Mood swings

Hi Papa Mick Welcome  to our small community group well done in coming through treatment. I’m 3 years post radiotherapy for tonsil cancer with several affected lymph nodes. Can’t say I had mood swings but it’s common in cancer diagnosis but I did loose interest for a good 6 months or so in things I enjoyed doing. I lost my love  if reading gardening  knitting and general going out. They’ve come back now but I used to love painting that hasn’t come back yet. I know quite a few on here who have been on a mild course of anti depressants. Head and neck cancer treatment is brutal as we all know. Maybe a trip to your g p could  help. 

As Hazel has said this is very common and not talked about enough. I was a basket case for a while after my 2014 treatment finished, was horrible, anti-depressants and counselling sorted it though after a while. Definitely see your GP, in simple terms it's PTSD.

I would add agreement to what Hazel and Mike have said. Do consider seeing your GP as what you’re feeling is the extreme end of what most of us feel. I usually signpost people to an excellent article by Dr Peter Harvey that covers much of what we encounter after treatment. It’s reproduced on my blog but I have discovered the fuller version which is even more helpful. It’s here 

cancercounsellinglondon.org.uk/.../

Hi Papamick

I am sorry that you are currently going through a tough time. You have just gone through a life changing time and just because treatment is finished doesn’t mean that you bounce back and get back to life as normal. It does take time.

I also went through a very ‘down’ time during and after my treatment but found the support of my GP and my surgeon invaluable. Talking about how I felt did make a huge difference for me. I was offered antidepressants but decided to see how I went without and after a while began to start to feel more positive. However I would have definitely taken antidepressants for a short time if I did not start feeling better within a reasonable time frame.

Adjusting to change takes time but it does happen. Talk to your GP and see what he suggests to help you.

Concentration was another thing that I did not have and getting back to my old interests took a while. As Hazel has said some of the things I used to like I no longer did and I have now developed different interests.

I am nearly 2 years post my treatment and life is looking good and I know it will for you to.

Lyn

Hi papamick

i am only 8 weeks out of treatment and my mood is terrible.  So negative.  You are not alone.  We must hope it gets better. I have told my gp.  Let’s hope as things go on there are improvements. I put on a bit of a front for the family because they all want to see me getting better.  Wishing everyone all the best.  Lizzie123 

Lyn - sorry I accidently flagged your post to the moderator.  Aged finger twitch!  No option to unflag...

I do it all the time. I’ll let the mods know it was a mistake. I keep saying it should be a two step thing. It should say “Are you sure? “ first 

Hi papamick

I definitely lost interest in things after chemo and radiotherapy mainly because I couldn’t concentrate for long. It was at least 3 months before I wanted to read a book as I couldn’t follow the story even it was something I already had read. Some hobbies I just physically couldn’t do ( horse riding wistful sign) and because it’s was hard I’d get frustrated and give up. My mood would go from thinking I was coping to tearful sometimes angry at people who didn’t deserve it.
My oncologist referred me for counselling when I was sobbing at my one week post radiotherapy video chat, to be honest I think that was a real low point but the zoom counselling didn’t start for another 2 months. It was very specific to coping after treatment and managing uncertainty, some of it was very mindfulness based which I’d already used but other tips were useful. The Dr Peter Harvey article beesuit mentions is excellent and my counselling covered some of it. So maybe reach out to your cancer team and see if they can refer you, I think the cancer based counselling is probably more helpful than  general counselling via you GP

Hope thing improve for you

hello. I think these mood swings are quite normal - my husband is 4 years finished treatment- so far all clear - and he still has them. It depends on how he feels physically and whether his throat is sore and he has ulcers. But I feel this is such a major trauma, with such a hit to confidence, it would be odd if there were not psychological consequences. It affects loved ones too - our worlds are all turned upside down, we’ve been scared, experienced terrible pain or watched our loved one suffer. We’ve all looked loss in the face. That isn’t something you just bounce back from with no bother. I think a fair few probably have a form of PTSD. 

Hi Papamick 

Can't really add anything to what everyone else has said. I finished treatment in April and hit rock bottom May / June. The article Dani has posted the link to was a huge help. I also got in touch with Macmillan and had counselling arranged. They identified trauma as one of the aspects to work on. I found that when I was diagnosed the adrenalin kicked me into fight mode. It wasn't until the treatment finished and morphine cloud lifted I started to process what had happened. Like others I lost pleasure in many hobbies, but am now enjoying most things, even some meals! As other have said speak to gp, or maybe give Macmillan a call. 

Hope you find a way to help, Ronnie