I have recently added Citalopram to my Tamoxifen having felt quite low, tired, unable to concentrate etc. It hasnt kicked in yet so not sure if it will help. My concerns are that I have been reading mixed reports on the internet about the effects of SSRIs on Tamoxifen, apparently it changes the way Tamoxifen is metabolised, although whether this decreases its effectiveness is not clear. Haven’t spoken to Dr about this yet, I was just wondering if anyone could shed any light on the subject.
Lizaw
I have been on 20 mg then 10 mg of Citalopram since Dec 2006 and feel so much better on it. A McMillan nurse bullied my doctors into giving me it as I just couldn’t stop crying and was starting to have so many panic attacks that I nearly walked out of rads sessions a few times. Especially on the days when I was waiting for 5 and 6 hours for treatmnet due to machine problems.
Recently SSRI’s have had wonderful press about their part in cancer treatment and they now think that they help prevent cancer returning or appearing in the first place( I think ).
I reduced my dose to half a pill (10 mg ) Jan 2008. As i pay for my prescriptions, I didn’t tell the doctor I just cut my pill in quarters and take one quarter at 9am with half my Tam and one quarter at 9pm with half a Tam. This works very well for me. My hot flushes are now nearly non existent but I still have sore aching joints. I no longer cry all day and night and sleep much better.
Hope this helps Liz. You will find that many ladies on this site take SSRI’s and many have given me very good advice in the past. I feel that I will be on these as long as I am on Tamoxifen and feel happy about this. I once tried to give up completely as I am on such a small dose but felt so depressed and weepy that I went back on. If I am over tired and stressed, I up my dose slightly.
Hope you feel better soon
Debbie
xxx
Thanks for that information Debbie. I like knowing that it is not just me that needs an antidepressant and that it is linked to the cancer and i am not just ‘mad’. It is reassuring to know that SSRIs are prescribed regularly on top of Tamoxifen suggesting that there is no proven effect on the Tamoxifens effectiveness. Looking forward to them kicking in soon!
Lizaw
Lizaw, I started taking sertraline many months ago alongside tamoxifen,it was initially for feeling very depressed and low,however alongside my doctor and health specialist at the hospital i started taking them everyother day as I felt so much mentally better and wanted to slowly withdraw from them,…the results being my mood is still fine BUT hot sweats have increased unbelievably…apparently there are a couple of ssri,s that may reduce symptoms of menopausal side effects…ie hot sweats …in my case this was very true…so I am continuing to take sertraline every other day…not for my mood but for managing the hot sweats…if the hot sweats become too unbearable i can go back to everyday…all this has been done alongside my health specialists…so it seems that with certain ssri’s ,cannot remember the other one am sure there are two,sertraline being one of them … the benefits may be twofold in helping mood and managing the side effects of the menopause,mine being severe hot sweats,neither doctor has ever mentioned that it may effect my tamoxifen tablets,so am hoping all will be well,best wishes love Dx
Lizaw
I’ve been taking an SSRI (Sertraline) for several years prior to dx due to depression/anxiety/panic attacks so when I read on the internet that it might affect the way Tamoxifen was metabolized, I did worry. When I saw my Onc she said that the benefits I felt from the SSRI far outweighed the possible metabolism thing with Tamoxifen and to carry on taking them. So far, the hot flushes haven’t been as bad as I thought (taking Tam now for 3 months), so putting it down to the SSRI. Also, my mood has been OK in the main since dx (apart from a couple of blips over the last 4 weeks during rads when I’ve felt a bit weepy and panicky but seems to have resolved itself now treatment has finished). I dread to think what state I’d now be in without the SSRI - I think this must be the benefit the Onc referred to.
Only on day 3 of Tamoxifen so dont feel its kicked in yet ,feel rather stupid asking this but what is SSRI ? Also has anyone tried accupucture for hot flushes? i have read that it helps 80% of people on Tamoxifen. Its funny reading about Rads and Tamoxifen every one seems so much more cheery than when i was chatting about the awful chemo! I love it! given me a real boost.
Jo x
SSRI stands for Seratonin something something Inhibitor. It is just a type of anti depressant and includes prozac, citalopram and Venaflaxine which is commonly prescribed for hot flushes and recommended to me by my consultant but my doctor said she wasn’t allowed to prescribe it only Consultants could apparently. The only downside I feel with mine, citalopram, is I am so tired ( and I take half the dose prescribed ). Thinking about reducing further…
Well done on finishing chemo Jo. I was lucky and didn’t need it but have a lot of admiration for those who do.
Love
Debbie
I wish SSRI’s did prevent cancer. i have been on them for almost 10 years and still got bc. I am on 60mg Citalopram and 20mg amytrilline at the mo and just started arimidex andstill feel down.
Rach
Have not noticed that they help hot flushes
Hi,
Hope you don’t mind me butting in…I’m on arimidex and taking Venlafaxine. I took Citalopram 40mg for a couple of years, starting prior to dx. My GP changed it because I felt pretty down/lethargic etc a few months ago and thought Venlafaxine might do the trick. I am on 75mg twice a day.
I have to say that when I was in the interim period between medications, my hot flushes were much worse so I find the anti-depressants really help in reducing those. I still get them but usually in the evening and not that many.
I have also felt less tired on the new drug…I often fell asleep in the evening when on Citalopram but that has totally stopped…another plus I think. No one has ever discussed with me any of the benefits of SSRI’s and just let me get on with it…I do feel that a lot of people on this site seem to have a lot more communication with their oncs/BCN etc and I’m quite disappointed in the after care I have received at my hospital…Gloucester Royal. During my dx etc I couldn’t fault them but after the event it has been very poor, the anti-pressant issue another example of this.
Anyway, I digress…good luck ladies and keep taking the tablets!!!
Sheana x
Hello Everyone
I was taking 37.5 mg of Venlafaxine for a number of years before I was diagnosed last October. A couple of months ago I started breaking the tablets in half. Can’t say I felt brilliant. Could cry at the drop of a hat. Daren’t watch the news or programmes about abuse to animals/children. Had to be careful about newspapers as well. Was emotional all the time. Felt like I hadn’t got a grip on anything. Started taking a whole tablet again this week and the improvement is fantastic. Last weekend I was as dead as a dodo. Didn’t want to do anything. But now I feel good.
Sheana - I totally agree with what you said regarding communication with your oncologist and BCN. I am in exactly the same boat. Communication has been poor to say the least. I discovered in July that I should have been on medication at the end of March. It was hard work getting my medication (Arimidex). I was given no explanation for the cock-up - I had slipped through the net. I feel I have fallen through the net so many times since my operation - comfy beast/ prosthesis/chemotherapy/medication - I have had to do all the work to get all of this. The only thing that went well was radiotherapy. They were organised - even if they did give me duff information.
My BCN doesn’t know me from Adam.
Before my operation I felt very happy with the care I received (although I am still confused that 18 months after having a mammogram I was diagnosed with a 7 cm tumour). My family and friends all feel I had breast cancer when I had the mammogram. But the treatment I received/biopsy etc. was excellent. It was after the operation when things went pearshaped. I felt like I had been cut adrift.
Anyway I am digressing now!!!
Love
Lynda xx
I feel the same. I was told " don’t forget you have a life threatening illness" by one callous Consultant when I told him hot flushes and crying was ruining my life and BC nurse only offered me counselling after a year of suffering when I told her that a lovely McMillan nurse had reffered me for Cognitive Behavoiural Therapy. Got the distinct impression that her nose was put out of joint. Rads was horrifc…no appointments, waiting around for 5 and 6 hours each time etc and I burned badly but Radiographers were lovely…BC clinic is a nightmare I find. Even my husband said that BC nurse gives him the creeps as she just stares at you…lol
Debbie
Hi
I am on tamoxifen since last Nov after chemo, mastectomy and radio following dx of IBC in Feb 07 aged 46yrs. I was on citalopram 20mg and have kind of come off it by accident as forgotten to take it regularly. Find myself much more sensitive and weepy but also able to laugh more. I am undecided as to whether to go back on it again as the ups are good but the downs are still bad. Feel I am behaving a bit emotionally at work and saying my piece a bit more, have 40 staff in a government dept and fellow managers to deal with. Not sure whether a good or bad thing to be more emotional, at the moment sticking with it.
Hot sweats continue with avengence!!
Maria
Hi Lynda,
It’s kind of reassuring to know that I’m not the only one with poor communication from the ‘so called’ professionals. I was getting paranoid about it thinking,’ they don’t like me…or they’ve given up on me’! Anyway, I’ve just had another example of poor communication…
I had a bone density scan over 5 weeks ago and have been ringing up over the last 3 weeks for the result. If I do get a BC nurse answer the phone and not a machine that is amazing in itself but I actually managed to get a person a few times. ‘Leave it with me and I’ll get back to you’ I was told every time…did they get back to me?? I think not…so I tried and tried with the same result. Anyway, yesterday I managed to get hold of one of them who must have been feeling particulary effecient and passed it on to my onc’s secretary saying…‘I expect it’s somewhere in her in-tray’…mmm, thanks. A few hours later I got a phone call saying that it was ok, no change from last year which is a relief but what a pain in the neck to get there!
By the way…the scan itself has a little story…when I had my first one, the onc said that she wanted to do one every year as my spine had some thinning so when May came, a year after the initial scan, I waited for a letter…and waited…and waited. I went to my GP in July and mentioned it to her and she got onto the hospital. Hey guess what??? I had slipped through that net with those enormous holes again!!
I think that net needs some attention because it’s busier than the M5 on a Bank Holiday!
Sheana x
Hi Sheana,
I think your BCN and mine must be related. I have been at the receiving end of the “I’ll get back to you” a few times - it really rattles me 'cos she never does! I really felt like I was being a nuisiance, but then I thought, hey wait a minute I’m the patient and I pay your wages - and there’s something else - I always felt like an outsider. I never felt I was in the “in crowd”! So, it certainly isn’t you being paranoid. But I know what you mean - I kept thinking that it was me!
Pleased your scan was OK - when you eventually found out your result! Why is everything such hard work?? Why doesn’t anybody do what they say they are going to?? I’m a secretary and if I don’t do my job I soon get my backside kicked.
I was diagnosed last October so I assume - big assume! - that I’m due for another mammogram this October, but no one has told me so I haven’t got a clue as to what is happening. Think I’ll wait and ring my BCN, or maybe I’ll see if I can fall through the net again!!
Hi Debbie
Sorry to hear of your radiotherapy nightmare. Waiting around that amount of time is appalling and totally unprofessional. Hope you have recovered from the burning. I spoke to someone a few weeks ago who said her skin had the appearance of charcoal and bits of black skin kept dropping off!
And yes, BC clinic is a nightmare. I got an inkling of what it was like when I saw a couple pull out a flask and pack-up! I quickly decided they were seasoned professionals!
I only found out, by accident, a few weeks ago that my cancer was receptor positive. I find it annoying that other people know all about me and what I’ve had/got and I haven’t got a clue!
Just reading some of the comments from women on this web-site has amazed me at how well informed they are about their condition and what an absolute dum dum I am!!!
Sorry for moaning - but the falling through the net syndrome really rattles my cage!
Hi Maria
I certainly feel that I’m in control now that I’m taking Venlafaxine every day, and I feel good. Did you have any horrid side effects when you stopped your medication?
Love
Lynda xx
Hi Lynda,
I know what you mean about the ‘in crowd’…I’m certainly not within that either!
I also laughed when you talked about the BC clinic and someone got out a flask…I had the exact same experience only they got out sandwiches as well and started having a little picnic. I thought…’ this can’t be good…’ and I was right! I always sit there and people who come in before me naturally get called first and then people who strolled in AFTER me get called in too…then the old paranoia kicks in again! I feel guilty about hassling the receptionist but eventually I’ll creep up to her and stutter…ermmm, I wonder if I’ve been missed…? Then I get the old chestnut…’ Oh no, you are next…’ But would I be next…I don’t think so…!
I remember at my first chemo clinic…a bloke walked in with a guitar and started strumming away…people had bags full of books…some settled down for a good sleep…also another good picnic place as tupperware boxes crammed with sandwiches along with large flasks came out…and there’s me sitting on the edge of my seat, unable to relax and even open the latest copy of a trash mag like Heat!
I’m just not made for these situations Lynda!!
Sheana x
Hi Sheana
Oh don’t get me going about chemo! That clinic was a nightmare. Time meant nothing to them. I’d sit for hours and when they eventually called me I was so wound up I’d shoot through the roof when they shouted my name. I never could understand why they gave you an appointment 'cos it meant absolutely nothing. You might as well go 2 hours later and stay in bed. Once they got me all wired up to tell me that there was nothing more they could do as my drugs hadn’t arrived! What was the point of getting me in and cannulated??? And yes I’d sit there while others went in before me, and all the time I was getting more and more stressed. I couldn’t eat a thing how others managed it I have no idea.
We didn’t have a man with a guitar though, which is a shame we could have done with some entertainment!
Can’t complain about radiotherapy that went very smoothly and they were all lovely.
I agree, I too, am useless at those kind of situations. I just can’t cope with them!
Love
Lynda xx
Hi Lynda,
I also had problems at the clinics with them pronouncing my name…Sheana Yost, is pronounced like Sheena Yost as in ‘lost’. You wouldn’t believe the variations I got on that…so I would hear something that vaugely resembled my name and leap up from my seat only to see someone else trundle in…I would be like that all day. Then when it was actually me I would be so exhausted from the stress and the bobbing up and down could hardly drag myself into the area for chemo.
I couldn’t eat either…not a crumb, while other sat tucking into their egg sarnies and crisps I would be sitting jaw clenched with my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth with anxiety. Then there would be the ‘friends of the hospital’ who would approach me like a magnet every time…don’t get me wrong, they do a fantastic job but it would be nice if you didn’t want to converse about her Auntie Peggy’s trip to Australia you could wear some kind of sticker saying ’ no chatting today thank you’ Instead I would sit there in a typically British stoic way saying…’ Really…mmmmm…gosh…wow…83…goodness…’ in between my usual bobbing up and down thinking my name had been called, until she homed in on another poor soul.
Sheana x
Hello Sheana
Mmmmmm I was lucky that didn’t happen to me. I normally got into conversation with someone else waiting for chemo who proceeded to relate their illness to me. They would be busy telling me about how they were diagnosed, their surgery and how wonderful the NHS was! While this was going on my stomach was in knots and I was praying that I wouldn’t throw up over them. I tried to do my best and seem concerned and commisserate with them at the appropriate moment whilst having one ear cocked for my name. I was fortunate they didn’t have a problem pronouncing it, but they did seem to enjoy saying it quietly! On one or two occasions I was halfway out of my seat thinking my luck was in and I was on the way for the next dose of poison!
It really baffled me how they could eat and carry on with life. Some, when they realised that the waiting room was full and they didn’t stand a cat in hell’s chance of getting in for the next 2/3 hours would take themselves off to the nearest supermarket and do the weekly shop. They were quite happy to do this, whilst I sat there on the edge of my seat hands gripping the sides, knuckles showing through. I couldn’t relax in the chemo room. I swear the clock stopped on a number of occasions, and whilst waiting for someone to take the cannula out I felt like doing it myself.
Occasionally one of the breast cancer support workers would come round. She could never remember who I was. So we would have to go over the whole story every time. On one occasions she was convinced my hair was growing - believe me it wasn’t!!
Having chemo is a horrible experience but for some inexplicable reason they seem to go out of their way to make it even more stressful and unbearable. I still don’t understand why.
Love
Lynda xx
Hi Lynda,
You and I seem to be very similar! The breast cancer team never remember me either and yet when other people walk in they are ’ Hello Carol’…or whoever…and then proceed to ask them some personal questions like they are best buddies. Strange isn’t it.
I used to find that if I did strike up a conversation with another breast cancer patient we would end up comparing dx…and I was ALWAYS the worst. When I said…oh, I had a mastectomy and lymph node clearance and 3/12 involved…and was grade 3, they would always draw in their breath a bit and then tell me they had just the lump out and no node involvement but were having chemo just to be on the safe side. I would always sink into a pit of despair at that point…
It certainly is horrible stuff…let’s hope it works!
Sheana xxxxxxxxx