hi, I have been on tamoxifen for 6 weeks feeling very low in mood, like in a fog, can’t concentrate and feel very tired. Can’t get a good nights sleep. I was diagnosed March 14 had wle, chemo, re excision for clear margins and node clearance, then radiotherapy. Tried ananstrozole December 14 but only managed 15 days as se’s we really bad. Since then onc has been trying to get me to take tam.
Anyone else the same. Gp said I can have anti depressants and sleeping tablets but feel like I just don’t want any more medication and feeling like giving the tam up ?
Hi Bondgirl,
I was put on Citalopram and have no side effects from Tamox been on it since May 15. When my gp offered me anti depressants when i was first diagnosed i took them as I totally fell apart when first diagnosed and living alone didn’t help. They really worked. I have been on Zoladex too aswell simce Nov 15 and have had low moods on that so know how you feel was thinking of coming off Zoladex for same reasons as you. Not anymore though a fellow BC friend just found out today she has secondary bone mets. She’s in her early 30’s. Life is unfair. Still In shock by it as it just reminds me we are all us girls living on a wing and a prayer. Make the most of what we have and enjoy your life.
Hi. I’ve been out to lunch today with my dad. He asked me how I am doing. I said I have plenty of perspective and I count my blessings in a rather large ball of depressed depleted hormones.
Thanks Jill. I’m going to my GP next week and I think I’m up for a mild anti depressant because if it makes you feel more ‘normal’ for more than 2 days in 4weeks it’s got to be worth a shot right? My treatment regime has in no way been as initially prolonged as yours Bondgirl. I’m only radiotherapy tam/aspirin/vitamin D. But I did start to feel the side effects after 1 week which was Jan 21st. I think if there is an alternative to feeling the way you do to try then it has to be worth a bash. And unlike our 5 year hormone therapy friend if the antidepressants don’t work we can stop taking them.
There are a couple of anti depressants that are specifically prescribed to help with side effect of tamoxifen and ,AIs.Thinks it’ venlafaxine and citrolpram .
Thankyou riversidedawn for that. Well I didn’t get anything prescribed, the Dr doesn’t want me to take antidepressants! She has signed me off for 2 weeks saying I haven’t had time to let the Tam settle down,( I’ve been on it since Jan 21st). Strongly advises against a hysterectomy and that I haven’t given myself enough recovery time. I must admit I’ve been so hell-bent on not wanting to wallow I have worked all the way through since my op and went back to work after 2 weeks but I thought everyone did that otherwise they’d make your certificate longer. What did the full time working girls out there do?
Hi Sarah. Firstly, a huge hug. Secondly, the fact that you are crying is a form of acceptance of what’s happened to you? I’m apparently still in denial. The whole experience so far for me is as if I’m having an o.b.e or that it’s happening to someone else. Probably did me no favours going back so early but I thought work would be a normality…it isn’t if you haven’t healed properly physically and emotionally. Be in the moment and don’t think too far ahead just yet 2 weeks till phase return is time for you to just assess how you feel when you wake up on that day not time too overthink how you are going to feel in a fortnight. Ah how easy it is to advise others, sigh. I’m going to take these 2 weeks to try and do exactly the same. P.s don’t watch Inside Out it’s a killer ?
Hello Bondgirl, I have been taking tamoxifen for 6 weeks now and like you am feeling very low, I am coming to the end of rads now and feeling exhausted, my emotions are all over the place, not sure if it’s tamoxifen or just a reaction to everything that’s happened, I was lucky in that I didn’t have to have chemo but having lost my sister and mum to bc and ovarian cancer it’s been a bit scary. like you I am having trouble sleeping and feel as though I am living in a daze, I have returned to work just doing a couple of hours a day from home but even that is a struggle. So irritable with my partner too. Not sure I want to have antidepressants , I have been prescribed them before and didn’t really get on with them but have an appointment to see my gp this week because I feel like I am not coping very well at the moment. sorry that I can’t give you any words of wisdom, its reassuring to see that someone else is going through the same thing though xx