depressed: aniti-depressent and tamoxifen

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pratt
pratt Member Posts: 16
in Breast Cancer #1
Did you know that there are alot of common antidepressents that stop or alter the way tamoxifen works. Proaz is one of them. I found this info on the internet after 5 months of being on both. I had to tell my oncologist. She switched my prozac to effexor.
Has anyone else gotten depressed and need to take medication.

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  • Lynn Smith
    Lynn Smith Member Posts: 1,264 Member
    #2
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    I was told to take antidepressent
    I was told by all my doctors to take something.I went to my family doctor.She prescribed Paxil.I go online and saw where that med contradicts the tamoxifn.I saw my oncologist.She said "Go back to your family doctor and tell her to put your on something else".She gave me effexor but I didn't take it.I hate being weaned off this antidepressents and other meds.I have a heart problem that causes my heart to race and when I quit drinking caffeine pop my body was out of sorts.

    It just After take these med and IF you ever want to go off you MUST be weaned.You can't just quit but who is to know if you still don't have problems.I never thought I would go through what I did going off Caffeine pop. It was horrible.

    I assume they said go off the one but you are jumping right into another. That should'nt be a problem.

    My friend (cancer survivor) and I are about to break down and take something.She doesn't want to get hooked either and be weaned but life can be hard. She has heart problems too.

    Lynn Smith
  • CypressCynthia
    CypressCynthia Member Posts: 4,014 Member
    #3
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    Lynn Smith said:

    I was told to take antidepressent
    I was told by all my doctors to take something.I went to my family doctor.She prescribed Paxil.I go online and saw where that med contradicts the tamoxifn.I saw my oncologist.She said "Go back to your family doctor and tell her to put your on something else".She gave me effexor but I didn't take it.I hate being weaned off this antidepressents and other meds.I have a heart problem that causes my heart to race and when I quit drinking caffeine pop my body was out of sorts.

    It just After take these med and IF you ever want to go off you MUST be weaned.You can't just quit but who is to know if you still don't have problems.I never thought I would go through what I did going off Caffeine pop. It was horrible.

    I assume they said go off the one but you are jumping right into another. That should'nt be a problem.

    My friend (cancer survivor) and I are about to break down and take something.She doesn't want to get hooked either and be weaned but life can be hard. She has heart problems too.

    Lynn Smith

    Effexor is the best choice
    Effexor is the best choice when taking tamoxifen. Here uis an article from Harvard showing which antidepressants interfere with tamoxifen:

    Tamoxifen and Antidepressants
  • poplolly
    poplolly Member Posts: 346
    #4
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    I take prilosec but I didn't
    I take prilosec but I didn't have to take tamoxifen. My cancer is triple-negative and doesn't respond to that drug.
  • CypressCynthia
    CypressCynthia Member Posts: 4,014 Member
    #5
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    poplolly said:

    I take prilosec but I didn't
    I take prilosec but I didn't have to take tamoxifen. My cancer is triple-negative and doesn't respond to that drug.

    Prilosec is not an
    Prilosec is not an antidepressant. It is used for heartburn/GERD issues.
  • pratt
    pratt Member Posts: 16
    #6
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    Lynn Smith said:

    I was told to take antidepressent
    I was told by all my doctors to take something.I went to my family doctor.She prescribed Paxil.I go online and saw where that med contradicts the tamoxifn.I saw my oncologist.She said "Go back to your family doctor and tell her to put your on something else".She gave me effexor but I didn't take it.I hate being weaned off this antidepressents and other meds.I have a heart problem that causes my heart to race and when I quit drinking caffeine pop my body was out of sorts.

    It just After take these med and IF you ever want to go off you MUST be weaned.You can't just quit but who is to know if you still don't have problems.I never thought I would go through what I did going off Caffeine pop. It was horrible.

    I assume they said go off the one but you are jumping right into another. That should'nt be a problem.

    My friend (cancer survivor) and I are about to break down and take something.She doesn't want to get hooked either and be weaned but life can be hard. She has heart problems too.

    Lynn Smith

    Lynn, you are right life can
    Lynn, you are right life can be hard. No one knows how long we are going to be here, and I want to enjoy what live I have. I hate getting off meds too,but I have come to the conclusion that I might just not ever get off them as long as I am feeling ok.
  • pratt
    pratt Member Posts: 16
    #7
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    CypressCynthia said:

    Effexor is the best choice
    Effexor is the best choice when taking tamoxifen. Here uis an article from Harvard showing which antidepressants interfere with tamoxifen:

    Tamoxifen and Antidepressants

    Thank you for the web site
    Thank you for the web site info
  • pratt
    pratt Member Posts: 16
    #8
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    poplolly said:

    I take prilosec but I didn't
    I take prilosec but I didn't have to take tamoxifen. My cancer is triple-negative and doesn't respond to that drug.

    I take prilosec too for my
    I take prilosec too for my stomach. Your cancer was triple-negative so you did not have to take tamoxifen which blocks estrogen. Thanks for the comment
  • Megan M
    Megan M Member Posts: 3,000
    #9
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    CypressCynthia said:

    Effexor is the best choice
    Effexor is the best choice when taking tamoxifen. Here uis an article from Harvard showing which antidepressants interfere with tamoxifen:

    Tamoxifen and Antidepressants

    I knew there were several
    I knew there were several that weren't good to take with Tamoxifen. Thanks for bringing this to our attention again. And, thanks Cynthia for the link!
  • phoenixrising
    phoenixrising Member Posts: 1,508
    #10
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    If you've become depressed
    If you've become depressed while on Tamoxifen try splitting your tablet and taking 1/2 in the morning and 1/2 at night before going on anti-depressants. Worked wonders for me.
    jan

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