anti-depressants & breast cancer

[Joanne S]

Ladies,

Did you take anti-depressants at any time prior to being diagnosed with breast cancer?

If so, please respond and advise how long were you taking them before your bc dx?

I'm just curious and wonder if anti-depressants may possibly have any effect or increase risk for breast cancer.

Thanks for your response.

I have been on Zoloft continuously for 14 years (13 years prior to my bc dx one year ago).
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[Vanessa]

I have been on antidepressants since I was 35 and I am now 47. I have taken Prozac, Zoloft, Effexor, Celexa and Lexapro. Of course, not at one time, but trying to find one that didn't make me gain weight. I'm glad you started this post, because I have wondered about that at times.

[Kimberly Lewis]

I am currently on Zoloft. Low dose - but decided to take this time to sort out my emotional life. I have started seeing a counselor - who is also a BC survivor! She is wonderful. It has been a huge help to me and I highly recomend it to anyone who feels like the cancer was the last straw so to speak.

[mimiflower07]

great post...i had questions regarding the start of taking something before i began chemo. I think it takes some meds 2 plus wks to build in your system. I was just to worried about another drug in my body not to mention supplements.
suzanne

[nitewind]

I have been on Prozac for ten years and was diagnosed with breast cancer in May of last year. Interesting thought.
Hugs

[cafe1084]

I was put on prozac shortly after my dad died in 2006, coincidentally, just about the time the doc said my cancer may have started. Then again, at the time, I lost over 80 lbs, so it could have contributed i suppose, even though I was er <10%. I too keep looking for the culprit. Unfortunately, we will probably never pinpoint the exact cause or causes...shame, too, then we could stop the thing that started all this to begin with! I guess it is not for us to know why or how, just for us to survive and grow from.

[Bev]

I was drug free except for Iron spplements before BC. I find myself wondering about the Iron now. I do Zoft now as all the BC treatment made me very anxious. We'll figure this out someday. Bev

[MCS]

interesting

I wished I had been on some form of anti depressant because I was on an extreme amount of stress at work for several years when dx. In my own mind, I am certain that this stress was the cause of my bc.

if not antidepressant then maybe something like an antianxiety such as zanax or ativan.

xoxo

maria

[ckeesling]

Hi,

I had been on and Prozac and Xanax for several years before my DX, mainly due to stress and anxiety. I had taken myself off prior to my complete hysterectomy in 2005.I was diagnosed in Nov 06 and immediately went on Lexapro.I hadn't heard of any connection, but this is very interesting..I to believe my cancer kicked in due to an abnormal amount of stress I was under....

Take care all
Cathy

[R.B.]

Balancing your omega threes and ensuring adequate intake of long chain omega threes DHA and EPA should assist neurological function.

At the most basic level neurons need DHA. Women have higher neuron density. Women have a higher DHA requirement.

Babies are DHA hoovers and may deplete a mothers brain DHA. Some women's brains do shrink in pregnancy.

This is a search of the NCBI library on DHA and depression. I have copied below as the list of trials is more powerful than any explanation I can give.

You may also be interested in the `Greek Diet' thread which looks at omega three and six and BC etc.

A trial in France where they looked at breast fat tissue at the same times as lump excisions produced the result that women in the highest third for DHA EPA fats in breast tissue had a 70% lower risk of the lumps being invasive.

If you click on the link below you will find the trial links below and more.

RB

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/en...ubmed_RVDocSum

Selective deficits in the omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid in the postmortem orbitofrontal cortex of patients with major depressive disorder.

"Deficits in DHA concentrations were greater in female MDD patients (-32%) than in male MDD patients (-16%), and could not be wholly attributed to lifestyle factors or postmortem tissue variables......
CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate a selective deficit in the omega-3 fatty acid DHA in the orbitofrontal cortex of patients with MDD [major depressive disorder]. This finding adds to a growing body of evidence implicating omega-3 fatty acid deficiency as well as the orbitofrontal cortex in the pathophysiology and potentially pathogenesis of MDD."


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/en...pression%20dha




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[Andrea Barnett Budin]

Okay before the anti d/anti anxiety med came the stress! So, is the culprit the cortisol overload (naturally prodced), a hormonal imbalance (pre or post menopausal, pregnancy) or the anti d eventually taken? I go w/stress beyond the norm (we all experience a degree of pressure in Life) as being the root of all illness, striking your genetically weakest body part. There's the link again. The mindbody connection. T cell counts go down as depression sets in, compromising the immune system and leaving you virtually defenseless...
Andi

[Brenda_D]

I was never on any type of anti-depressant before BC.
I am on Prozac now, because of the BC.

[R.B.]

Stress undoubtedly chemically links in at lots of levels but DHA moderates the stress response production of norepinephrine etc.

So I would put lack of DHA / omega three as a risk factor.

I was unaware stress impact on T cell function I will look that up.

Thanks Andi BB

RB

[fauxgypsy]

I have taken anti depressants in the past for about two years, maybe a little longer. Wellbutrin.

R.B., sometime back, Andi started a discussion on the mind/body connection. I don't know if you saw it. It was quite thought provoking. Below is a link to part of it.

http://her2support.org/vbulletin/sho...t=28396&page=4

I have also included some sites that offer insights into psychoneuroimmunology that i thought you might enjoy if you haven't already seen them.

http://www.mnwelldir.org/docs/immune/psychon.htm
http://www.nfnlp.com/psychoneuroimmu...n.htm#research
http://www.wellness.org.za/html/pni.html
http://www.bcaction.org/Pages/Search...etter014C.html
http://www.cousinspni.org/
http://www.aacn.org/pdfLibra.NSF/Fil...e/ci140105.pdf
http://www.appi.org/book.cfm?id=8171

Leslie

[betlen5]

Interesting question....I have been on several different anxiety meds for over 25 yrs to help with my Agoraphobia (Panic disorder). I have been on Paxil 30mg (Dr.changed to 40mg 3wks ago) 1x daily for 10yrs along with Xanax 4-6 mg daily. Started Effexor XR .75mg 1x daily about 3weeks ago to help deal with my BC.

I had heard that Paxil could be linked to breast cancer and asked my oncologist 5 yrs ago who research this and could not find any links.

I have not thought about this for years and perhaps it's time for me to do more research on my own.

I will let you know what I find.

[R.B.]

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

[Hopeful]

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.

Hopeful

[suzan w]

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!

[Cannon]

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]).

[Andrea Barnett Budin]

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