TRIPLE POSITIVE GROUP
Comments
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T-Sue, no, cannot order this one either
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toughcookie, I am in Stockholm. I googled Paradiset, it seems to be a grocery store but I will check it out, thank you for a tip.
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Thank you everyone for your words of encouragement. I really needed that boost!
Specialk as always, excellent tips. My expectations are definitely unreasonable because I suffer from impatience. I need to remind myself, as we all should, that our bodies have been pumped full of drugs and we've gone through major surgeries. It makes sense that it would take up to a year to feel better. Thank you for giving me hope.
Cherry, you are so right I need to focus on my needs so that I can completely heal. I must get better at saying no! Good point too about the stress and pain connection; I am super stressed from work and I bet that's why I'm experiencing more pain lately. Thank you for your insight
Your wonderful responses made me realize how much I need to stay connected to all of you....I feel better now than I have for a while 😊0 -
Coach Vicky, I too don't seem to need deodorant although I still do out of habit. I thought maybe my sense of smell wasn't working any more because I had to use clinical strength deodorant before diagnosis. I thought maybe my diet changes contributed to not needing deodorant....or maybe it's related to my mastectomy.
I've used Tom's of Maine and my daughter recently introduced me to Schmidt's Natural Deodorant. Regardless of how, I smell pretty good these days - there's a positive SE!0 -
Of note on the antiperspirant topic - Tom's of Maine mostly sells natural deodorant. They do have one antiperspirant but it does contain aluminum-chlorohydrate which is basically recycled aluminum...yuck!! If your body got a reaction from antiperspirants before a cancer diagnosis (which mine did) you will get the same reaction from Tom's Antiperspirant. Primal Pit Paste is a great natural deodorant but they do not sell antiperspirant. The body does basically need to sweat which is natural!! 😏. Where sweat gets a bad rap is when it smells bad which is caused by bacteria. A good natural deodorant will stop that bad smell in its tracks and cause no adverse reactions
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I use Arm & Hammer Essentials deodorant. No aluminum, no parabens. Natural deordorizers. Not an antiperspirant. but it works well.
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Hi, this is actually a question but even a rant. I am sorry. I would not be asking or even acknowledging this feeling if it would not have been so overwhelming.
I wonder whether Taxol can cause depression and if anyone has been on anti-depressive during treatment? I noticed already last week that I was depressed Tursday-Sunday. Monday I had the next infusion and concentrated mostly on how I handled the SE, but this Thursday it started again and it has been really tough. I still tried to handle it and took a pill of oxazepam substance once a day when it really was like I cannot do it anymore. It is an anxiety medication I got prescribed but it helped only for a few hours and then everything started again. Today I woke up early in the morning and really tried to breathe and tell myself that everything was going to be ok but it just got worse. I had no appetite, we went to the forest and it was beautiful but I was really fighting this feeling that all my struggles are in vain, that I do not belong here anymore and my family, they belong to the future that I no longer have and I will just feel miserable until everything will be over and it could take long time and all this time I will feel like this and I really cannot do it anymore. It is like two different voices in my head trying to convince me what to do. Well it is not like voices but I either think one thing or another. I told my husband that I was basically well considering a pretty rough stuff and he said I need to start with anti-depressive because they do not know how they can help me anymore. Then he went to pick the youngest from her training and I felt so bad that I just took another pill, slept a little bit and then told my husband my thoughts and called a mobile psychiatric unity, got a doctor appointment next week and was told to call them whether I will feel like this again.
I was wondering whether anyone else felt this despair during treatment? Because when I started I was not doing well, but who does in this situation, but I was at least determined to go along with the treatment because I want to be here for my family and these thoughts of ending it all up just sneaked upon me and I wonder whether it is Taxol causing them and what can I do to get rid of them?
I am sorry for the rant again, it has been really tough today and I have infusion tomorrow and my husband is worried.
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HapB, this is so hard, I was fighting the anti-depressive offer for so long but now I feel that they can talk to each other my doctors and decide what I can take, I do not even know whether you can have anti-depressive while on chemo. But I cannot fix it on my own and I guess I do not worry about the addiction anymore. It feels like failure but I has been too much.
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Cherry,
As HapB wrote, get to your doctor ASAP.
Your medical team can prescribe meds for you to deal immediately with your depression (or diagnosis what you are experiencing) and something for long term.
Hang in there. One day this will be in your rear view mirror.
Hugs your way,
Vicky
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Thank you coachvicky and HapB, I will talk to the doctor in the treatment center tomorrow and will ask them to pass the message to my oncologist and will see the psychiatrist on Wednesday. I can also imagine staying on oxazepam since it is not causing any SE except for addiction and then after treatment switch to anti-depressive but it has to be something I feel because I cannot control it anymore and I need to calm myself down because according to my PT the stress is one of causes of my upper back pain and my muscles ties, I am just so tense all the time.
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For whatever it's worth: I have been on two antidepressants for at least ten years already. I started them well before my March 2017 cancer diagnosis. However, in my case they are used to treat fibromyalgia. They are amitryptiline (brand name Elavil) and fluoxetine (brand name Prozac) and they help calm down my nerves so I can sleep at night. I completed six rounds of chemo with no ill effects related to my continued use of these two drugs.
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KB870, I have bursted into tears everywhere I have been so far. On Friday I cried at counsel office first, right after it at the PT office and right after at dietitian's, all ladie sit on the same floor. I am a real mess, but today was not so good, I do not want to feel like this again, it was like I lost completely. I was afraid to take anti-depressive because it takes like two weeks until you adjust and those two weeks can be pretty harsh and I am already having so much in my system so I hope they have some long term suggestion.
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Hi all,
I don't post that much because I think I'm still sort of in shock. I've been very positive and tried hard not to let BC break me down, but last night out of the blue I started crying when a song came on. It's like everything is just below the surface. I've been on anti-depressants for many years, and that's probably holding me together somewhat.
On Wednesday I'm having the catheter placed for brachytherapy, and my radiation will be Friday-Thursday. Ironically, my birthday is Wednesday...but it's really the least of my concerns. On 10/5 I'm having an EKG (standard baseline before chemo?), and on 10/12 I'm having a chemo education class. Still waiting for my port placement appointment. Chemo will start 10/26.
I think everything is just now beginning to hit me.
Thanks for letting me vent.
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Dannajae, it seems we are at the same point, just posted about it before you. I still do not have any anti-depressives but feeling that it is time for me. This is a very normal reaction, it is tough on everybody.
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Thank you AliceAgnes, Prozac is a serotonin intake inhibitor, I believe I can take it. Any SE of Prozac?
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HapB,
My husband is taking me out the night before to dinner.
I'm just not that focused this year. My daughter noticed that I've recently begun forgetting everything. I think I'm hyper-focused on myself and distracted about everything else.Thanks, Cherry. My antidepressants are for a chronic condition, but they can be very effective for circumstantial life events.
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Cherry I am on antidepressants and gues what...they work😊
Please do not wait another day. You will feel much better
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Happy Birthday, Dannajae!
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wabals, I bet they do. Did you started those while in treatment? I see you did not do chemo, I guess it was because of the size. Did you have any adjustment period when you started? Was it hard, how long did it take till you felt good?
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Happy Birthday, Dannajea!
All,
I am both happy and sad to read these posts confronting our mental / emotional states. Happy that we feel safe to talk about this. Sad that this happens to any of us.
I encourage everyone to let your Medical Team know know you are feeling. Make sure you get the right diagnosis. Is it depression or anxiety or PTSD? Is it physical such as low iron and fatigue?
I have shared before that I knew something was off in me but I also did not feel depressed.
Getting the prescription for PTSD really got me back on track and focused. My Oncology Team had never considered PTSD!!! It was my Primary Care listening to me and getting me someone to talk with got the right diagnosis.
This is a very informative article: http://www.breastcancer.org/research-news/many-wom...
Also, it will get better. It just takes time. Be easy on yourselves.
Love to you all,
Vicky
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Cherry, I personally have had no side effects from Prozac ever. I began taking it when I was in my 50s, and I am 64 now.
WebMD is a good site for general medical information. Possible side effects are listed in the link I will post at the end of this. Curiously, sleeplessness is one possible side effect, but this drug is actually what HELPS me sleep.
http://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-1774-95/fluoxetine-oral/fluoxetine-oral/details#side-effects
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Cherry, I'm sorry you are so down lately. I think I shared with you before your chemo began that I was in a funk in the middle of my 12 weeks of taxol. An antidepressant (Citrolopam) helped me enormously. I felt the positive effect within a few days and no SEs. As others have said, I think feeling this way is completely normal during a BC treatment and while our bodies are rocking from chemo drugs. Hang in there until your doctor's appointments this week! Post again and let us know how you are doing!
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Backstory: Last week I got the results of some blood work ordered by a neurologist who was assessing my annoying but not painful neuropathy prior to chemo and weirdly enough I turned up positive for a specific autoimmune disease and a B12 deficiency. Other than said neuropathy I have no symptoms of anything. I feel FINE and I would really appreciate it if doctors would stop finding things wrong with me.
Anyway, because of this I have become hyper-aware of every little thing going on in my body. (I swear that I FELT my fingernail break yesterday...) Anyway, long story short, I discovered that my throat hurt on one side because I have a something in the area of my thyroid that hurt, and now hurts like crazy, probably because of poking and prodding it.
I see my MO tomorrow - FINALLY. Would it be prudent to mention this to her and perhaps ask her to also poke on it? Or will she throw me out of the office for complicating my already complicated treatment plsn
I'm starting to feel as if I'm the main character in a Choose Your Own Adventure...
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I would have her look at it. Part-way through my chemo, I thought something was wrong in my throat area, too. It turned out to be nothing, but my oncologist in no way made me feel stupid for bringing it up.
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cherry, I began taking Prozac and Ativan 3 weeks ago. I was having panic attacks to the point of hyperventilating and major anger and despair issues and I honestly don't think they would have gotten me in the chemo chair last week without the Drugs. This is the second time in my life I've taken anti depressants and I had no issues stopping them the last time, so think I will be ok discontinuing them once this nightmare is over.
It took 3 days of feeling dizzy before the Prozac started working the way it's supposed to. I'm still angry but I haven't had any panic attacks like I was before. My anger is now a sort of simmering and even though I still despise chemo and everything it is doing to me and my family, I am accepting it. I'm also doing guided meditation and speaking with a counselor who is helping me deal with the emotions.
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cherry,
My AI (Aromasin) was giving me mood swings, big time. I was really missing my estrogen. My MO prescribed Celexa and I've been feeling awesome ever since. I never thought I'd take an anti-depressant, but I wasn't going to do 5 - 10 years of an A and feel like crap the whole time. I don't really have any side-effects from the Celexa.
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About the deodorant, I have used MoM (Milk of Magnesia) deodorant and did not have any BO or irritation. The roll on is a bit expensive but, you can buy empty roll on bottles and fill it with regular Milk of Magnesia. You can even apply it with cotton balls BUT, it is very messy to do it this way. I didn't like Tom's of Maine, the smell was too strong.
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Happy birthday Dannajae - you must celebrate your special day!
Cherry and Danna, I agree with Hapb, Coach Vicky and others - talk to your team and try antidepressants. Cherry I'm so glad you have an appointment. All the meds and AI mess with our hormones and body chemistry so we need help balancing things out. I took an antidepressant for mood swings when I started menopause. I was too proud initially thinking I could manage without drugs but I was miserable and so was everyone around me. Once I started the Prozac I felt a million times better. I wouldn't hesitate to take them again.
Hang in there, sending hugs0 -
Elaine, good to know about the Celexa - I have not heard of that one. I might talk to my MO if my anxiety continues. I'm glad it's working for you and no side
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CoachVicky, a wonderful and supportive post. I wonder about PTSD in myself and didn't realize there could be a slightly different prescription to help? Apparently PTSD is experienced by most people with bc. I was on Citalopram and weaned off in the Spring. I am now pondering if I should have.
There is no timeline to this: the cancer radio station still plays 24 hours a day in my head.
I just finished a dragon boat season with 20 other bc gals. This has been so important to my physical rehab as well as my mental state. The oldest on our team is in her 70's, the youngest is 25. Surround yourselves with as much love and support as you can get and are comfortable with. It can't take away that there was a diagnosis and it can't take away all fear. But these kinds of things - in addition to meds and time - are vital.
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