Sunday Ramblings

Last week, I decided to try some adjustments to see if I could get a better handle on the side effects from the tamoxifen.  I reduced my intake of caffeine and took the tamoxifen at night instead of in the mornings.

The only change I've noticed is that nausea seems to have passed, but I can't tell if that's because of taking the tamoxifen at night or because my body is getting more used to the medicine.  I do know that for some reason taking the tamoxifen at night seems to make sleep even more difficult than usual.  So I've switched back to taking it in the morning. It's easier for me to remember to take it in the mornings when I take the vitamins I'm still allowed to take.  When I was taking it at night I had to set an alarm on my phone to remember to take it, which only worked if I remembered to set the alarm in the first place.

As for reducing my caffeine intake reducing hot flashes - it didn't make a difference at all. In fact I think the hot flashes at night were worse. So I'm back to drinking regular coffee.  I'm very glad that Spring is almost here.  I know that warmer weather might make the hot flashes more uncomfortable, but at least I won't be burning up one minute and freezing the next.  I swear if I caught the flu right now, I'd never know it - I'd probably just blame my symptoms on the tamoxifen.

Tomorrow is the first day of radiation. Should be an interesting morning.

I picked up from the library Dr. Susan Love's Breast Book - Fully Updated and Revised 5th Edition by Susan M. Love, MD.  It's a door stop! It's almost as thick as my Norton's Literature Anthology from my college days.

The front cover has a blurb from the New York Times calling it "The bible for women with breast cancer."

It's 635 pages not counting the Appendixes.  I'll never get it read before it's due back at the library.  Maybe I better see if I can get a copy from Amazon.