Tamoxifen

[Tiny Sue]

Hi guys -

Well finally after well over a year my gp decided something was up and referred me to a gynaecologist. He's the same guy who took care of me while I was pregnant so he has all my charts etc.

Anyway we met last week. Looking at my bloods he has decided I'm not polycystic, not menopausal and there are no problems resulting from my c-section. I'm just not ovulating.

SO - given my history with Clomid he has decided to assume that it was the bulking agent that I reacted to. SO he has prescribed a drug called Tamoxifen. Does anyone have any experience of this drug?

Sue

 

[Squiglet]

All I know is that it's used quite sucessfully in breast cancer treatment... although after googling it ... apparently high doses are used to stimulate the ovaries to produce more eggs in women who are trying to get pregnant. However, in these circumstances, the woman's ovulation and fertilization status is being closely monitored by the infertility specialist Hope that helps...

 

[margaret]

I responded to this thread just because I remember tamoxifen as the main drug that my mother took for years after she'd had breast cancer. And she had already had a hysterectomy (as a result of my birth!) so it wasn't to ensure a healthy menstrual cycle. I do recall it having to do with restoring some hormonal balance.

 

[SarahH]

Yeh, My Mum was on it after her cancer surgery too... I didnt know it could be used to help your cycles

Hope it works for you tho!

 

[Jollypops]

Don't know if this might help, i've taken it from http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/100004525.html

How does it work?

Nolvadex D tablets contain the active ingredient tamoxifen citrate, which is a type of medicine known as an 'anti-oestrogen'. (NB. Tamoxifen is also available without a brand name, ie as the generic medicine.) Tamoxifen is mainly used to treat women with breast cancers that respond to the female sex hormone, oestrogen.

Most breast cancers are sensitive to oestrogen, and their growth is increased in the presence of this hormone. Oestrogen binds to oestrogen receptors on the breast cancer cells and causes changes within the cells that result in faster growth of the cancer. Breast cancers that are sensitive to oestrogen are called oestrogen receptor positive cancers.

Tamoxifen works by blocking the oestrogen receptors, thereby blocking the effect of oestrogen on the cancer. This starves the breast cancer cells and stops them from growing.

Tamoxifen helps prevent breast cancer from spreading to other areas of the body and also reduces risk of developing cancer in the other breast.

Tamoxifen is also used in the treatment of female infertility that is caused by problems with ovulation. Again, it acts by blocking oestrogen receptors, this time in a part of the brain called the hypothalamus. The effect of this is an increase in the levels of the hormones that control the development and release of an egg. These hormones are released from the pituitary gland and are known as follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinising hormone (LH). FSH stimulates the ovaries and LH causes the release of an egg from the ovaries (ovulation).

In the normal menstrual cycle, oestrogen acts on receptors in the hypothalamus after ovulation. This causes the pituitary gland to stop releasing FSH and LH. As tamoxifen blocks the oestrogen receptors in the hypothalamus, it prevents this action of oestrogen. FSH and LH levels therefore increase, which increases the chances of egg development and ovulation.