Hi Kitty I had a right-side mastectomy last April. There is a slightly increased risk of my getting cancer in the other side but I am just going to be monitored via mammogram & ultrasound. I have a silicone implant which I am happy with. I also know some people who have had their new breast built from their belly fat & skin (can't remember what that option is called) and they are very happy with it, although it was a hard operation which took some recovering from. I think different options suit different people - I am too skinny for the options involving taking fat from somewhere else and I also didn't like the idea of there being a second surgery site which would need to heal. But, there are advantages to using your own flesh rather than silicone. It's a matter of what will suit you. How are you recovering from your mastectomy? The worst problem I had was pain in my arm when I went back to work and had to type all day. Best wishes Allicat ... View more

That's interesting Mignon, my GP didn't say anything about that. I'm probably on a different drug so maybe it's different. How are you feeling now? Has the nausea passed? I'm glad it has helped your mood. I had a follow-up visit with my GP on Saturday and told him everything was going fine, which I thought it was. I felt a little vague and tired but I felt like that beforehand too. But, I feel a lot worse now. Yesterday at work I was nearly falling asleep so I stayed home today and slept most of the day. Right now, I still feel exhausted and my head feels like it is stuffed with cotton wool. It is hard to tell if this is from the anti-depressant or if I am just over-tired from being too busy. At the moment I want to stop the anti-depressant because I feel terrible and I don't like the thought that I am doing this to myself by taking a drug which is supposed to make things easier not harder. But, I am going to try to hang on a couple more weeks at least and see how it goes. ... View more

Today is day 7 on anti-depressants and I feel a lot better. I have slept better this week and feel quite cheerful just now. They're not supposed to have an effect for at least two weeks so maybe it just placebo effect making me feel better. If it is it doesn't matter as long as I feel better. I felt a little queasy during the week and had trobule eating breakfast but I think that is settling down. ... View more

So, this morning I started a different anti-depressant. The pharmacist suggested taking it in the morning as it could cause wakefulness. On the other hand if I find it causes drowsiness I can switch to taking it at night. She said it would take 3 or 4 weeks for me to feel any effect. So, I guess we'll just wait and see what happens. In 3 or 4 weeks it will be Christmas and I am having 2 weeks off after Christmas which I am hoping will help me feel more relaxed. ... View more

This morning I had an appointment with my counsellor. I told her I was feeling terrible so she sent me back to the GP to see if maybe I should have a lower dose of the anti-depressant. He said I could either tough it out or try a different drug & then he thought it would be better to try a different drug so I am now having a few days to let it pass out of my system then I have script for a new one to start on the weekend. It is posssible that I feel unwell for reasons other than the anti-depressants as I have had days like this before for no readily apparent reason. It seems a bit wimpy to give up after only 2 days but I feel quite terrible and couldn't go to work today. I need to go to work & I'm not prepared to deal with feeling ill again if I don't have to. When the counsellor suggested anti-depressants she said I would recover without them but why not just make it easier on myself over the next few months by having some help. I'm not sure if I am going to start the new drug on the weekend. Hopefully this headache will go away soon & then I can think about it a bit more clearly. ... View more

Wow that's really crappy news Mignon. I guess you have to look at it as an opportunity for a fresh start - but maybe that is just too irritatingly Pollyanna-ish. ... View more

Hi Jules Was your tiredness just for the first week or so while you got used to them? Or for a long time? It seems ironic that I took a drug to make me feel better but I currently feel a lot worse. Thanks for you encourgagement ... View more

I took the first anti-depressant this morning. Only half a tablet for the first four days, then a whole tablet after that. I went to work but felt very tired and couldn't concentrate so I left after only a couple of hours. I don't know if that is related to the tablet or just because I was tired and distracted after a busy weekend. I had about 3 hours sleep during the day but it didn't make me feel any better and right now my head feels fuzzy and vague. I have not eaten much today but I am not hungry. I should make some dinner but I can't be bothered. I have an appointment with my counsellor tomorrow morning and am going back to the GP in 2 weeks to check on how I'm going. A transistion is how my counsellor described it to me. As I understand it the chemicals in my brain got trampled down by all the stress etc of cancer and even now that it is mainly over they need some help getting balanced out again. This sounds reasonable but I'm not quite comfortable with it yet. I don't really like the idea of messing around with the chemicals in my brain because I don't like the idea that I am just made of a bunch of chemicals and synapses and whatever. I want there to be a magic thing that's "me" - like a soul I guess but I'm not religious so I wouldn't call it a soul. If I take drugs to make me feel different then am I still me? ... View more

Hello Nic068 I had a different cancer to you but I was similarly told all the way through that my lump was extremely unlikely to be malignant. But I had surgery to take it out & then they biopsied it and found it was cancer. I had not been worried at all so it was a severe shock. It is good to talk here to people who understand. I found it a hard concept to get my head around the idea of having cancer. How could I have cancer? Me!! That's crazy talk! Best Wishes for your radiation. Allicat ... View more