Hi guys, have been reading tons on how Tamoxifen affects men and muscle growth but wondering if you have any information on how it affects women.
I am 34 and am on tamoxifen for breast cancer. I take 20mg X 1 daily. I plan to compete in a Figure competition (INBF) on October 15th.
I have read all the side effects but can’t seem to find anything on how it might affect my training and fat loss goals. And if it does affect my training/fat loss, is there a BEST time of day to take it? To date (one month in) I don’t seem to have any side effects.
[quote]Hot AZ wrote:
Hi guys, have been reading tons on how Tamoxifen affects men and muscle growth but wondering if you have any information on how it affects women.
I am 34 and am on tamoxifen for breast cancer. I take 20mg X 1 daily. I plan to compete in a Figure competition (INBF) on October 15th.
I have read all the side effects but can’t seem to find anything on how it might affect my training and fat loss goals. And if it does affect my training/fat loss, is there a BEST time of day to take it? To date (one month in) I don’t seem to have any side effects.
Thoughts?[/quote]
Hot AZ,
I’m not sure exactly what you’ve read but I’d suspect much of it was simply speculation on various message boards. Often I’ve seen claims that tamoxifen will decrease muscle mass because it can decrease IGF-1. There is no data which has demonstrated that this decrease in fact results in a decrease in skeletal muscle. Other thoughts circle around the idea that estrogen is necessary for skeletal muscle, which has some truth to it, but as to which receptor subtype is more responsible for this, I believe it’s the beta, not the alpha, in which case, tamoxifen would not have such an adverse effect.
Also, in respect to the decrease in IGF-1, this is what someone in your situation wants, as IGF-1 is a very potent mitogen in breast cancer cells.
Tamoxifen is a very good drug for a woman such as yourself. There is no reason to think that tamoxifen will hinder your efforts in any significant manner and most certainly, doesn’t warrant not taking the medication.
