Depression

Besides letting a trusted dr. know and therapy, I would suggest making sure your vitamin D level is where it should be. Magnesium also helped lift my depression when first diagnosed and starting Tamoxifen. As the others have said, it is nothing to be ashamed of and I have always thought that it takes bravery and hard work to overcome depression. I am happy now that I did it and am an advocate of talking about depression matter of factly so that it quits being a taboo subject.

Peregrinelady, RIGHT! It's no more shameful to have depression than it is to have breast cancer, or any other illness. I have had depression. My main episode lasted more than a year. I cried almost every day for a year and felt like I might never climb out of my hole. While other people might not want to talk/hear about it, they also generally don't want to hear about stomach pains or ear aches. It isn't because it's shameful. It's just that a lot of people don't know how to respond to personal stuff, like health or feelings. So yes, I don't mind talking about it. Anyone who wants to know more is welcome to ask me about my experience.

Lehrski don’t be afraid to reach out. I have always been one to hold everything in. But once I was diagnosed my anxiety was out of control and I sought help. People who don’t have to deal with the C word have anxiety, depression etc. A BC diagnosis or any C diagnosis changes you forever and there is so much you have to deal with and are forced to think about. So please don’t be afraid to reach out. There is no need to suffer any more than you have to, you are already dealing with so much.

I’m so sorry about your new DX and I wish you the best going forward. (Hugs)

We are here if you need to talk!

I'm so sorry you're back here. I think it takes a lot of guts to look back at how things worked out before and think about doing something different this time.

Ideally I hope you do talk about this with your oncologist. They may have resources for you (even possibly in-center social worker or psychiatrist), but also some of the meds can interact with mental health. But if you're not ready to do that, right now is a better time than ever to be able to do online therapy. Many therapists are offering tele-sessions, which was unheard of before.

I've struggled with depression over the years and done my best to fight the internal and external stigma - luckily not so much of it where I am now. But look, you got depressed from breast cancer. Anybody who would tell a woman who got breast cancer that there's something wrong with her for getting depressed is missing some parts of their heart.

I'm so happy to hear that you're reaching out! Hang in there & remember that therapy can take some time, but it should be worth it!

lehrski, I’m so glad your therapist helped. I wish more people realized that depression is physical and chemical. We know that chemicals in our brain are different when we are not depressed versus depressed. Treatment and medication can affect our brains and the resulting depression may be entirely the result of that rather than the result of the mental strain of dealing with cancer.

You can be the strongest person mentally and still get depressed due to chemical changes in your brain. As one minor example, I can’t take Gabapentin for my nerve damage without having it affect my mood in a negative way. Another example is that I’m as cool as a cucumber in temperament, but when my thyroid was overactive many years ago, I felt rage like I never have felt in my life. It was chemical, not emotional.

As my therapist said, having BC is like carrying a very heavy backpack all day long. It makes us tired physically and mentally. Accepting that my body can’t do what I want it to do is hard for me. I’m a “work in progress”. 🙂

Sending you hugs and wishes for continued help