Tamoxifen with fluoxetine

[maddie50]

Has anyone been prescribed tamoxifen while on fluoxetine? I had to change from letrozole to tamoxifen recently because of side effects causing me bladder problems but have recently read fluoxetine inhibits the effectiveness of the tamoxifen. Should I be worrying about this. The oncology doctor agreed there might be a slight reduction in effectiveness of tamoxifen but that it hasnt been clinically proven. I’ve tried to ween myself off fluoxetine now but am suffering from bad anxiety and depression and tempted to up the dose to what it was in the first place. Does anyone have any advice? Thanks

[Jennymary]

I was on fluoxetine when I was put on tamoxifen in 2013, not sure how long later, but I had a phone call from GP saying that the tamoxifen may be hindering the fluoxetine and I gradually came off them with no probs. I wish you well x

[Redwine50]

On my tamoxifen leaflet it says not to use fluoxetine.xx

[vocalEK]

If this helps... some years ago I found fluoxetine wasn't working for me any more. I switched to bupropion and have been on it now for years. EDIT - Just Googled and found that bupropion also interacts with tamoxifen.

[vocalEK in reply to vocalEK]

Just found this: "Sertraline, citalopram, escitalopram, and venlafaxine impart lesser degrees of inhibition and are reasonable alternatives. Finally, for women already taking tamoxifen with a known CYP2D6 inhibitor, any change in treatment should be gradual to minimize the risks of SSRI withdrawal and the idiosyncratic adverse effects commonly seen on initiation of treatment." bmj.com/content/354/bmj.i5309

[maddie50 in reply to vocalEK]

Thanks that is helpful. Which website was that?

Do you also take tamoxifen? If so weee you worried when you found bupropion interacts with it?

Many thanks