Tamoxifen Causing depression?

Live4them

Hello ladies

I started Tamoxifen in January 2016 , didn't have to many side effects in the beginning except hot flashes .. A few months in my Onco suggested Effexor for hot flashes .. I took it for a few months with less hot flashes all was good in the world .. Then last month I noticed hot flashes coming back and worse , spoke to my doctor and after looking at my labs he said my ovaries weren't producing any estrogen . I looked post menopausal according to labs , mind you I had a period just the month before .. So he suggested upping the Effexor . I didn't want to in fact I didn't want to take the Efferor any more . So I got off Effexor ( against my oncos advice )

Now I'm feeling super sad and emotional . All I do is cry and don't feel like getting out of bed ( which isn't an option ) so my question is , anyone feel like the tamoxifen makes you sad and depressed or is it the lack periods and estrogen and regular BC bull crap .. I feel like I made a mistake by stopping the Effexor ...

Side note to add to my trauma , I've literally gained 6 pounds this last month !!

Sorry to ramble but have no one to talk to lol

farmerlucy

Did you wean off the Effexor? Sometimes it is hard to get off of (I hear). I'm taking 75 mg. I just like it. It takes the edge off. Two summers ago I dropped down to the 37 mg very slowly by removing a few extra tiny white beads (5 extra each week). IMHO stopping an anti depressant quickly could certainly throw you into a depression. When I started an AI I went back up.

Heck, menopause can cause depression, and the increase in hot flashes. My HF were fully controlled pre-meno, but now that I'm post the HF are a sweaty mess. Oh well.

Best of luck. It is not fun.

Live4them

Yes I weaned off Effexor , but I did do it a little fast maybe , I skipped doses and then took less of it every other day .. The brain zapping and dizziness went away so I thought it was gone .. Maybe I should have slowed down on the weaning .. Poor hubby took me out to dinner and I literally started crying at the table out of the blue .. I just feel like I'm not in control and it's driving me crazy .. Hope this is just a se from stopping the Effexor and not the tamoxifen good night ladies ! Hope everyone has a good night

farmerlucy

We are such hormonal beings! Beware to those who mess around with them!

I stopped an antidepressant cold turkey four months after my dx and just before going on vacation. It wasn't pretty. I had a week long crying fest in front of all the family.

When I came home I had a long appointment with my PCP and he helped me get things settled out. Maybe you have a trusted PCP you could meet with?

It is tough. AND it sucks!! Sending you a gentle hug.

labelle

I wouldn't say Tamoxifen has made me feel depressed, but definitely hormonal. While I feel weepy and sad sometimes and cry super easily, it is very much like when I was pregnant, not what I think of as true depression. I wasn't depressed when I was pregnant, just hormonally challenged. I'm not sure anti-depressants are really the answer when the problem is hormonal and/or situational. Anti-depressants do not restore hormone balance, nor to they address the situation (having BC just sucks).

Feeling unhappy about having had BC (the regular BC crap the original poster referred to) is I think pretty normal (feeling happy about having BC would not be normal!) as is feeling unhappy when you loose a loved one or experience divorce or job lose or something like that. I'm not convinced medication is the best or even most appropriate way to handle situational depression. Numbing people out with drugs, rather than allowing them to work thru issues is not always the best answer. Personally, I'm considering mental health counseling, not drugs, to deal with all of this.

Many women on here have written that Effexor has helped them w hot flashes so it is apparently effective for some of the physical side effects that come with taking Tamoxifen.

farmerlucy

Regarding hormones - when I crashed after dx, I saw an psychologist who was a BC survivor for over 25 years. When she was diagnosed she was prescribed Tamoxifen. She said she treated it as her HRT, and that made taking the daily pill easier for her. I've adopted that attitude, since I think that Tamoxifen does increase estrogen, but keeps cancer cells from feeding off it. Also Live4them, watch out for PTSD like symptoms that offen appear after active treatment.

HI labelle! Me waving!

Live4them

Thank you ladies , labelle I agree I think it's a hormonal imbalance and not depression and I'm going to try my hardest to stay off these anti depressions .. Today was better , NO TEARS !! I was very busy so maybe that's the key . Farmerlucy, I really never thought about PTSD ,.. I am going to seek out a therapist to talk about my crazy emotions .. So glad there's a place to vent

sherridl

Tamoxifen can cause depression. My PCP sent me to a psychiatrist that kept prescribing me different anties every month all the while I kept asking for Effexor, which I finally got. Effexor (150 mg) did help me the entire time I was on Tamo (had to quit after 4 years - Tamo). The down side of Effexor is that it is hard to quit - I did cold turkey 3 years ago. The up side is that it is supposed to help with hot flashes, which I didn't have, and that it has relatively little side effects.

motherofpatient

Please don't stop any meds cold turkey - you can't do that with antidepressants.