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Tamoxifen & diabetes

BD29
Offline

Been taking tamoxifen for about 9 months & in last couple of months noticed symptoms suspicious of diabetes , thirsty , peeing a lot & tiredness . I need to get it investigated , I'm not overweight nor at risk of diabetes . Only medication I take is tamoxifen , never occurred to me that there was link between tamoxifen & diabetes until  I did some research , there is a well proven evidenced based link . Some articles talk about need for monitoring , especially if you are in 60s . Wondering if anyone else is experiencing this ? also feeling a bit angry , yet another example of side effects  not explained or taken seriously .

  • Hi BD29,

    Welcome to Cancer Chat. I'm sorry to hear you've been experiencing these difficulties, As you say, it's best to speak to your doctor/specialist about this as they will be best placed to give you the answers you need.

    You may find it helpful also to talk things through with one of our nurses. If you'd like to do this, you can reach them on 0808 800 4040 (Monday-Friday, 9-5).

    Meanwhile if others here have similar experience to share then hopefully they'll be along soon.

    Wishing you all the best,

    Ben
    Cancer Chat Moderator

  • Offline in reply to Moderator Ben

    Thank you for your concern , yes I am

    aware that I can speak to a Dr. Actually what would be really nice would be if moderators could actually act as patients advocate , do some research , show the widespread evidence of elevated risk of diabetes in women  over 60 & tamoxifen. It feels sometimes that there is an assumption that we are little children who couldn't possibly cope with knowing risks , who couldn't possibly make a true informed choice about  their treatment . What is the point of the forum if all moderators  do is say consultant  your Dr?

  • in reply to BD29

    I’m sorry you are unhappy about the response you received from the moderator. I wanted to explain the role of the moderators on Cancer Chat.

    Cancer Chat is a moderated discussion forum run by Cancer Research UK where you can talk to others affected by cancer, share experiences and get support.. The moderators are on hand to ensure that the forum is a safe space. We are not nurses nor do we have a clinical background but are able to signpost people to relevant information and make sure that the terms and conditions are being adhered to. In addition, the team read every post and while essentially the forum is designed for peer to peer support we would never want to see any post without a response, so we do reply to those posts which haven’t been answered and offer some reassuring words and, if necessary a link to the specialist CRUK cancer nurses, who are available either on the forum or by telephone. You can read more about what we do here.

    With regards your point about the side effects of Tamoxifen, this morning I have shared your comments with our specialist nurses in our Patient Information team who research and write the content on the CRUK website and they are going to investigate the links between diabetes and Tamoxifen to see whether there is any further evidence which can be added to our information pages.  

    I hope this helps but please do feel free to contact our Nurse Helpline if you need any further information

    Regards

    Sarah

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