Antidepressants Blog

When you check the chemical names of what is in your painkiller against the above list, you may not find one or more of the ingredients. A likely reason is that the missing ingredient is a sedative. Ask if you are not sure. If you have been prescribed a painkilling mixture that includes a sedative, I suggest you ask for a change. The sedative will just make you more sleepy and used without doing anything for your pain. If you want to have a sedative to help you relax it is better to take it separately. You will then be able to adjust your dose of painkiller according to your pain and your dose of sedative according to your degree of relaxation.

My advice is similar if you are prescribed a painkilling mixture of morphine and alcohol. If you are taking morphine in liquid form, ask whether it contains alcohol. If you want alcohol, you will probably prefer to take it separately in a form that you enjoy and in the amount that suits you, rather than mixed with your painkiller.

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In Phase II studies, the aim is to find out what human cancers, if any, are sensitive to the new treatment. Although these tests are not usually as unpleasant and dangerous, again only patients who have already had all known effective anti-cancer treatments are asked to take part. Here, because researchers are now mainly trying to find out about effects against cancer, they concentrate on measuring size of cancer growths. If some patients’ growths do get smaller, further testing is carried out on their particular types of cancer in Phase III studies (see below). If none of the first fourteen patients with a certain type of cancer show any reduction in their tumours, the treatment is not usually tested any further. This is because it is most unlikely that the treatment will be effective in a worthwhile proportion of patients with that type of cancer. Again, if your main reason for agreeing to be a research subject is the hope that it will benefit you personally, you are likely to be disappointed.

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Breast pain, or mastalgia, is a symptom rather than a disease, usually of a minor breast condition but occasionally of a more serious one. Although most malignant tumours are relatively painless, the presence of breast pain does not necessarily indicate a benign condition.

Breast pain can sometimes be severe, and some women who suffer from it cannot bear to be touched or cuddled. It may be cyclical, related to the menstrual cycle and occurring before or during a period, or non-cyclical, having no obvious menstrual association.

Cyclical breast pain

Cyclical breast pain can often be relieved by taking painkillers such as aspirin, paracetamol, codeine or stronger drugs which can be prescribed by your doctor. If the breast tissue is inflamed, aspirin will help to deal with this as it has anti-inflammatory as well as pain-killing properties.

Some women find evening primrose oil an effective treatment for cyclical breast pain, and there are some convincing studies which support its use. However, there is controversy amongst members of the medical profession about whether or not this is a placebo effect – the oil itself having no medicinal properties but being effective for those who believe it will be.

For the treatment of very severe period-related breast pain, there are several hormonal agents available, including the contraceptive pill. The sex hormone progesterone can be given in its natural form as Cyclogest pessaries or as one of several synthetic derivatives known as progestogens. Natural or synthetic oestrogens can also be effective. Other drugs may be prescribed which interfere with the action of the sex hormones produced by the body, for example danazol or bromocriptine, but these can cause fluid retention and headaches and make many women feel generally unwell. They are therefore often given as a last resort for cyclical breast pain which cannot be treated by other means.

Non-cyclical breast pain

This type of breast pain is often more difficult to treat, but in many cases it does tend to improve with time. It is sometimes a symptom of a fairly common condition called Tietze’s disease, a mild form of arthritis which affects the cartilage between the ends of the ribs and the breastbone. The pain this causes in the chest wall can be mistaken for pain in the breast.

Good breast support with a well-fitting bra, aspirin, and possibly evening primrose oil may be effective in the treatment of this type of breast pain.

Non-cyclical breast pain can also be referred pain from another problem such as a frozen shoulder, a wry neck or twisted back. It can also be due to infection by a virus which attacks the muscles. These causes will have to be excluded. Nevertheless, there is often no underlying cause for non-cyclical breast pain, which can be severe.

Pain may also accompany some of the conditions described below, although other symptoms and signs are likely to be apparent.

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Most of you would like to put your whole cancer experience completely behind you. You would like to say, “I had cancer, but it’s all over now. I am, or soon will be, as healthy as I was before I got sick. I can go back to my routine medical care.”

Can you really face your future by ignoring your history of cancer? Should you? Unless your doctors have given you a 100 percent guarantee that your cancer will never come back, you will have some concern about recurrent cancer. Depending on what treatment you received, your body will need to recuperate. And many treatments cause their own problems, in the short run or the long run.

Your health is not the same as it was before you developed cancer. Your knowledge about the vulnerability of your health is painfully changed. Believing that you are back to the way you were before cancer may save you immediate anxiety about possible future problems. But it would be at an enormous cost to you, emotionally and physically.

There are many reasons why you should continue learning about your cancer. In the short run, you can take steps to prevent or minimize problems, and thus maximize and speed your recovery. In the long run, knowledge allows you to take measures to help prevent future problems such as recurrent cancer (recurrence) or the development of a new type of cancer.

You have met the challenge of treatments. But your situation is like that of a marathon runner, whose efforts are not over at the end of the race. Successful runners are careful about their recovery. For days afterward they get extra fluids, nutrients, and rest. They know that it takes weeks to get their primed, but spent, bodies completely back to normal.

Given that an optimally conditioned runner has to make adjustments to recover from a race, imagine the needs of a competitive runner who sprains her ankle. She has to decide how to deal with her injury. She can ignore the injury and risk further injury while performing at less than peak performance. Or she can find out what to do to maximize and speed her recovery. This may mean slowing down or even stopping her training schedule for a while. If, after complete healing, some ankle weakness remains, she can act as if there were no problem, running in pain and risking recurrent injury. Or she can learn about modifications to make in her shoes, running style, training schedule, or running route that would allow continued, though changed, running.

Your cancer and treatment caused changes in your body that can take days, weeks, months, or even years to disappear. Some changes may be permanent. Like the runner, you will feel better and heal faster if you learn about the changes in your body and the ways to help yourself recover.

Many survivors who have completed treatment struggle with a sense of vulnerability and an urgent desire to do something to help protect their renewed health. Learning what you can do to stay healthy will allow you to regain a sense of control and will maximize your chance of staying healthy.

After cancer, you may feel bombarded by information about what causes, cures, or prevents cancer. Newspapers and magazines, books, and well-meaning friends and family offer frightening, exciting, confusing, and often contradictory messages. Knowledge can help you sort out useful facts from inaccurate or misleading stories.

Each year brings advances in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. In the future, new options for screening, follow-up, and preventive measures for your type of cancer may be offered to you. Staying informed about your medical situation after cancer will make it easier for you to appreciate the benefits of these developments.

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