Very High Triglycerides From Tamoxifen

I don’t know a lot about this but I have read a lot of great stuff about this drug and I will share it with you gladly.
Tamoxifen is a powerful drug that works against hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer. You should know that Tamoxifen is reducing the chance of getting breast cancer by 44 percent.
Some data also showed that Tamoxifen treatment did not completely eliminate breast cancer risk, and that its longer term effects are not known. I really doubt that this drug could cause you this cholesterol peak because Tamoxifen also helps keep bones strong and cholesterol levels low. I suggest you to contact your doctor over this and talk with him about possible triggers of your problem. You could also talk with your doctor to stop with this drug for a while and then do this blood test again and see for your self will the cholesterol be decreased.

I see that this post is old, but in case it pops on a search engine, the way it did for me, I want to point out the response is entirely INCORRECT. Tamoxifen is well known to have an adverse effect on triglycerides.

I had breast cancer in 1996 - After surgery, chemo, and radiation, I was then put on Tamoxifen. I was to take it for 5 years. Aside from the side effect of giving me nausea, I also started to gain a lot of weight.

I had a routine blood test, which showed my triglycerides were high (400 or so). I was told I was eating too many sweets and simple carbs. I said that I wasn't. "Impossible", I was told, "no one has has triglycerides that high without over-doing the sweets and simple carbs.

Each subsequent blood test, my triglycerides were ever higher. Weight kept going up as well. I suspected it might be the tamoxifen - I was told, "No way!" It was my diet.

I dieted, I exercised by hiking 2-3 hours a day.

After 4 years of being on this stuff, when my triglycerides reached over 2,600 - I decided to quit tamoxifen. About a month later I had my first heart attack.

It took a while for the triglycerides to come back down to about 110 - Took even longer to get the weight off.

I hate this stuff - It made me feel unwell the whole time I took it, and it made my triglycerides skyrocket.

I had a blood test after I had been on Tamoxifen (after breast cancer) for about 5 or 6 months. My triglycerides were 1100. With a repeat blood test, the triglycerides were 880. After discussing it with my doctor, the only change we could determine was the Tamoxifen I was taking.
Now, after being on the Tamoxifen for an additional 6 or 7 months, my triglycerides are 330, which is still high. My doctor recommended that I take a fish oil supplement which can lower triglycerides. On my next visit to my oncologist, I will ask her to weigh the pros and cons of the Tamoxifen. I DON'T think that I will get off the Tamoxifen because the good it does in preventing the recurrence of breast cancer outweighs the cons (I think).

I hope this helps someone else like the previous postings helped me in understanding the relation of Tamoxifen and high triglycerides.

Tamoxifen does elevate trigliceride levels!!!  I have high levels to begin with and am already taking Lopid. Adding the Tamoxifen raised my triglyceride levels to the point I ended up in the hospital with pancreatitis. I was told this is rare, but looking at this posting, I would say not true. I have consulted with the doctor and was told I probably should never have been put on Tamoxifen in the first place. Tamoxifen does have a half life of at least 2 months and it took 3 before my levels began dropping rapidly.

Hi
Sugar and refine carbs are also know to raise TG, maybe those foods could be the culprits...if i were you, I would try to decrease those foods (if consume them of course) and measure TG to see.
Good luck

hi,i was a healthy woman, when i was told at 42 i had breast cancer. so looking at my options, because i also have the brac 1 gene.i had both of my breast removed. then did 4 rounds of chemo. after the 4 rounds of chemo i had a health screening from my employer, which we have every year. up till that point i had never had an issue with high cholesterol. the lady doing the health screen told me it was a high 400. so right away i had thought it must be from the chemo. then i went to see my chemo doc. he said it was not from that,but i thought it must be. after taking letrozol and arimadix , it started coming down, to about the 250 range. then came the tamoxfin, the weight gain, and the cholesterol went back up.so my chemo doc. put me on aromasin another chemo drug. and after 6 weeks, my cholesterol is now at 179. so i think yes the tamoxfin does cause high cholesterol!   

 

 

 

 

 

Hello. Hm...Why do you think so? I think it couldn't be from this drug...

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Tamoxifen can, and does, elevate Triglycerides. After 4 months on this drug My triglycerides went from normal fo 4,000. That's right, 4K. I subsequently developed pancreatitis from the high triglycerides. IMHO, physicians are much too cavalier about the side effects of Tamoxifen, which are dreadful for some of us (memory loss, migraines, paresthesias, joint pains, swelling of hands and..pancreatitis, which in itself can be lethal.)

Thank You so much! I knew it had to be the tamoxifen that raised my triglycerides so high! Neither my oncologist nor family doctor mentioned it. They always said I needed to exercise more or other....

Thank you so much for this post. I was told today that my triglycerides were 2000 and that I needed to change my diet and exercise more. I had breast cancer last year and a mastectomy last Oct. I was put on Tamoxifen. I have gained 17lbs in the last 7 months and as I said my Triglycerides have gone crazy. I have never weighed this much and I think I eat well. I am not a sweet eater or junk food and have been trying to lose weight but just keep gaining. Now after reading this I may have found my problem. I will be contacting my oncologist. Thank you all agin for this post.

I posted 4 months ago about Tamoxifen causing high triglycerides. Even after stoppi g this drug it took months of treatment to make a dent, because there is a half life of 2 months or more.  I then developed unstable angina, and an arteriogram showed severe blockages of the left anterior descending artery(the "widowmaker"). I had to have an emergency triple bypass.  There is no  family hx of heart disease, I am not obese nor diabetic. I follow a mediterranean diet.  The oncologist insisted "its not the Tamoxifen". Seriously?  I am considering a  lawsuit. 

I have off the chart triglycerides.  I think it may be from my Tamoxifen.  Scares me.  Dammed if i do and dammed if I don't.  How can I NOT take Tamoxifen and get my triglycerides down?

I am so glad to saw this post. I hate how doctors are always protecting the reputation of tamoxifen. After four years on the drug, I asked for my blood lipids to be tested and found out my triglycerides were a very high 500mg/dl. I have done about 20 blood tests since my diagnosis and this is the first time that I did the lipids test, I asked for it for no reason other than I am 40 and I happened to be fasting.