I've taken 3 week break at a time. This is very helpful to me. The Dr. said it was fine, just mention it to yours...Cherie I'm glad your able to manage your side effects..if I didnt take a break from mine, would have been fired..all our bodies and tolerance are different . Good luck HM..hope all find strength from sharing your journeys..I know I do.

I had side effects from Tamoxifen after taking for a few months- worst was unexplained stomach pain - sent me through all sorts of scans/test but found nothing. I stopped the Tamoxifen and within a week the pain went away. I found out that the brand I was taking has lactose in it and I am lactose intolerant - I guess even the small amount caused such severe problems after a while. I switched to Soltamox - which is the liquid version of Tamoxifen. No fillers but a horrible licorice taste. My stomach doesn't have the same pains but I have different side effects- not as many hot flashes - but more constipation with this one. It's very odd how different brands may effect you. But I did stop it for about a month so I could determine if that was the cause. So you might try that - and possibly see if you can try a different brand. I think they all have different fillers. I also found that if I take it in the morning - I was less likely to have night sweats so you could also experiment with taking it at different times of the day. Good luck to you. I feel the same way as you - this is a necessary evil and not going to be fun to get through 5 years of it but if it saves me from having a reoccurrence then it will hopefully be worth it. It's just difficult to manage the terrible side effects. But definitely try a different brand - I've heard others say that helps them.

I was on Tamoxifen for 6 months, it did not work for me in a big way, I have gained 35 pounds, from chemo plus the tamoxifen made my liver enzymes go really high that they diagnosed me with a fatty liver. I am now on anastrozole daily and Lupron injections 1x a month, this protocol seems to be working at the moment but I have friends that it took 3-4 different AIs before they found one that worked, all women are different

Hi, YES I've done this a couple of times over the past 2 years..I had to stop Arimadex and a similar one because the joint pain and mood swings had me unhinged. The tamoxifen has worked better, though I still have body pain,tiredness. My Dr. told me it was ok to do as you've mentioned and It really helps. I have not had issue with starting up again. I will also take a break again if need be, I feel it's better then nothing..I am counting down though Haha to my 5 years 2 more to go..All I can say is do what works for you.

I’ve been on 20mg of Tamoxifen since 4/2015. I take 10mg in the am and 10 at night. The side effects are numerous. Yes I’m moody,short tempered, weight gain, severe muscle spasms, hot flashes, swollen hands and arms at times. I think of it like this: I’m sure that a lot of women would love to be on this medication rather than having to have chemo or radiation. Things could be MUCH worse and taking it isn’t going to be for a lifetime so yeah I suck it up. No use complaining, just have to make the best of it.