Antidepressant

funnygurl said:

antidepressants
I was on an anti depressant when I went through cancer 9 years ago. I could not do estrogen replacement due to family history of breast cancer and had been controlling hot flashes with a couple of herbal medications for several years. When I was diagnosed and told I had to have surgery I realized I had to get off of them because one of them was a blood thinner. I told my dr I needed to get off my "snake oil" and did she have something else that had no estrogen in it for the symptoms of menopause. She offered me 2 drugs. One was a high blood pressure pill and the other an anti-depressant that had been found to inadvertantly control hot flashes. I told her I would try the anti-depressant. It was a very good thing. It controlled my symptoms of menopause and got me through my 2 surgeries and a permanent colostomy unscathed. I was on a low dose of Venlafaxin and it was the best idea I ever had. I am off of it now and able to live happily ever after.

Your Dr is a jerk. Hontestly, if I could I would tell him that to his face! If he were in your positon he would be the worse weenie in the waiting room. I was once in a dental office having my teeth cleaned. One of the dentists was having a filling or some other very minor procedure done. You would have thought it was brain surgery. I finally yelled across the partition--relax grasshopper your dentist knows what she is doing! He was a good boy after that. I also have a friend who is a nurse. While rcovering from hip surgery she turned into a paranoid, demanding hypochondriac. She phoned me constantly to complain about everyone and everything while she was in the hospital. I also knew a doctor whose response to a pancreatic cancer diagnosis was to immediately commit suicide. Not exactly inspiring examples of professionals handling adversity well I think.

I just happened to see your post because my friend was just told she has esophageal cancer and I was doing some research. I am a colorectal cancer survivor. However, in my experience cancer is cancer and it is scarey no matter what they call it.

tmcjay said:

Antidepressants
HI Judy,
Just want to clarify that lorazepam {valuim} is not an antidepressant but rather a sedative. It is helpful to treat anxiety but here in Canada you have to fight for them as they are addictive and docs are reluctant to prescribe it long term. Antidepressants are not addictive and are prescribed long term. The one I take is Cipralex which is especially geared towards treating anxiety, and yes they do help. They don't start working right away and if you have severe side effects then you are on the wrong one and should switch to another type. There are many different ones out there that your doctor will have knowledge of. I also take lorazepam occasionally and they do help alot when the anxiety is overwhelming even with the Cipralex, but each time I have my prescription refilled I have to argue my case to the doc. My view is.... I have stage 3 esophagus cancer, kidney cancer and you're worried about me getting addicted to lorzepam when I take less than prescribed. Give me a break. ....and they refill them. Hope this helps.