TRIPLE POSITIVE GROUP
Comments
-
Camille...
You post was very, very touching on many levels. I'm not surprised that your MO misses you.0 -
Pbrain...
I can second Lago on the sleep issue. It is only now...one year after dx and a month post final herceptin that I have actually slept 6 hours in a row. IMHO lack of sleep has been an underestimated and undereported SE.
Wish I had found this forum and learned about the steroid high earlier. I would have knowN to do my spring cleaning last November !0 -
Hi all, been lurking. I probably have asked this many times, but will again....I'm sure. Today is day 7 post chemo #2. Starting this past Wednesday, and full force yesterday, feelings of depression. Ugg! I hate it! Same time frame as first chemo. It's like I have to mentally claw my way out of it! It's a tad less intense this time. But all I did was cry yesterday. Every little thing, regretting surgery choice, second guessing every decision, and feeling bald and ugly came to the surface. It's frustrating because I am normally not this person. Please tell me it's the chemo meds????I told my MO about it last time, and he didn't seem to concerned. It is scary, because I've known sadness and been able to get through that, but not this gloom that I have felt for a few days after each treatment. Thanks for listening, and any advice or thoughts on this.
0 -
Ms Tori,
I had and sometimes continue to have the same feelings. I think most of us do. Imo It is likely a combination of chemo, hormones, stress, anxiety , fatigue and comfronting the new reality.
I had this discussion last with my mo a month post rads and 10 mos into treatment. I felt that I was in this constant state of hovering between happy gratefulness that I was nearly through and the verge of tears. No in between.
Keep talking to your med about it.0 -
Ms Tori...
There is also a letdown from steroid high...0 -
Ms Tori I bet a lot of it is due to hormones. I think you really need to tell your onc you are SERIOUSLY worried about your mental state. He needs to know how bad it is. This does happen with some women and they do give meds for that if you need it. This isnt' something to be ignored.
0 -
Ashla- thank you so much. I have been feeling alone in this. I think sometimes it is worse than the physical symptoms. I hadn't thought about the let down from the steroids. I will continue to let my MO know. I get the steroids IV Pre chemo, then he is just giving me 1/2 tab a day for 2 days after. So I took that and divided it to extend the let down. I don't get a real steroid high like some do. I still sleep fine after treatment. No surges of energy.
I will call and speak to him. I actually went and spoke to therapist earlier this week.0 -
Lago- I just saw your post. I def will. I am seeing a therapist at VA, but she can't prescribe, so I am set up to see someone who can. Just going off of last two tx's, I do fine up till about 5 days or so after each chemo, then boom! Depressed. Then I climb out with great difficulty and do okay. Then repeat. My cycle has been all over the place since August after surgery. I used to very regular. And with this last chemo, I started day after chemo.
0 -
Ms Tori I think this is very common, I don't rememver are u on anti-depressants? U'r dr. probably wasn't that concerned because it's common--and IMO I think Ashla probably has it right after steroids there has to be a let down. But it must be a terrible feeling to cry all the time--I'm sorry u have to have this.
Shikara? I hoped I welcomed u properly, if not I certainly didn't mean to overlook u.
I honestly still feel bad for anyone who isn't close to their families. When my sister got cancer (4 mos after me) I got mad at her and called her a bi*ch cuz she wasn't going to cook specialties for me anymore And we laughed. We are a crazy family and when my brother got it he Said BTW I've got cancer--join the club. And when we're together as a family we never talk about it just silly stuff and laugh about stuff, but when we need each other we're there. So every family has different meanings to theirs and I just always assumed u'r sister was u'r best friend til I got older and my cousin too. I'm sorry for all that don't experience this--it's such an upper that u feel better. But with everything it is what it is and u have to accept it.
0 -
Ms Tori,
Keep the lines of communication on this open with your doctor. I was very fortunate to have gotten through my year of treatments with few unmanageable se's but the psychological effects have been my toughest hurdle.
With me it was a roller coaster. Highs and lows . The most ridiculous stuff could set me off. There are excellent meds available if needed. I'm ready to try them if need be. There is no need for you to suffer.
I read somewhere that nearly 60% of cancer patients have bouts of depression!0 -
0 -
MsTori, I renewed my acquaintance with my shrink in the middle of chemo. I am now on Prozac 40 mg daily. Still under observation if we need to titrate it up. With all the stuff we're going thru, physical, emotional, psychological, it's not hard to understand how we slip into depression. Talk to your MO. Get help whenever you can.
0 -
Thank you for all the support. I have a telephone appointment today at 3 pm with my primary care doctor. And if I get no where, I will call my MO or ask to see therapist. I know this is one area where the VA has improved and on top of things. They had me set up for next week, and changed it to today. I appreciate all of you. I did get up and get a shower and ate a little. Makes me feel semi human.
0 -
MsTori - Glad you are following up on the depression.
PBrain - I started losing my hair on exactly day 15 - on day 14 I pulled on it and maybe a hair or two would come out, sometimes, then on day 15 I pulled on it and got lots of hair each time, so I decided that was the day that it had to go. I'd met so many women that told me that when they started losing their hair, watching it go down the drain, waking with it all over their pillows, finding it everywhere, that's when they started crying, standing there watching it go down the drain :-(. So I decided I wasn't going to "watch" it fall out! It made me feel pretty powerful to just go and shave it off, and I'm so glad that I did.
I didn't have a lot of depression, but I did have unreasonable anger. The joke was to keep forks away from mom because who knew when she'd start stabbing everything in sight. I'd realize that the anger was unreasonable, but still I'd rant, yell, etc.. (really didn't stab anyone with forks). It was like I was watching the whole thing from outside, but if I took an Ativan, poof, it was gone. My oldest daughter would call me every day to check my mood, then remind me to take my ativan. It always seemed to be about two weeks after treatment.
0 -
Doctor's appointment yesterday - it's a cyst in my right (good) breast!!! So much relief...I started to cry. Doctor was so nice he held my hand. But he ordered an ultrasound anyways of the RB. The surgeon I am meeting in a couple of weeks will want to see it anyways because we need to discuss whether I will have a mx or bmx.
LindaKR - I am so with you on the unreasonable anger. I can totally fly off the handle in less than a moment's notice. It's incredible to me.
Question about my treatment: I am almost finished my Taxol and Herceptin treatments (10 of 12 next Monday) but after that I am going to start FEC and they WILL continue the Herceptin during it! Has anyone else had that? I will get FEC on a Monday, Herceptin on a Thursday and then wait three weeks till next treatment...four cycles in all.
0 -
Welcome Shikara. Hope you feel at home here.
MsTori, my SEs always started on day 5 . I think because all the premeds, iv meds, etc, were finally out of my body. Yours seem to be a big deep hole of depression. my doc gave me mefs for my SEs, so make your MO aware if how bad it really is. Good luck. Much love to all.0 -
Thanks Camille. This really did make my day better. Sooo cute. I love doggies..
0 -
Welcome Shikara!
((((MsTori)))) Hope your phone appt goes well.
Cami - Not so funny bunny and the wolf cracked me up!
0 -
foever -that is odd that they are continuing H during FEC - I believe they have done this in a clinical trial (kayb will chime in here) but i did not realize it was being done outside of a trial. Hmmmm interesting. I thought they never gave H with an anthracycline (the E in your fec) - and yeah on it only being a cyst
0 -
Rozem: forgot to tell you that I just found out yesterday that the surgeon that I'm going to meet is Dr. Boileau!
0 -
0 -
0 -
Thank you all for the encouragement and advice. I had a phone appointment with my primary just now and she is going to make notes of our conversation. Since its the VA, she is going to make sure my MO sees the note and consigns off on the note. And they are going to get back to me to see what my MO wants to do. So, I will wait, and I will not dwell on what ifs and wish I wouldn't haves and know that I need to move forward. And....Sol- I will try the omega 3's. wait and see what MO wants to do. I hate the thought of putting even more meds in my body. But I know I can't do this after each chemo. Hopefully it's something in premeds he can adjust or post meds, and it will fix it. I know last time the deep hole lasted I think about 4-5 days. And then I pulled out slowly. This time it's hitting at the same time post chemo and not as strong, but still feeling it today.
0 -
MsTori - I didn't like using all the meds either. However I think we just need to take what we need to take to get through. Once you are done you won't need to anymore. It's a temporary thing.
0 -
Thanks Omaz. Your right. I will see what the MO says. Got to do something. 4 more treatments.
0 -
forever -I have PM'd you
0 -
kayb - I knew someone who called herself a 911 survivor - and would use it in a kind of defiant (?) manner - even though she was in 3,000 miles away in California on 9/11/2011.
MsTori - I've been on antidepressants before and usually had pretty good luck with the lowest dose possible (I have always asked for the lowest dose possible of anything when it comes to those types of meds). One thing I'll mention that you may already be aware of: going into the future, depending on whether or not you end up taking Tamoxifen (from what I understand Tamoxifen or AIs start up after chemo/herceptin are finished) - you may want to look up Wellbutrin and Tamoxifen. Wellbutrin is a bit different than the standard SSRI (a different kind of uptake inhibitor) but it is often offered as an antidepressant. Anyway, I've read that it can possibly lessen the efficacy of Tamoxifen. When I first found the lump I was on Wellbutrin and immediately went off if it based on some comments I read here at breastcancer.org as well as other places on the internet.
Also, I'm not sure if it's been mentioned or not but there's also SAM-E. It can be purchased OTC. I've never researched it in conjunction with breast cancer but perhaps it might be of interest to you considering it's an OTC.
Forever, great news on it being a cyst!
Camillegal, I'm dittoing ashla on this, because she said it so well: "You post was very, very touching on many levels. I'm not surprised that your MO misses you."
===
Also, I read about the experiences some of you have had with family and friends while I was in the hospital (home as of this afternoon) and was just shaking my head...
I'm an only child but I've had some weirdness with my mom throughout the years and there have been times when I thought we were "done" with each other for good. I can't even imagine what it's like to have a sibling but having a sibling that would act like yours did, lago, is just beyond the pale.
My blood pressure had been high in the doctor's office so he had me taking it at home. It was normal at home other than the night when we had the plastic surgeon problems. My point being that it really gave me proof of how our bodies can react to stress. The idea of you being at the beginning of all this (or at ANY point of it) and being under that much familial stress is almost unforgivable, not only from a mental standpoint but from a physical one as well!
Editing to add - thanks to everyone for the words of encouragement while I was in the hospital!!!
0 -
LeeA glad you are home. And KaYB, when you get too far behind Do what I have done and skip a couple of pages, wish everybody well, and continue. The important things will come up again, and we are ALL adults who know life gets very busy, or you end up with family or other emergencies, and WE WILL DEAL. It is not worth stressing out about missing posts. I forgive you ahead of time if you'll forgive me! LOL much love
0 -
Forever, YAY times 1000 on the cyst! I love good news
Ms Tori, I'm with Sol, try some fish oil and another thing to try is vitamin D. I take it all Winter long and it helps me emotionally because it is so grey for months and months in Indianapolis. We get the lake effect clouds and they just don't clear. It has helped me so very much with moods and depression. And really, consider a serotonin reuptake inhibitor. I responded so much better to the old class of drugs (Paxil) than the newer ones I was on (Celexa then Lexapro). The newer ones did nothing for treating my anxiety, but the Paxil has been a godsend and I seriously think it is why I've gotten through menopause (2 years without a period) with absolutely few to no hot flashes. Remember though, they are hard to go off of, but you can do it when you are feeling better. I'm glad you are getting talk therapy too. That will help.
Lee welcome home! YAY! You are a tropper.
So today I had my first chemo. I'm tired from no sleep last night, but I zonked during the Herceptin load (90 minutes) and that felt good. I love me some benadryl! I was like David after the dentist and was asking my friends who'd stop by for lunch why they had 4 eyes.
I hear I should be feeling ok tomorrow and we are supposed to have a nice day, so I'm going to plant bulbs. But after that, I think I'll be wailing on this board. Nice healthy, pretty complete blood count today. So we will see what exactly the taxotere has in store. ugh....
I love this board!
0 -
Good job pbrain! Keep up the fluids, eat small but often.
0
