need names of some meds

johnnybegood

i go for my #2 tomarrow of oxy and 5fu.i am going to make a list of meds to ask my onc about for the side effects.i am doing the zofran for naseau but i only took it when i thought i needed it.this next time i will take it every 4 hours as directed to stay ahead of it.also i know some of you take antidepresiants.im really having a hard time coping with this part of my journey,im going to talk to my onc about it but if anybody could give me some sugesstions on what helps them get thru this.i know she is the doctor but what is good for one person may also be good for another.thanks and Godbless.....johnnybegood

Annabelle41415

Medicine
The one pill I take (when I remember) is Ativan and I take .5 mg one or two times a day. This is for anxiety so it is different than an antidepressant drug. It helps me relieve some of the stress. I cannot take Paxil or anything related to the antidepressant type of drug because I am highly allergic to them. I also take Ambien at night because I can't sleep.

Kim

msccolon

medicines
I haven't had to take any anti-depressants; I also take Ativan occasionally for anxiety and sleepless nights. However, there are others who have used anti-depressants with great success. I would ask my onc for a referral to a good psychiatrist with experience with cancer survivors.
mary

PamPam2

A lot of the people who take
A lot of the people who take something at my onc. office take effexor (sp?) I guess it is a milder antidepressent. I myself take zanex for anxiety and ambien for sleep. Talk with your doctor for sure, they know which ones work best with your chemo. Hope you get something that will ease things for you.
Pam

Buzzard

PamPam2 said:

A lot of the people who take
A lot of the people who take something at my onc. office take effexor (sp?) I guess it is a milder antidepressent. I myself take zanex for anxiety and ambien for sleep. Talk with your doctor for sure, they know which ones work best with your chemo. Hope you get something that will ease things for you.
Pam

Anti depressant......
You have neuro transmitters in your brain that send out emotional signals to your inner self to cry, laugh, smile etc. When you are down about something for a prolonged period of time they can actually shutdown , not allowing you to feel good about anything..... I was taking Compazine for nausea but Compazine works through the neuro-transmitters so it never worked for me because mine had shutdown. I felt down all the time, crying, etc. I went and had my Dr prescribe me "Flourextine"..actually its Prozac in 10 mg tablets and I started off with those once a day. I got to where I didn't dwell on it near as much and started feeling a lot better about my predicament. It actually gets the neuro-transmitters working again....It has helped me tremendously...I got off of them for a while but then after starting to feel bad again returned to them....it took about 2 weeks to really feel a difference but it sure helped me a lot, ask my wife !!!

As far as nausea meds here in order is how they got them for me...Compazine, Zofran, Anzemet, Emend......Emend was the best of all but I still had nausea....until the oxaliplatin was removed the last 2 treatments........

PhillieG

Meds to become NEDs
Hi JohnnyBGoode,
Sorry that you are going through this but I have found that one is so much better off by utilizing meds to help one to cope with all of our situations. I've known people who toughed it out and took no pain or mood medication. I started taking them about 2-3 months after getting "the news". I tried one of the popular ones for depression but it didn't work for me. Instead of being NED, I got a visit from his cousin ED (if you catch my drift...) So I tried 100mg of Zolft which works differently and I've had no problem with ED and it has helped me cope very well. I've been taking that for over 4 years. For a while I lowered the dose down to 50mg per day. Over the past 2-3 months though, I've added 100 mg of Wellbutrin. After a while the body builds a resistance or a tolerance for the medication and Wellbutrin works very well as a of sorts with the Zoloft. BTW, it's also used to help people quit smoking cigarettes with very good results. I know someone who takes Lexipro and another who takes Effexor and they too had good results. Again, it's all chemistry really when you think about it. Getting back in balance.

I also use an anti-anxiety pill called Xanax (pronounced as Zanax). That is very good (and common) as a good anti-anxiety medication. And, I feel this is VERY important, if possible, see/talk with a therapist. That has helped tremendously. One's life changes in so many ways from how we deal with ourselves and our "new normals", to dealing with family members and how they are taking things. It's rough on everyone as I'm sure you know. I also find there are work issues that come up too. All around I feel it's a very important thing to do in conjunction with taking meds.

As far as nausea is concerned, pot is the winner hands down. It's been used for thousands of years and it really works wonderfully for appetite and general mood as well. My doc and the nurses know and many of the patients use it. It just happens to be illegal in 41(?) states I think. There are also many pharmaceuticals around as I'm sure you've read. I tried many of them and they were not right for me.

Best of luck to you Johnny, it's good to go to these meetings prepared. My brother always comes with me for the real important appointments like getting scan results. He used to bring his iPod that had a recording feature on it. Now I bring my Sansa Clip that has a voice recorder as an MP3 player built in. I find it helpful to have it recorded so you can play it back in case you missed * something.
-phil

* look for post on memory

johnnybegood

PhillieG said:

Meds to become NEDs
Hi JohnnyBGoode,
Sorry that you are going through this but I have found that one is so much better off by utilizing meds to help one to cope with all of our situations. I've known people who toughed it out and took no pain or mood medication. I started taking them about 2-3 months after getting "the news". I tried one of the popular ones for depression but it didn't work for me. Instead of being NED, I got a visit from his cousin ED (if you catch my drift...) So I tried 100mg of Zolft which works differently and I've had no problem with ED and it has helped me cope very well. I've been taking that for over 4 years. For a while I lowered the dose down to 50mg per day. Over the past 2-3 months though, I've added 100 mg of Wellbutrin. After a while the body builds a resistance or a tolerance for the medication and Wellbutrin works very well as a of sorts with the Zoloft. BTW, it's also used to help people quit smoking cigarettes with very good results. I know someone who takes Lexipro and another who takes Effexor and they too had good results. Again, it's all chemistry really when you think about it. Getting back in balance.

I also use an anti-anxiety pill called Xanax (pronounced as Zanax). That is very good (and common) as a good anti-anxiety medication. And, I feel this is VERY important, if possible, see/talk with a therapist. That has helped tremendously. One's life changes in so many ways from how we deal with ourselves and our "new normals", to dealing with family members and how they are taking things. It's rough on everyone as I'm sure you know. I also find there are work issues that come up too. All around I feel it's a very important thing to do in conjunction with taking meds.

As far as nausea is concerned, pot is the winner hands down. It's been used for thousands of years and it really works wonderfully for appetite and general mood as well. My doc and the nurses know and many of the patients use it. It just happens to be illegal in 41(?) states I think. There are also many pharmaceuticals around as I'm sure you've read. I tried many of them and they were not right for me.

Best of luck to you Johnny, it's good to go to these meetings prepared. My brother always comes with me for the real important appointments like getting scan results. He used to bring his iPod that had a recording feature on it. Now I bring my Sansa Clip that has a voice recorder as an MP3 player built in. I find it helpful to have it recorded so you can play it back in case you missed * something.
-phil

* look for post on memory

thanks
thank you everyone i wrote all of these down and will run them by her[onc]and see what happens.you all have and /or are still going thru this and all these meds are confusing to me.i hear ya phil and before this is all over i may just take you up on the nausea problem thanks again and Godbless.....johnnybegood