Crying

• By thewishmaker
• Posted November 20, 2008 at 11:03 am
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I know exactly how you feel.....after chemo I cried for days....just couldn't even talk to someone on the phone....cried at work.....the grocery store.....driving in the car.......
When I told the ladies in my support group they all said "did you think you could make it thru this without an anti-depressant?"
The next day I called my gyn/onc and had them call in a prescription for Wellbutrin......I have been smiling ever since! And I actually feel happy!
I have to admit though maybe a day or two after chemo I'll get a bit weepy but nothing like what I was going thru before taking the Wellbutrin.....
Jenny

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• By DTMEDIC
• Posted November 20, 2008 at 3:13 pm
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Please ask your doctor for a prescription. My MIL did the exact same thing and tried for a year to "get through it without any more medicaton." Finally, when she grew weary enough of the constant & unexpected crying jags...she agreed to try it. The difference was amazing...so please, do yourself a favor and ask your doctor for medication. You'll be so glad that you did. :-)

Good Luck!

Debbie

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• By gunpowderandlead
• Posted November 21, 2008 at 8:06 am
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Hey,
I just now am feeling better I will email you. Hold on Girl I am coming!!!!


Love Me

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• By momanderson920
• Posted November 21, 2008 at 9:16 am
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I am so sorry you are feeling so bad. I cried off and on through the whole ordeal and I think we hold our heads high and try to block out of our minds how scarey and difficult this whole thing is and when that chemo zaps us, making us feel so sick and weak, our strong front is also weakened and we break down. That was my experience. We try and be so brave and not give into the fear and depression which is inevitable whenever anyone goes through a major trauma like cancer then stressors like the chemo wear down our armor. Hang in there! I agree, get the doc to put you on an antidepressant. It does help.

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• By FavoriteAunt
• Posted November 21, 2008 at 10:05 am
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Hi Kay,
It's easy to cry. Sometimes the whole thing is so overwhelming and the reality of it all hits you. I can be fine, and then be watching TV and start thinking and before you know it there are tears and fear, etc.

You should talk to your doctor about it. Some crying is normal, but maybe you need something to help you through. Don't be shy about discussing it - they have heard it all. This is not a disease to fight alone - any aspect of it.

Meanwhile, I do hope you are feeling better. and I do hope you get to see your mum soon for some needed comfort. Hugs to both of you.

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• By AJ70
• Posted November 21, 2008 at 10:10 am
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HI Kay,

I am so sorry to hear that you are having a hard time. I just finished my third treatment of carbo/taxol too - along with a total hysterectomy.......blah. But anyway - after my second treatment I was REALLY depressed for a few days, crying and really anxious - and really consumed and worried about recurrence, etc etc. Not very positive. I talked to my nurse about it and she said that along with the usual anxiety and fear/depression that comes along with cancer itself, that some people are really affected like this coming off of the steroids that they give you during treatment, for the first week after treatment. Do you find that it gets better after the first week - or is the depression there all the time? I noticed I feel a lot better after that first week......but obviously that isn't always the case........I also am on Buspar for anxiety - just one pill at night to help me sleep..........

Take care,

Amy

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• By Sharlene
• Posted November 21, 2008 at 12:41 pm
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Then theirs me,no tears always smiling,being positive.Yah ,well I had some different syptoms,like my nose constantly draining,just clear mucus.i went to have a lymph node drainage therpist,she asked if I have greived for my disease,I said no that i have not cryed at all for myself but only for my family.
She said your body is trying to say "I have been assaulted,while your UNDER I am being cut open and mutilated and the pain was terrible and you have 't acknowledged my sorrow". I have had afew tears for myself, depression is a very debilitating thing to go through we react so different.I did ask my Dr. about the constant drainage,I was told your body is just producing mucus,nothing can be done! Thats when I went to see an alternative and she made such sense to me. So Kay take the medication as crying or no crying is a sorrow for our body.
Angel Hugs,
Sharlene

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• By 1knocR
• Posted November 21, 2008 at 1:30 pm
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Wow, I have never had the crying or have heard about it. I did 8 cycles of taxol/carbo and then 6 more the next year. I never felt mentally bad afterwards, just physically. Chemicals put our bodies so off balance. I started taking an anti-anxiety/anti-depressant just this year because I had a short fuze with everyone and everything. I needed to calm down and not worry about the little things anymore, things out of my control. It has helped alot! But I still get ticked off, just not as long or as intense as before. Hang in there!!! You'll find a balance!!

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• By annabelly
• Posted November 21, 2008 at 3:06 pm
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I've been crying all over the place! It was definitely connected to my 2 chemo weeks, and my 3rd week I felt a lot more positive and did a lot less crying. After each crying jag I felt better, like something had been lifted from me. Now I have only 2 more infusions, and the depression has gotten a bit worse, but I'm inclined to just stick it out since I'm so close to the end!

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• By Eileen1941
• Posted November 22, 2008 at 8:27 am
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Hi KayLouise,

I have to admit that I am a member of the crying group also. I think I have shed enough tears to float an armada of ships. So don't feel bad about adding your tears to the pool! But as the other gals have mentioned between the combination of the stress of a major illness and the effects of the steriods needed as premeds and post chemo meds to control reactions, there are a lot of reasons for the tears to flow. And it does help to have either an antidepressant or antianxiety medication available. My doctor insisted that I have a prescription for Ativan, which I tried to talk her out of at first. But now I am really glad that I didn't succeed on that. I don't take much of it but on the days when the tears just won't stop it really does help. Steroid intake does have a strong effect on personality and that can really be a problem. But they are so necessary in preventing the potential serious side effects of the chemo. So we are really caught between a rock and a hard place. We just have to find ways to manage it so do use anything available that will help.
Please keep us up to date on how you are doing and I hope you are finding some things that will bring a smile to you now!! Eileen

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• By Kellyr1
• Posted November 22, 2008 at 7:51 pm
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Count me in as a cryer also. Mine started with cycke three with on & off days for a week and then next cycle I cried for 10 days. I wnet on an antidepressant and that helped me out. My husband called the dr for me and they sais it was not unusual they also had one other person going through the same situation. she suggested meditation, yoga but I went to my regulart pcp and he went with the antidepreesant. Best wishes to you.

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• By maemay
• Posted November 22, 2008 at 8:21 pm
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I HAVE CRIED SO MUCH MY BEST FRIEND CALLS ME CHEMOSOBBIE! I SAY GO FOR THE ANTIDEPRESSENTS. I DONT KNOW HOW ANYONE CAN MAKE IT THROUGH THIS JOURNEY WITHOUT DAILY BIBLE READING,LOTS OF PRAYER, AND GOOD OLD PROZAC!!!

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• By kolson
• Posted November 22, 2008 at 8:50 pm
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Dear Kay,

I am praying for you. I have now had 4 treatments and 2 to go. I started taking Lexapro after my first treatment. I had an ego thing about it and i really did not want to go there, but I was crying ALL the time just like you. I feel so much better now, I still cry from time to time, but I can pull myself out of it in a few minutes vs crying all day long for days like you are now. I've also been told the Lexapro will help with the hot flashes. I guess you were put in to surgical menopause like me. Stay strong friend. What part of the world do you live in?

My very best,
Kris Olson

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• By verlinda
• Posted November 23, 2008 at 2:37 am
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You've gotten great advice. My pharmacist friend said the nickname for steroids is "mean pills." I struggled more with anger than with tears, but I was already on antidepressants. I went off them a couple of months ago--a year after my last chemo--and have much more energy. On the downside, I don't sleep as well.

I would definitely ask for an antidepressant. All the poisons in our chemo and all the drugs they give us to keep us from dying from these poisons wreak havoc on our bodies.

Also, everyone at my oncology office seemed to downplay this, but you have to grieve having cancer. Yes, we survive. Yes, we become even stronger, but the process hurts in every sense! You will get through this!

I love the chemosobbie nickname--definitely a keeper.

Come here and vent any time. We're all in this together.

You're in my prayers.

Blessings,
Verlinda

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• By Madge
• Posted November 23, 2008 at 5:05 am
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1. Hormones, darling...

2. Don't be afraid to ask for help. Anti-depressants can help you get on top of this..and help stop the hot flushes. Don't be tuff and try to work through it. You and your body have just been to hell and back. You can get some relief for both you and your body...seriously to help you both cope..and don't leave it too late..or you'll waste "today".

Take each day as it comes. Live in the "now"..yesterday is gone, tomorrow will never get here...so...try to enjoy every little thing S L O W L Y..TODAY!

3. The nose stuff...you might be losing your hair, which includes your nasal hairs..so, there isn't a filter for your poor old nose..so, it's picking up stuff in the atmosphere, which makes it run out. Sounds funny, but it's true.

Stay strong...you will receive lots of gifts...in this rotten new normal. Promise... just look out for them, for they'll be there.

Thinking of you and wishing you all the best. x

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• By artattack59
• Posted November 23, 2008 at 9:25 am
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I was a "Chemosobbie" too (love the expression). I cried going to chemo, during chemo, during hydration, on the way home, through out the night, in the shower, every time I put the wig on...I cried until I just stopped crying. I'm one year into remission and I don't cry anymore!!! I'm actually living a very content life . I have always gone through unpleasant change kicking and screaming. It took all those tears for me to accept my new life and move on. I agree with the other ladies that antidepression medication takes the edge off. It helps to think clearer. Also ladies we have to remember that many of us went through surgical menapause at the same time. That in it's self is a tear jerker!!!! So be patient with yourself. You will feel happy agian.

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• By momanderson920
• Posted November 23, 2008 at 12:14 pm
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I have had crying since chemo was over. Some is due to problems I have had post chemo that no one seems to be able to figure out. Some is because my family has been very insensitive to my anxiety about the cancer coming back when I have had weird unexplainable pain /symptoms post chemo. It is as though I was allowed a quota of time to be sick with the cancer and now they are ready to move on. That in itself has had me depressed. I have had terrible stomach pain the past week and been up at night crying in pain. My husband slept through it and my daughter shut our bedroom door because my crying was keeping her awake. And my oldest daughter isn't speaking to me because I got upset with her for calling me a hypochrondriac. I am disgusted with all of them. I sure can relate to the crying.

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• By karenelaine
• Posted November 23, 2008 at 1:26 pm
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I persoanally did not have the experience, but my girlfriend did! She's still having a bit of a problem and she's months from treatment. Her doctors say the other med she was on for other medical problems mixing with the chemo has been the problem.

Karen

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• By Dodie1
• Posted November 23, 2008 at 5:25 pm
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I know all about the crying too. My doctor gave me a low-dose Xanax, but I've always been scared to take it.

Hope you feel better soon. Know that we're here for you.

Take care & God Bless

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• By Kaylouise28xx
• Posted November 24, 2008 at 9:30 am
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Hi Guys,

Ive managed to crawl back on the tinternet today for the first time and thank you all soooo much for your replies, im such a chemosobbie and have been sobbing for days even this morning, ive already been on prozac for a few years since i got divorced but today i went to the docs and hes given me a stronger antidepressant and neuropathy pills for my legs which are driving me insane!!!!

Im off to my moms tomorrow for a few days i think that will stop me from sobbing cos i really need to see her and she lives about 120miles away from me ans has MS so its difficult to see her very often.

Thanks again all you guys, your all amazing people, thanks - Kay xxxx

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