Anti Depressants or not!!!
Anti Depressants or not!!! Hi there
I wonder if anyone can advise me or give me so hope. I have recently been put on anti-depressants by my GP and wonder if there is anyone else out there in the same position. I was diagnosed with high grade DCIS in Sept 2004 had a mastectomy with immediate reconstruction by TRAM flap. The 11.5 hours operation went fine but then I had lots of complications due to getting an infection and healing too quickly which has led to a lot of scar tissue. I “coped with everything fine, was back in work 6 months later and as far as most people were concerned I was “back to normal.
I found myself under a lot of pressure at work, I got very tired easily, had a great deal of discomfort and pain. I went back to see my breast care surgeon who was puzzled to say the least. Had a CAT scan and nothing showed up. That was at the end of last June and I have not been back to work since. I found day-to-day things difficult to deal with, lost my temper very quickly, had tantrums (and I mean tantrums), cried at the drop of a hat and felt very out of control. I was told it was due to the fact I did not deal with the cancer the first time round. I suppose I did my usual thing and coped for everyone else and it suddenly has caught up with me. In addition to all this the tamoxifen seems to be pushing me through the menopause early (42) and I am getting lots of problems (I think) from this.
My GP was very sympathetic and to my surprise he put me on anti-depressants to help me move forward. I have been on them for 2 months and now feel like I am in a bubble, feel no emotion about anything, feel very sorry for myself, hate myself and the way I look and wander around in a bubble most of the day. I don’t know what to do for the best. I have a very loving hubby and family but feel I am putting them through hell. They don’t complain about my behaviour but I feel guilty that I seem to take it all out on them. Do I stay on the tablets a bit longer and feel disconnected from everyone or come off them???
I would love to hear from anyone else who has found themselves in this position. Hopefully it is just a passing phase but I feel that this blasted disease has taken away the real me and I don’t know how to get the old Deb back. Sorry for waffling on so much but need to get this off my chest for so long.
Thanks
Deb
Hi Deb
Although my situation was a little different to yours - I had a lumpectomy and lymph node removal in November 2005. I was diagnosed as ER++ and HER2+. I started Tamoxifen and Herceptin once the chemo and radio had finished.
I started on Tamoxifen in August last year. At first everything seemed OK. I had always been very reluctant to have this form of treatment (I am only 39) but naevely (sorry about the spelling) thought I had got away from most of the side effects.
How wrong could I be. Since after Christmas I have suffered with horrendous soreness and discomfort down below, a flu virus that lingered on and on, and now I’m the girlfriend from hell!!!
My poor boyfriend has put up a lot from me. I’ve explained to him - I feel low and depressed a lot , cry all the time, snap at him and get really angry. He has done absolutely nothing wrong and is so so good to me! On top of that I get overwhelmed with extreme tiredness and sleep the majority of the evening after returning from work (it takes all I can muster to keep my eyes open at my desk). I have constant nausea and haven’t had a period since December 18 (I have always been regular). It sounds silly but my ears and nose have also been permanently sore and weepy for the last month (don’t know whether this has anything to do with it). Every orrifice(?) needs cream or drops of some sort!! I so want to throw the tablets in the bin! We sat down the other night and came to the conclusion that a lot of it could be the side effects of the Tamoxifen. I have therefore made an appointment to see my GP (boyfriend is coming with me) to see if there is anything he can give me to ease things a little.
I’m sorry too for my rant but also needed to get it off my chest!
I hope you feel the old Deb soon.
Sandra
xx
Peer Support Hi Deb
I am sorry to hear that you are feeling so down at the moment.
You may be interested in Breast Cancer Care’s peer support service. The purpose of the service is to put you in touch with someone who has personal experience of breast cancer. They have been trained to listen and offer emotional support and further information.
We do our best to match you with someone who has similar experiences and issues as yourself and who therefore understands what is most important to you. I have given the link to this service below:
breastcancercare.org.uk/content.php?page_id=4438
Also, if you feel it would help just to talk to someone in confidence, our helpline will be a source of help:
You can call the helpline on 0808 800 6000
Monday to Friday 9am-5pm and Saturday 9am-2pm.
The team is able to talk about both technical and emotional issues surrounding breast cancer and breast health.
I do hope you find these services can offer you some support.
Kind regards
Forum Host
Breast Cancer Care
Hi Deb 2 months is a very short time to be on anti-depressants -it can take a few weeks for them to start to work. I had a spell on them when I became so miserable with myself it was interfering with my normal everyday life. My experience was , they controlled the tears reasonably quickly but then i went through a short period of being emotionally “flat”-much as you describe. I felt I wanted to cry but couldnt. After that, my mood lifted quite considerably and I felt normal (emotionally) again ,well new BC normal, as opposed to pre BC normal. I made the mistake of taking myself off them after 6 months because I felt well, but mood dipped again within 3 months and had to go back on them. GP said you need to take them for at least a year. I, like many others was concerned about becoming “addicted” to them, but they are not physically or emotionally addictive. I was taking cipralex , which were fine -but i’d heard efexor had the added benefit of controlling hot flushes, so i switched to them. As long as you reduce the dose gradually when you want to come off, you should be fine -I didnt have a problem and it was SO much better than feeling the way I did.
Regards
Cherry
Anti-depressants I had always been against anti-depressants. In my 20’s my mother had 2 nervous breakdowns and after my many visits to hospital to visit her I always said that I would never resort to taking any sort of anti-depressant. But after I had started chemo I was really very down and could not sleep. One doctor put me on sleeping tablets but they only get you to sleep, if I woke up I still couldn’t get back to sleep. It was my husband who I felt so sorry for, every evening when he walked in the door I would break down in tears. When I went to hospital for chemo I would cry in the car-park because I didn’t want to go in to have it. I went to see my own GP and as soon as I walked into the consulting room I broke down. Anyway I went on to a low dose of anti-depressants which my GP said would also help with the pain in my arm and my GP has said that they would be easy to come off. After a few weeks to get them into the system I was coping so much better and I managed to get through treatment okay. I am still on a very low dose 3 years later for the pain.
I went back to work 3 weeks after rads and apart from 2 weeks off with the flu I have had no time off work in the last 3 years.
I would only say that at the time I needed a bit of help and those tablets did the trick. I cannot advise you what to do, but they worked for me.
Take Care
Hazel
HI Deb
Well i dont recommend anti- depressents.
I would say come off them as soon as you can.
No one could be more fearful than me and i have had Gp’s throw anti depressents at me but i have refused. The reason being i have seen my own mother addicted to them and them doing her no good at all.
I always feared BC and got the damn disease but I will fight it without anti-depressents i hope.
I am not saying there is never any need for them but they create more probs than you originally had as you have said on here.
GP’s prescribe them as a last resort i know been there done that worn the T-shirt but we have to consider carefully if they would be benificial to us.
Hope you can sort it out Hun
Love Ruth xx
Hi Deb… Hi Deb
Just read your posting, I have been wondering how you were going on.
Did you manage to see the other surgeon? Im sorry to hear that you are struggling at the moment…it sounds like you are going through a bad menopause time, is there someone that you could talk to. Could your GP put you on anything that is a little less strong?
What works for me a just having some time to myself, quite time…someone suggested another good read,‘The Power Of Now’ and when Im feeling low I tend to read a few passages. What about a facial and head massage? I felt really bad the other week and went for one…
I felt so much better.
If you would like to go for a meal just let me know…you know the old saying ’ a trouble shared’…
Much love
Debbie x
I love anti-depressants!!! Hello Deb. I was diagnosed on the 14th of November. I like everyone else found the following weeks absolutely agonising. The waiting for results the waiting for the scans (I am still waiting). I could not seem to crawl out of this black abyss. I am a very outgoing person but was so so frightened!! I was put on anti depressants by my doctor on the advice of my breast nurse as she said something about the seratim (could be spelt wrong) had been proved to help with depression that chemo can cause. The first lot escitalopram( again not sure of spelling) made me feel a bit spaced out. Then I went back and was put on prozac. This after three weeks has made me feel I can deal with the treatment. For some strange reason we are so glad to accept chemicals to treat cancer but there seems to be some sort of shame if you need anti=depressants. Well don’t be some people do not need then I do and I am staying on them until I feel that I can cope with the next few years!! I have a lovely large family they and it was hurting them to see me so low. They are everything to me and anything I can do to help them deal with it is worth it Love Eileen
For me after treatment ended and was expecting to go back to normal was the time l became depressed.seems to be time we start to think and realised for myself the enormity of what the diagnosis meant.Ifound talking to some one who understood-been there-was fantastic as could unburden myself without fear of upsetting family.Still take anti depressants and taken under medical supervsion they are l feel ok-they are not addictive-like tranquilisers prescribed yrs ago like smarties.if you feel no better after 2 mths it may be you need increased dose which can really help.Tamoxifen seems make matters worse by adding the horrid side effects-vaginal pain itching discharges thrush paiful sex…need l go on!!
sorry am rambling…take care of yourself but from personal experience it can and slowly will get better-just allow yourself time
hugs sharonx
Hi Deb
I was diagnosed nearly 2 years ago. I got terribly depressed when i started chemo and my GP offered me antidepressants. I struggled on all through treatment, return to work , and reconstruction. But in September when i went back to work for good i really struggled. I started getting panic attacks as well as depression. I am a primary school teacher and knew i could not cope with my job. I reluctantly went and asked for the antidepressants.
After a couple of horrible weeks of side effects, they had an effect. I don’t feel on top of the world but i’,m not dreading every day. Soon after taking them the pressure at work increased even more - we had OFSTED and i honestly think it would have pushed me over the edge if i hadn’t had the tablets.
I know it’s not an answer. I really need to go part time or change my job but that’s not possible at the moment, financially.
So i reluctantly feel the tablets are the only thing that can get me through.
Kelley
well, it to have taken the road of anti depressants and would whole heartedly recommend them…
i took them some years ago for post natal depression and they worked then, if managed properly you will not be addicted to them and you will wean yourself off slowly.
i also had someone to talk to proffesionally about all my fears and worries.
you have had breast cancer, a life changing experience, the tablets are not for life and if it improves your quality of life and guides you through this time of adjustment then give them time and you will cope.
i wish you all the best.
sharon. x
Thanks Dear All
Just a quick note to say thanks for all the replies - they have certainly helped me get things back in proportion a little. I think I am going to stick with the tablets for a while and see how I go. It does seem odd that we do get in a muddle about taking these pills considering everything else we have to take but I suppose it is the fact taking anti-depressants make me feel like a failure. I know I am not and I try to stay positive but sometimes it just gets you.
I hope you all keep well and wish you all the best in your recovery.
DebX