Hi
For 13 years I struggled with mental health issues after working for peace in a war environment. One month after coming off medication for this and the day after throwing related paperwork etc. away I found out my new battleground.
Now I find that although I and my daughter feel I am coping with the treatment if I have any moments of despair, helplessness, or anger the response from almost all professionals is ‘back on the tablets’.
This makes everything so much more difficult for me because I feel that I am not allowed emotions and yet I AM ENTITLED to them, the same as anyone else.
When reading other threads I note that mental health is touched upon, so there must be others whose lives are also being touched by this either new or reoccurring.
What are your experiences please.
I should add that I know that sometimes medication is the right way but not always.
Margaret
Hello Margaret, I to have had mental health issues for many years and this is making the treatment for bc even worse to bear. Chemo makes you feel like hell but with pre-existing mental health issues it is almost unbearable. I am on medication but as you say if I express my emotions i do not want to be made to shut up with stronger medication. i am always aware of any changes to my meds and if too strong i will not take them. A good pharmacueutial knowledge of helps.
I f meds help take them but if they interfere too much with how you are feeling get them changed by gp etc. I am always aware of side effects too so i know what ones i can live with and which Ones i can’t.
Hope this helps.
Wishing you well
Rach xx
HI Margaret and Rach , I can echo your sentiments , was just beginning to to think life was getting better after many years of mental health probs mainly through being addicted to Ativan… then wham was diagnosed with BC last Oct had surgery Nov . , Halfway though my chemo but it is absolute hell , having to take Seroxat and sometimes Diazepam . it’s very difficult to know whether to take meds or not but all I can say if you were diabetic you would’nt refuse insulin . Hope this is of some help to you
You are not on your own , this website alone has many like us.
LOts of love Bobbiexx
As someone who has suffered from depression in the past, I think what we are all going through (some worse than others) is a huge strain emotionally, physically, mentally and everything else imaginable. Emotional rollercoasters are one thing and I agree with Margaret that these are part and parcel of life and to expect someone to remain calm and stable during these times is simply crazy. However, proper depression is much more than bad moods and crying fits etc and as such needs proper treatment. The big problem is realising the difference. I knew I was seriously depressed when I couldnt even argue any more. I truly lost the will to fight and was just like a lump of jelly who couldnt make decisions or do even the most basic of day to day tasks. Antidepressants helped me considerably and I would not hesistate to take them again if I thought I was heading down that path again and would want to nip it in the bud before it got like too bad. I think the main thing is not to be too hard on yourself at the moment. Take the help if needed
Cathy
xxx
Well this thread makes me feel less alone as I was in the midst of a ten year battle with an eating disorder when i got cancer so am having chemo and weight gain (always dodgy for us eating disorder gals) along with th need to vomit through chemo (supressed by drugs no less) versus the urge to vomit as part of my mental heakth probs!! I try and stick with my eating disorder counselling but what with chemo and a baby and a toddler and a self employed husband - oh and a job i am meant tto start back to this week aftre maternity leave - i am up to my ears and i think if you are struggling you should seek as much help as you possibly can. I haven’t been offered drugs but if there were safe drugs to take in conjuction with the chemmo i would as there is so much to deal with already. What doesn’t break you makes you though I say x
Hi all, I’ve been on prozac for 10 years, and there have been some awful moments for me on chemo. I’m just about to have my third cycle of FEC. It seems to me that chemo picks on your weak points and magnifies them! I’ve done pretty well physically, but mentally had two very bad episodes with mood swings and depression. The onc is now taking me off the steroids as he wonders if coming off them triggers the depression. It always happens 2 days after coming off them. I’m back on the prozac full time as was on a low dose for years so that may help too. I do agree though that when you are feeling low you wonder what is real. Is it real to feel low or is it real when you are on the anti-depressants? The prozac takes the edge off things but you wonder if that’s really good in the long run. It makes you complacent. I’d like to think I could get off it after the treatment has finished but my gp says that my seretonin levels will dip again. Thanks for starting this thread. Hugs to all. Liz x
hi,
i suffered from depression and anxiety in the past and had medication and counselling.
when i was dx with breast cancer my GP immediately gave me a low dose sleeping tablet…he knows me very well and is my confidente…after my surgery and consequent results and being told i would need chemo i completely fell apart…i rang and spoke to him and he gave me an immediate appointment to go and see him…i honestly thought i was having a total breakdown…i went to see him and he put me on Tamazepam, which helped immensly…but i still suffered severe anxiety attacks when i got to my 4th FEC…and after indepth consultation with 2 onc’s., and BCN the chemo was stopped.
I am still taking citalopram, diazepam and zolpidem…i was dx in jan 04…i am a worrier and panic alot…at the moment i can not see myself being able to cope without medication.
karen x
Hi ladies, I had severe suicidal feelings on the first few days after chemo which was put down to the steroids
thank you for your replies. It is so hard to cope with all this. I have still refused medication for my depression mainly because I dread the side effects. The chemo makes me feel so weak and tired. The anti depressants make me feel lethargic and tired. I don’t want to be affected in this way twice over.
My daughter I trust, she would tell me if she thought I needed the doctor and I would be advised by her.
I think some of us are in the same cycle of chemo. I had my fourth fec last Wednesday. For the first time I can see the end of all this. My reaction to being told that I was halfway through after the third was to think but i’ve now got the same to go through again! This time it feels as if it is nearly over at least the chemo.
The steroids are not nice are they. I have come off them because they have caused a very low blood sugar level.
Margaret
xxx
Hi Margaret
I have been taking medication for a mental health condition for years and can understand you not wanting to go back on medication again. Dealing with the treatments and side effects for breast cancer can be difficult to cope without having to pop another pill, lets face it, some of the emotions we experience are a normal reaction to the treatment. However “stitch in time saves nine” there are many anti- depressants available that won’t make you feel lethargic and tired. if your mood level does dip further consider going back to your G.P. It is great that you have your daughters support and that you trust her opinion. I’m having my 6th and final chemotherapy treatment on friday and have had support from counselling to help me cope with any issues that have come about because of my BC. I increased my medication recently as I don’t want my mental health to affect any delay in treatment, ( I will be having 25 sessions of Radiotherapy in June). My my main problem was swallowing tablets when feeling sick. I solved this by crushing the medication and putting it in fruit juice to drink, check with chemist if you can do this as some medication need to be taken whole.
Good luck to you
Yours in good mental health
Sharon