SERTRALINE ANTI-DEPRESSANT AND TAMOXIFEN

hi ladies,

i am coming to you for your wealth of knowledge and experience again regarding the above. my GP has suggested i go on anti-depressants as i am struggling since dx. i know that paroxetine and fluoxetine are to be avoided as they can interfere with tamoxifen and it mentions these 2 in leaflet in my tamoxifen medication. doctor has suggested sertraline hydrochloride and reckons this one is ok. of course i have been googling and am not so sure it is. i am scared stiff of taking it and it makes the tamoxifen less effective potentially. different docs, onc say that many different things about this sort of thing and i dont know what to think or who to ask.
any advice/info greatly received.
lots of hugs to you all as always xxx

bump

TTM, it’s one of the SSRIs that IS ok to take with Tamoxifen. I’m on it, and getting the benefit. I don’t think it’s quite as good for my hot flushes as Citalopram, but did a better job for me with the depression.

Don’t expect instant results, it can sometimes make you feel worse before you feel better, but once it kicks in it’s like someone’s blown away the dark cloud that’s been following you around.

hi choccie, hope your ok.
thanks for that info. is citalopram ok to have with tamoxifen as well. whats the difference between these 2 anti-depressants do yo know - why would he pick sertraline instead? your bang right about the dark cloud, i know its gona take time, but i feel like its never gona do one!
lots of hugs to you. xxx

Oh dear. I don’t want to cause a fuss, but I was on sertraline during chemo, and found it to be really very good, but then had to switch to citalopram when I started the tamoxifen. I was much happier on the sertraline but was told it interfered with tamoxifen. I find it all very worrying that no-one seems to really know :frowning: I don’t want to worry you both but just thought you should know. I think I am going to do a bit more research into this as it really worries me. All the best xx

hi there hibiscuslady, thanks for posting. thats why i have asked the question as there seems to be so much difference of opinion about the use of these and which ones are ok.
i havent taken any yet and i am not going to until i am 100% confident. i did collect the perscription and asked the chemist and she got her little book out and showed me and it just the mentioned the 2 i had already mentioned above. i am going to ask at the hospital next week, onc/bcn/surgeon about it.
can i ask was it your GP or onc who told you to switch to citalopram instead??
thanks

The problem with fluoxetine (generic name for Prozac) is that it is metabolised by the same route that Tamoxifen uses, thereby reducing the action of Tamoxifen. I did read an article on ASCOPOST (American Society of Clinical Oncologists) that gives a table of various anti-depressants that have high, medium, low and no use of the same metabolism pathways, but it’s late and I can’t find it. Might be worth having a google, or try to find ASCOPOST and see what you can turn up.

There are quite a few different ones, so if you find one doesn’t suit you very well, ask your GP to swap you to another. Venlafaxine is another good one, but you HAVE to take it regularly and you can feel pretty icky if you miss a dose because its active metabolites both have very short half-lives.

Hi,here’s a list of SSRI’s and the risk they have.

Antidepressants And How They Interact With Tamoxifen

| Antidepressant Drug | Interaction with Tamoxifen | Safety Range |
| Paxil(paroxetine)
Prozac(fluoxetine)
| Prevents antiestrogen benefit | Avoid Use |
| Cymbalta(duloxetine)
Wellbutrin(bupropion)
Zoloft (sertraline)
| Medium interefence with antiestrogen benefit_Note: Studies confirm that Zoloft inteferes with Tamoxifen._
| Increases Risk |
| Saint John’s Wort
(hypericum) | Modest inhibition of antiestrogen benefit | Increased Risk |
| Celexa(citalopram)
Lexapro(escitalopram)
Pristiq(desvenlafaxine)
Remeron(mirtazapine)
| Mild interaction_Note: Pristiq and Remeron have not been well-studied for interaction with Tamoxifen._
| Slight Risk |
| Black Cohosh
(actaea) | May enhance the antiestrogen benefit_Note: There are just a few studies for interaction with Tamoxifen._
| Slight Risk |
| Effexor(venlafaxine)
| Almost no interaction with Tamoxifen | Best Choice |
| Sources:

Best wishes Melxx
|

Hey ttm,
Hope you are ok? I sent you an email to see how you are doing hope you got it let me know.
love fran
xx

No you can’t take tamoxifen with sertraline, this is the anti-depressant i was on before dx and have had to change to citalopram but i think there are a couple of others you can try hope this information is of use jen xxx

No you can’t take tamoxifen with sertraline, this is the anti-depressant i was on before dx and have had to change to citalopram but i think there are a couple of others you can try hope this information is of use jen xxx

I am also on escitalopram and I think it helps.

I am taking Sertraline andI was told it can make the tamoxifin less effective but I feel better on this than others.

When ddiagnosed I was on prozac which onc said I would need to change and she contaccted my gp to reuest this. My GP lookied into it and said that cirtalopam was in the same family as prozax so put me on sertraline as it did not interact with tamoxifen.

Hi - I would just like to add that as well as being the first choice of anti depressant whilst taking tamoxifen, venlafaxine has made a huge difference in decreasing the amount and intensity of my hot flushes! X