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Old 11-13-2007, 03:32 AM   #1
R.B.
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Thank you for those links FauxGypsy.

I searched and there a quite a few books on the subject.

There are not enough hours in the day to read it all.

Please do not loose sight of the fact that DHA is essential to brain function and structure -and its presence in involved in a host of consequent pathways which interlink into behaviour mood and outlook.

RB
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Old 11-13-2007, 07:59 AM   #2
Hopeful
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Interesting. I was on Paxil from 1995 to 2000; started at a high dose, but gradually reduced it until I wound up on very low dose, 2 mg. per day for 4 of the 5 years. It did nothing for my depression at any level, but the very low dose was an excellent anti-anxiety drug for me, and the anxiety reduction worked indirectly to allow the depression to lift. Even after the dx of bc in 2006, I am pretty much anxiety free (as much as any of us can be)and take no meds.

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Old 11-13-2007, 11:55 AM   #3
suzan w
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I was on paxil from 1993-2001 and it was a miracle drug for me as far as depression goes. Interesting thread and I always wonder about what triggers cancer cells...
6 months before my diagnosis I went through a really high stress period of time and wonder if that had anything to do with it!
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Suzan W.
age 54 at diagnosis
5/05 suspicious mammogram-left breast
5/05 biopsy-invasive lobular carcinoma with LCIS,8mm tumor,stage 1 grade 2, ER+ PR+ Her2+++
6/14/05 bilateral mastectomy, node neg. all scans neg.
Oncotype DX-high risk
8/05-10/05 4 rounds A/C
10/05 -10/06 1 yr. herceptin
arimidex-5 years
2/14/08 started daily self administered injections..FORTEO for severe osteoporosis
7/28/09 BRCA 1 negative BRCA2 POSITIVE
8/17/09 prophylactic salpingo-oophorectomy
10/15/10 last FORTEOinjection
RECLAST infusion(ostoeporosis)
6/14/10 5 year cancerversary!
8/2010-18%increase in bone density!
no further treatments
Oncologist says, "Go do the Happy Dance"
I say,"What a long strange trip its been"
'One day at a time'
6-14-2015. 10 YEAR CANCERVERSARY!
7-16 to 9-16. Extensive (and expensive) dental work done to save teeth. Damage from osteoporosis and chemo and long term bisphosphonate use
6-14-16. 11 YEAR CANCERVERSARY!!
7-20-16 Prolia injection for severe osteoporosis
2 days later, massive hive outbreak. This led to an eventual dx of Chronic Ideopathic Urticaria, an auto-immune disease from HELL.
6-14-17 12 YEAR CANCERVERSARY!!
still suffering from CIU. 4 hospitilizations in the past year

as of today, 10-31-17 in remission from CIU and still, CANCER FREE!!!
6-14-18 13 YEAR CANCERVERSARY!! NED!!
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Old 11-13-2007, 12:10 PM   #4
Cannon
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Correlation does not equal cause-effect

And, I'm sure I'm pointing out the obvious -- so many people take antidepressants these days that I'm not sure there's even a correlation between that and breast cancer (the rate of which has been declining [post-menopausal] or steady [pre-menopausal]).
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Dx 8/06 Age 43 Stage IIIA multifocal throughout breast, largest tumor 5 cm, grade 3, comedo, ER+PR+HER+++
Neoadjuvant A/C 4X Dose Dense
11/06 Bilateral Mastectomy (no choice on the right, my choice on the left)
Taxol+Herceptin weekly x12, continuing with Herceptin, finished one year in 12/07
33 Rads
Femara for 5+ years, staying on (started with Arimidex, switched after about a month, much happier)
Abnormal brain MRI shows no cancer, but "extensive white matter diease" - unknown cause
BRCA negative - lots of cancer in my family
survivor of thyroid cancer
also have Crohn's disease
CT and bone scan say NED as of 5/13
dx with severe cardiomyopathy 5/12 (likely due to chemo and Herceptin), ejection fraction in low 20's, now up to 40, went to 50, latest read 12/13 is back down to 35
1/13 Acute pancreatitis - are you kidding me?
9/13 started Humira for Crohn's. starting to have some energy again
B12 and Vit D both needed supplementation
Cataracts in both eyes noted 6/12 - surgery in the next 2-4 years?
4/14 Kidney stones/blockage/infection - related to Crohn's Disease
5/14 My aunt passed away - she was diagnosed after I was with Stage I - not Her2+, then Stage 4 for about one year
6/14 Scans - still NED, thank God. However, broken rib (I didn't notice) lots of bone degeneration osteopenia/osteoporosis. I also still have cardiomyopathy secondary to chemo.
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Old 11-13-2007, 01:41 PM   #5
Andrea Barnett Budin
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Exclamation More Power To You

Wow Leslie! You have given us all many gifts since you first joined this group. And THIS POST HAS BLOWN ME AWAY! Thank you, my sweet friend... Hope you'll all read Leslie's links! They are phenomenal!

Ladies, Sisters, and Gentleman, my Brothers -- YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM IS LISTENING TO YOUR MENTAL CHATTER AT EVERY MOMENT!

How you think determines how you will feel -- and how you will fare!!

YOU are the Master of your immune system! A good attitude, far beyond a brave face, but deep KNOWING of your abilities to attain your desired outcome, is achieved in many positive ways.

Yes, you must not deny your bitter, angry, resentful, blaming, unforgiving, remorseful, sorrowful, outraged, anxious, uncertain, fearful thoughts, and the emotions that come along with such dialogue. But YOU NEED NOT BE VICTIMIZED BY YOUR TAUNTING AND HAUNTING THOUGHTS. You have the power to experience what you are thinking and feeling traumatized over and then to exhale them from your body as you slowly breathe out!

Then, you can REBOOT and author and consciously choose the dialogue you wish to have running in your head throughout the day. This will increase your T-cell effectiveness, increasing NK (natural killer) cell activity, boosting your immune system! Meditation and laughter, love and compassion, generosity of Spirit and humble gratitude for your many blessings, plus awe over the beauty that surrounds us ALL BUFFER AGAINST DISEASE PROGRESSION AND/OR IMMUNE SYSTEM BREAKDOWN, created unwittingly by naturally negative, learned reactions to Life's ordeals and unwanted realities...

We must become aware of BODYMIND feedback, which is an ongoing conversation between your thoughts and emotions and your body and immune system. Gaining control of your thoughts and therefore your emotions and your life -- is personally EMPOWERING beyond your imagination! So, realistically face the traumas you have been burdened with and the feelings such truths imposed on you. Speak of them out loud. Share them. Write them down. And in so doing, cathartically HEAL them and yourself!!

Become aware of the interaction between mental and emotional states, your immune systems function and ultimately your health! The birth of neuroscientists and their findings are LIFE ALTERING! Chemicals in your body form a dybnamic network of connection between the mind and the body. Researchers now speak of the BODYMIND -- seeing there is not a clear distinction between the body and the mind! THIS IS A REVOLUTIONARY ADVANCEMENT IN MEDICINE AND HEALING!!

Meditation = decreased blood levels of stress hormones! Now provable! Every part of the immune system connects to the brain in some way. In sensitivity to chemicals secreted in the brain, stemming from our response to our mental/emotional processes. Moods and feelings impact our physicality...

What happens in the mind, and our emotional reaction to our perception, can have real effects on our physiology and physical response (including of course, our immune system)! This is not new, but ancient wisdom reawakened. We can view it in the twenty first century with newly available scientific investigation and fresh understanding, in psychoneurological terms!

Lingering unresolved emotions, and old, inflexible ways of coping, can become the source of chronic stress. And this can undermine immune system function. Pre-existing bilogic/genetic conditions can become aroused in such an internal environment.

States of mind affect our health, hamstringing our body's ability to resist dysfunction. I see cancer as a malfunction of cells, overproducing and overexpressing themselves ad nauseum.

Please, DO NOT LOOK AT THIS AS MAKING US A *VICTIM* OF CIRCUMSTANCE, BUT RATHER THAT WE ARE EACH THEREFORE *EMPOWERED* (once we become aware of the internal and connected processes of our being) -- TO CREATE NEW HEALTHY! WE HAVE THE POWER TO ENHANCE PATTERNS OF THINKING AND BEHAVIOR -- WITH CLEAR AND IMPASSIONED FOCUS, INTENTION AND EXPECTATION. We must see that it is essential to shift our focus from uncertainty, fear, anxiety and uncertainty -- toward living fully in the moment, embracing the day and experiencing the joy and serenity that come with the KNOWING we can manifest our most deeply desired dreams! This is how miracles are born... TO YOUR HEALTH, HAPPINESS AND HARMONY, MY SWEET SISTERS AND BROTHERS... With much love,
Andi

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Andi BB
'95 post-meno dx Invasive LOBULAR w/9cm tumor! YIKES + 2/21 nodes. Clear mammo 10 mnths earlier. Mastec/tram flap reconst/PORT/8 mnths chemo (4Adria/8CMF). Borderline ER/PR. Tamoxifen 2 yrs. Felt BLESSED. I could walk and talk, feed and bathe myself! I KNEW I would survive...

'98 -- multiple mets to liver. HER2+ 80%. ER/PR- Raging, highly aggressive tumors spreading fast. New PORT. 9 mnths Taxotere Fought fire w/fire! Pronounced in cautious remission 5/99. Taxotere weekly for 6 wks, 2 wks off -- for 9 mnths. TALK ABOUT GRUELING! (I believe they've altered that protocol since those days -- sure hope so!!)
+ good old Vit H wkly for 1st 3 yrs, then triple dosage ev 3 wks for 7 yrs more... The "easy" chemo, right?! Not a walk in the park, but not a freight train coming at 'ya either...

Added Herceptin Nov '98 (6 wks after FDA fast-tracked it for met bc). Stayed w/Vit H till July '08! Now I AM FREE! Humbly and eternally grateful for this life-saving drug! NED since '99 and planning on keeping it that way. To hell w/poor prognosis and nasty stats! STOPPED VIT H JULY '08...! REMAIN STABLE... Eternally grateful...Yes is a world & in this world of yes live (skillfully curled) all worlds ... (e e cummings) EVERY DAY I BEAT MY PREVIOUS RECORD FOR # OF CONSECUTIVE DAYS I'VE STAYED ALIVE. Smile KNOWING you too can be a miracle. Up to me and God now...
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Old 11-13-2007, 05:30 PM   #6
Donna
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Let me count the ways.....

Oh yeah - name an antidepressant and I have been on it - I am pretty sure there isn't one I have missed over the years. Each one seemed to give me a new "something" like lexapro turned me into a shopaholic, one combo made me bipolar - what an adventure - trying to get better only to have some new thing to cope with. I was completely off of them for about a year before BC diagnosis - then when I was almost through with rads I just felt that black cloud descending again and I am back on effexor again.

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Old 11-20-2007, 05:32 PM   #7
Carol H.
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Don't remind me....

This brought back memories of my awful panic attacks that I was having 10 years ago. Celexa worked great for two years and then I had to switch to paxil 10mg. I have been on the paxil for 8 yrs now and I'm afraid to stop taking it of fear I will fall back into a deep dark hole again. Just think, not that many years ago without anti-depressants we would have been put in mental hospitals. No matter what, I'm not giving up my pills, I like being normal and happy. Carol H.
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Carol H., Florida
Right Breast 11-28-06
Lumpectomy
Infiltrating Carcinoma
Stage 1
Grade 11
1.5 cm
Sentinel Lymph Node Neg.
ER-
PR-
Her2+
Fish 2.5 Amplied
KI-67 20%
Radiation= 6 weeks
Refused Chemo & Herceptin
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Old 11-14-2007, 07:52 PM   #8
weezie1053
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I took Paxil for about 3 years starting in 1997. I took myself off as stress in my life lessened. My gyn nurse practioner put me on Lexapro several years later, and then I again weaned myself off. I had been off Lexapro several years when I was diagnosed with BC. I am, once again, on Lexapro. Seems like I had more problems handling the day to day crisis later in my treatment than the earlier stages. As I look back, it was probably due more to fatigue and not being able to juggle 10 balls in the air as everybody was accustomed to me doing.
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  • Diagnosis 06/06 - Stage II-A BC; BC was 2.5 cm, grade 2; ER/PR negative & HER-2/neu positive;
  • Mastectomy w/ reconstruction (implant) in 09/06;lymph nodes - negative;
  • AC/Cytoxin combo - 4 treatments (dose dense);
  • Taxol/Herceptin combo- 12 weekly treatments;
  • Completed chemo - 2/07; completed restruction 02/07; reduction of left breast.
  • BRCA 1 and 2 negative - 6/15/07;DX high risk for distant recurrence
  • MRI, 08/02/07 - NED
  • 1 year Anniversary - 09/07; completed Herceptin 11/07.
  • Mammo 02/14/08 - NED; MRI - 08/2008 - NED
  • 2 year Anniversary - 09/08
  • Mammo 02/09 - NED; MRI - 08/09 - NED
  • 3rd year Anniversary - 09/09
  • 5th Annivery - 09/2011 - NED
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