I've been struggling with sleep ever since chemo treatment 5 years ago. It didn't get better while I was on Tamoxifen and the insomnia was almost my deciding factor to get off of Tamoxifen many years ago. It wasn't until the 4th year that it got increasingly better with a militant exercise habit and sleep pattern. I was down to just 5 weeks when I had 2 straight weeks of not getting quality sleep. I even tried a sleep aid for 2 days and it didn't help. I honestly believe in quality of life. I emailed my oncologist and she said she would be okay at me giving it a few more days and then stopping Tamoxifen if my sleep didn't improve. I slugged through 3 more days and no improvement. I've been off of Tamoxifen now for 5 days and have noticed better sleep. I still haven't had the most stellar of sleep but better sleep. I'm 4.5 weeks shy of finishing my 5 years. Remember that I added on a few extra weeks because I stopped it here and there prior to surgeries.
I'm happy that I'm off of it and I really hope just 5 short weeks will not make a difference in my chances of recurrences since I've been very good at taking it throughout those 5 years besides during surgeries.
The picture above was when I went to see the Davis Cup in July and I found it very appropriate for this post. Here's a big high five in hopes that my sleep, energy and everything else will improve post Tamoxifen and that here is LONG lasting benefits from taking it.
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