depression after treatment

Oh yeah. I was depressed for quite a while. I started seeing a therapist which began to help. She suggested I see my PCP about taking an anti-depressant. I take a mild one now and have been for about 2 years. Depression runs in my family. I have a sister who is severely depressed, as was my dad and grandmother. I not only did these things but I found a support group that works well for me and has other women with issues similar to mine. I've also been writing for about 1.5 years. I do it mostly on the computer but I also keep a notebook of my dreams. It's amazing how much stuff I try to work through while I'm sleeping. Also, some women here have found it helpful to take a mild sleeping pill for a while. I was prescribed Lunesta and I like it because I wake up really refreshed and don't feel drugged at all. I'm down to taking it maybe once a week at the most.



It's true that time helps, as do family and friends. But I had feelings that were difficult to share with others, and I didn't want to bring my dh down as he was stressed enough worrying about me. Going to a therapist gives you a third party to talk to and you can really be open and say how you feel. It's a weekly appt that I know I can let myself say anything and cry all I want.



Perhaps you will find some of the suggestions given by myself and others helpful. This, after all, is a life changing experience.



grace

I got depressed after tx too. I wasn't depressed when I was dx or through treatment. Medication and therapy helped me a lot. I don't think about cancer much now. I'm not really afraid any more, just vigilant about checking things out if there seems like a problem.

Neeliecar,

I experienced the same thing. You worded it exactly as I felt, too. Like there was nothing to look forward to. It's funny because when I look back at the moments (more like hours) of being so low and wrapped in such negative thoughths, I don't see how I could have felt like that. Yet those same feelings can creep back in unexpectedly. Usually for me it happens when I think about the life I thought I was going to have and how I probably won't ever have it. I try to now think about creating a different type of life that I can be just as happy having. Just different than the one I had grow up imagining...

I still haven't figured it out yet, but in the mean time I am seeing a therapist, have gotten on Wellbutrin, and have started exercising and getting involved in things I have always wanted to do. Maybe through that I will stumble across the alternate life of my dreams. I guess I will only find out if I try.

These overwhelming feelings of doom seem to feel out of my control. It just takes over completely. Strange. I know for a fact that most of these feelings are a direct result of being in chemo-induced menopause. The hormones just got thrown out of whack in a snap, so my emotions are directly affected. That's the only reason I agreed to finally take an anti-depressant: to help even things out. I hope the meds help, as I have only been on them for almost a week and it takes time.

You are not alone on this one. :-) 

Yep, me too. I've been on antidepressants for about a year and this spring I'm going to wean off. Tho my primary care provider warns me that most of her BC patients stay on antidepressants for a long time.