Actually, first I want to thank a local oncologist, Lynn Jahnke who helped look over some of the questions. So we thought it might make more sense for her to address questions generally, by theme, instead of one by one, so that more members would be able to get the information they seek. One of the big areas we got questions on was what tamoxifen does, how it works. Tamoxifen is actually a weakened estrogen. That means it doesn't give the estrogen receptors in some cancer cells what they need.
Some people refer to it as an anti-estrogen.
Anyway, it works as an anti-estrogen in the breast and as a weak estrogen elsewhere in the body. I was premenopausal when diagnosed last year at 47 yrs. But some women shouldn't and it's that old risk-benefit balancing act. Anyway, this means that women with a history of blood clots should not take tamoxifen. I had stopped menstruating when initially placed on tamoxifen but recently this has resumed.