being premenopausal nothing was made available to me, but I was also her2+ so my benefit from Tamoxifen was practically nothing. (1%) which was good to learn so I didn't beat myself up over it. It does not offer the same benefit to everyone so ask your doc to run http://www.newadjuvant.com/default2.aspx with you before considering a treatment.

I did m five years on arimidex now my doctor tells me I need to take them another five years. Has that happen to anyone else and I still have really bad joint pain

I have been taking Arimidex for 2 1/2 months, no joint pains or weight gain. I attribute this to starting a plant based diet.
I do have a concern though, after the first month, I developed a superficial blood clot in my leg that travelled from my lower leg to my thigh. I have had lots of varicose veins for many years. Surg Onc said it wasn't caused by Arimidex. I stopped it for 2 weeks til the clot was arrested. Started up again and now I have another sore tender vein in my lower leg. I see my Onc next week. Conclusion? I think its the arimidex.