Depression and fatigue

CarolynVM

I've taken antidepressants for at least 15 years and have a good outcome with Lexapro.  When I was diagnosed with bc I asked for an anti-anxiety medication and was given Buspirone.  When I started this I was in Michigan with a supportive church and good friends and valuable activities.  After surgery in late November we came to our Florida house where we spend the winter.  I have no church and no valuable activities although I do have good friends.  Within a week or two of arriving, I found myself becoming more and more depressed and horribly tired.  I'd sleep until 10 or 10:30, take a nap from 3 tto 5 and go to bed for the night by 9:00.  Friends tell me the fatigue is left over from the anesthesia used during my lumpectomy and medical personnel tell me it's not important.  I think they're both wrong.  I stopped taking the anti-anxiety medication last week and have far less fatigue but now I'm even more nervous and irritable which makes my depression worse.  And I haven't even started any treatment yet!  I'd like to find a valuable activity here but if I'm this tired without treatment, how can I possibly manage to do meaningful volunteer work after radiation starts?  (And there's still a smidgen of a possibility that I'll need chemo but that's highly unlikely.)  I have absolutely no idea how to cope with this and I'm getting more and more upset.  My husband is clearly at his wit's end with my bitchiness and laziness.  I don't know what to do about this.

mrenee68

Carolyn, it maybe a combination of things. Mentally and physically you are going through many changes. It takes time to adjust and just when you think you are getting along ok something changes and you are back to square one. Have you thought about talking with a therapist that specializes in treating BC patients? Are you exercising? I notice when I am having a bad moment if I go get on my tredmill it kind of helps relieve the tension. Don't let anyone tell you it is not important, because it is important this is affecting you quality of life. Hang in there. ((Hugs))

trailertrash

I heard a Rad Onc doctor tell someone years ago, that estrogen levels get stirred up after any breast surgery (perhaps during radiation, too). And my onc nurse told me the other day, when I broke down in tears at a PT appt, that it was natural for me to be crying, since hormones have been released by the surgery. I didn't ask more about this.

One BC survivor-friend told me that the "black van with the engine idling" is sitting in my driveway now (or you could use the analogy of the Grim Reaper), so it's only natural that my moods will be affected.

Be gentle with yourself, CarolynVM. Even though some of us have the great good fortune of being given a good prognosis, it's still cancer, it's still scary, it still changes us forever.