Antidepressants?

terrij152

Just curious how many stage 4 ladies are on antidepressants and if so what one and for what reason?

I'm in the process of transitioning from Lexapro to Cymbalta over the next couple weeks. Hoping the Cymbalta works better for my depression and anxiety. It also has the benefit of helping with pain and hot flashes. My psychiatrist also added Deplin which is a type of Folic Acid that is supposed to help antidepressants work better.

Thanks in advance!

car2tenn

Oh my YES I for one will tell people I am on Celexa. I started taking it for menopausal symptoms and it is a wonderful adjunct to my primary cancer treatments. Carolyn from Music City

ABeautifulSunset

I'm on Wellbutrin. I already was on it when I was dx'd , so no difference there. Except for scan anxiety, I'm relatively "up" most of the time.

LindaE54

I've been taking Zoloft for the past 7 years, started after the death of my husband. Has good anti-anxiety properties. Tried to reduce after 3 years and again after 5 years - not a good idea for me (anxiety and depression slowly creeping in). Tried other anti-depressants before this one but Zoloft seems to be the best for me. Psychiatrist also told me to take B Complex.

Nel138281

I also began taking celexa during menopause - a life saver. Buspar was added with stage 4 dx

DivineMrsM

I suffered severe anxiety several months into the dx. Not realizing that was the problem, I kept trying different antidepressants which increased the anxiety. I finally sorted thru my emotions and explained how I was feeling to a wonderful nurse practitioner who then prescribed buspar which is for anxiety and not depression. I take a mild daily dose, it gave me my life back.

terrij152

So my psychiatrist tapered me off the Lexapro in 6 days, while starting 30 mg of Cymbalta at the same time. At first I was ok, but since Friday I've been a mess. Anxious, crying and just feeling crappy. Yesterday was the worse, but I'm feeling better today. I took 1 mg of Ativan this morning and was able to get laundry done and go food shopping without too much anxiety. Wednesday I increase the Cymbalta to 60 mg. I think I tapered off the lexapro too quickly, although that's what she recommended.

Tomorrow is another day!

Kjones13

I remember tapering off lexapro for at least two weeks. 10mg first week, 5mg next week and could count that until I got to the standard treatment level of Prozac...which I told you on another thread didn't work for me. Glad you are feeling a bit better and have the Ativan on hand. It may take another couple weeks to figure out if the 60mg is what you need. Best of luck

Fitztwins

I was on Zoloft for 7 years after Post Partum depression/anxiety..

Switch to cymbalta, but had to get off that while on another AI,

now on Effexor 125 m would love to go back to cymbalta.

Chantal10

I believe Wellbutrin is contraindicated in you take Tamoxifen. I loved Wellbutrin but my oncologist said no mas. I started Effexor today. We'll see. I weaned off Wellbutrin a couple months ago and it's apparent I still need mental support to keep the blues away. Xo

kayrnic

I was on Zoloft but had to switch to Effexor when they put me on Tamoxifen. I think the Effexor is even better for me than Zoloft. But everyone is different when it comes to anti-depressants. There are lots of choices, so don't give up if the first ones you try don't do the trick!

leftrightrepeat

Love, love, love Celexa. Had to be taken off to due to allergic reaction (was so itchy on it). Switched to Effexor, did an OK job, my onc was worried about my increased heart rate, came off of effexor SLOWLY. Now I''m back at square one. I poo pooed all of the people who said it was hard to come off of effexor but it really is hard! I threw up, was shaking, etc. Wouldn't wish it on my own worst enemy. No clue why that happened. On to bigger and better things ahead.

singlemom1

terrij152,

I just came accross your post about Deplin and am very curious if you found it helpful and if your onc was ok with it? I just learned that I have a folate deficiency genetic mutation that has a big impact on depression and deplin has been recommended. I have since researched this mutation and this seems to be a studied concern with functional medicine. There is belief that this mutation increases risk for cancer and cardiac problems among other things. However, from what I am reading by some NDs you have to be careful with Deplin and start very slow or you could have difficult side effects. Do you mind me asking your experience with the deplin?

artistatheart

I am very glad for all the input here as I am finally ready to admit that I need some help. My anxiety and depressive episodes are just getting slowly worse. Last time I went to see my Onc she was reluctant to give me an anti-depressant because she said they are addicting. So she gave me another anti-anxiety pill that I took one half of one, got dizzy and fell asleep for 3 hours. Not what I need at all...Then she encouraged me to see the psychologist at the center, which I tried once. While she was a very nice and compassionate lady, talking to a stranger about all my fear was uncomfortable for me. This next appointment I am going to insist she give me something else.

Kandy

Artistatheart, I am amazed that she gave you a hard time. Hello, we are stage 4, that's enough for any of us to get depressed. I started last year on Effexor, thrilled I did and now know I should have been on it way before I was. Please press her to write the script for goodness sakes.

DivineMrsM

Artist and others, I agree with Kandy; insist on an antidepressant. A good doctor will work with you to find the one that works. I am surprised a doctor would say they are addicting, that seems misleading.

Here is what happened to me recently. This year, for whatever reasons, I was feeling depressed. I would gripe about things, I had less energy and always felt sad. I made myself bring the subject of depression up to my pcp at the beginning of September. Altho I can post about it here, it is not easy for me to talk to a professional about it. It was a little momentary blow to my pride to do so.

The doctor prescribed 150 mg extended release Wellbutrin. It works differently than the other serotonin uptake antidepressants I had tried before that caused me to zone out. He told me to also continue taking the mild antianxiety med I have been on, buspar.

The first week of Wellbutrin, I had insomnia every other night, was a bit jittery and had some itching, all mild side effects. I thought about taking the med every other day, however, in googling the idea, I could see that was not a good idea. I decided to ride it out for a month and take it daily. The mild side effects went away after a few weeks.

I feel better. I can shake off the little things that were upsetting me for no good cause. I am more able to rise above the catastrophic thoughts that try to grab me and pull me down.

An interesting offshoot: For a couple years, I picked at the cuticles on my fingers and especially big patches of skin around both my thumbs to where they were raw and sometimes bled. When it got really bad, I put bandaids on them. I thought it was because of dry weather, cold weather, psoriasis or some other dermatological issue, trying all manner of lotions, ect.

Since I began Wellbutrin, my thumbs have healed. I still pick a little at my nails, but I am able to recognize when I do it and stop. My hands look and feel a lot better. I realize now that my incessant picking at my nails was the anxiety anddepression coming out in a physical way. Wellbutrin has helped.

DivineMrsM

I want to say this, too. Many times, a woman's concerns are trivialized, marginalized, deemed as not really a problem. Stand firm for what you need. You may have to do that time and again. Do not let someone else tell you how you feel. If your doctor does not want to help, seek assistance elsewhere. Do it for you

ABeautifulSunset

I was on Wellbutrin for many years. Surprisingly I'm actually off all Antidepressants currently. But I'm a fan. They are NOT addicting. Really? God forbid we are addicted to feeling ourselves, because that's what antis do.. they make you feel like your old self again. Artist, I hope you insist, or find a Dr. who will prescribe for you. I think you need it.

ShetlandPony

Ha, well, I haven't been keeping up with my favorite threads and people here lately because I have been feeling so tired, sad, overwhelmed, and maybe depressed. I feel like I used to be doing pretty well, but now not so much. I watched a short video of a psychiatrist at Memorial Sloan Kettering talking about fatigue vs. depression in cancer. He said that if fatigue is caused by depression, treating the depression with any of the standard drugs will help the fatigue. But the most interesting bit was that if you can't distinguish, Wellbutrin seems to work for both. So I came on BCO here to look up Wellbutrin, and found my friends talking about it! I am ready to try it. Something has to change.

Divine and Kandy, thanks for all the info. Stefajoy, I'm glad to know that I could use this for a while but may not need it permanently. Artist, you have been struggling for a long time. I agree that looking into help is a good idea.

(Singlmom1, I notice that Terrij's post is from last year, so you may want to PM her if you do not get a response.)

https://www.mskcc.org/videos/fatigue-vs-depression

ShetlandPony

Bump

Lauriesh

I was on Wellbutrin when I was first diagnosed stage 4 in 2010. I started having problems with anxiety in 2014. I went to a psychiatrist who took me off of Wellbutrin because he said that it can cause increased anxiety and that there are different antidepressants that work for both depression and anxiety. I went on lexapro and it did help with both. I am now on Effexor ( switched because I am having migraines and Effexor is supposed to help with that also) and that also helps with both depression and anxiety

ShetlandPony

Very interesting, Lauriesh. It sounds like maybe I should get an opinion from a psychiatrist in order to make a decision, and then to help with picking the best drug (if any) for my situation. Maybe it should be the psychiatrist at my cancer center, even though he/she is not on my insurance. Who do you guys think is the person to go to for advice on this subject? Oncologist? Primary care doctor? Psychiatrist? Other?

singlemom1

Shetland pony, I was prescribed Wellbutrin by a psychiatrist that specializes in oncology to also help with energy and the depression. It definitely helped with energy but after a month or two I became more irritable and anxious. Doc said that happens with Wellbutrin at times. We lowered the dosage to very little and added a very small amount of zoloft as that offsets the bad side effects from wellbutrin.

ShetlandPony

Good to know, singlemom1.Thanks.

LindaE54

I vote for a psychiatrist. I see mine yearly now but it was trial and error in the beginning and sometimes mixing different meds or molecules. I was on Zoloft for a few years and recently had to stop because of allergy testing and interaction with Zoloft. I was switched to Effexor to allow allergy testing and I'm still on it. I didn't notice any difference between Zoloft and Effexor but, the added benefit is that I have barely no hot flashes. Life changer in terms of QOL.

sharethehope

Hi artist, please get what U need from someone. Even u r GP could write a scrip 4 u. I see a onc psychiatrist & he is great. look till u find one u r comfortable with & who will help U. I've heard the habit-forming angle also. Habit-forming, really, do U think I care that it MIGHT be habit-forming.

cive

I take an old style antidepressant (tricyclic) called nortriptylene. It actually supplements the neurotransmitter, norepinephrine. It aids with depression as well as helping me sleep and reduces headaches. If you get Bestbirds MBC guide, it covers the old tricyclic anti-depressants as well as the newer reuptake inhibitors.

Wellbutrin (buepropian) actually is a sdri (selective dopamine reuptake inhibitor). Effexor is a snri (selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor), while Cymbalta is both an snri and ssri (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor). Buspar affects GABA. There is also an old tricyclic that works on amitriptyline, another of the neurotransmitters.

That is why so many different things work well for some and not others who do better with something else. It depends on which neurotransmitter rings your bell.

ABeautifulSunset

I've personally not experienced anxiety on Wellbutrin. I stopped taking it about 6 months or so ago, but I think I'm ready to start up again. I'm kind of in a funk that I can't seem to shake.

Lauriesh

my neurologist gave me nortriptylene for my migraines. While it helped and I wish I could have stayed on it,I found the side effects horrible- dry mouth, wierd dreams and weight gain.