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Does chemo trigger your anxiety and/or depression?
I’m wondering if anyone else has noticed that a few days after chemo, anxiety is heightened and depression sets in heavy?
I’ve noticed it the last few times along with the extreme fatigue and generally awful chemotherapy side effects. It’s a little hard to tell if the side effects and especially the fatigue are triggering my major depression and anxiety or if they’re being made worse by them or if it’s just another side effect of the actual chemotherapy drugs?
I feel like it’s worse than just the physical side effects, it stops me from being able to have any kind of enjoyment or sense of purpose or will to keep going period. Plus the physical symptoms of anxiety and depression just add to the physical symptoms I’m already having from the cancer and the chemo. I typically feel good the 1-2 days after chemo and then day 3 I feel crappy with side effects and a sneakily quiet depression and then days 4-6 the physical side effects, the anxiety and the depression are overpowering and take me over completely. I’m not me, I’m lethargic, angry, mean, I snap, I’m disoriented and disconnected from myself and everyone else. I can’t create anything, no art, no crafts, no coloring, no self care, no physical personal care… just laying on the couch staring at my phone or the tv hating the world.
Because of my heart I was taken off my psych meds in August and because I have Medicaid I only see a therapist via zoom once every other month. Which of course helps nothing. My primary care NP is the only one who can refer me to their clinic psychiatrist who prescribes and changes meds, however my PC NP is on maternity leave and that clinic has nobody covering for her patients. The joys of Medicaid in America where good medical care is only for the rich.
#Cancer #BileDuctCancer #Chemotherapy #MajorDepressiveDisorder #ObsessiveCompulsiveDisorder #Anxiety #Fibromyalgia #AutoimmuneImmunodeficiency #metastaticcancer
