TAMOXIFEN - e-mail fights fatigue

My email was a disgrace.  Rather than have some overload trouble that I've had in the past, I decided to clean it out.  And of course, it was generously salted with posts from Dr. Salwitz and others on the same subject:  exercise.

Unfortunately, walking gets neglected during the pollen season.  Pollen is as popular a complaint here as earth tremors are in L.A.  And like everything in TX, the pollen clouds are bigger.  Sometimes I remember to hurry out before lunch - the low pollen hours.

And a sneaky voice in my head says exercise may give me energy.  

So I sorta modified the exercise routine I had in L.A.  Since I'm on the tile floor here, I moved the whole program onto the bed (very dangerous for yawning, Tamoxifen me.)

Now I elevate my feet and use those exercises I learned in bed in post-spine-surgery rehab, including that old favorite:  the butt squeeze and the others I've posted about on this blog.  Plenty of stretching, which my spine surgeon mentioned once in passing.

Plus some stretching my legs out, rotating my ankles, and even flexing my toes.  (Tamoxifen is not responsible for my feet hurting;  I think it's more the A word, arthritis.  Or perhaps I mean the B word--birthdays.)

My little dumbbells are right beside me on the bed, for a few arm exercises from the old L.A. floor routine.

And the daily dozen: combining the tendinitis arm presses with my neck exercises, now more urgent since a visit to the doctor for shoulder pain.  I'm not even telling the doctors about that arm/neck combo.  That's my secret, and I'm certainly not taking responsibility for telling it to you.  

But it works so far, and I can turn my head very nicely to back out of places full of pedestrians and the occasional colorful, jumbo trash bins.

Time now for the warnings:  Do not do any exercises without consulting your doctor.  Don't.  Although it's probably ok to elevate your feet while eating soy-free chocolates.  

POSTCARDS FROM TAXMOXIFEN part 2

Daylight saving time started Sunday.  In the past I always looked forward to the longer daylight; it seemed to make me feel better.  Now I don't get that effect yet.  And I already had a cup of forbidden decaf.

Between the GERD diet and the No Soy diet, how could I have gained this weight?  And still two mornings, I woke up hungry, long before I'd had enough sleep.  Am I just less active? Sitting here learning the new laptop's personality doesn't burn many calories. But I can't help blaming Tamoxifen

There is more hair in my brush than I can ever remember.  It's funny how a side effect that says "older, older" gets your attention more than anything else.  On the hair, I'm definitely going to blame Tamoxifen.

And then I realize, it's not like taking too many vitamins--you don't just stop Tamoxifen.  

Will things level out at the end of these first 30 pills?  I'm seeing the medical oncologist a week from Thursday.