Had Breast Cancer And Finished Treatment. Was On Citalopram, Advised Venax. Gained Weight, Muscle Pain And Have Bloting

Posted on Mon, 26 Aug 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Mon, 26 Aug 2013 Answered on

Sat, 14 Sep 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : i have had breast cancer and finished my treatment of radiotheraphy in march. i take an antidepressant venax. previously to this i took citalopram. i was told that i had to take venax as citalopram was not suitable while i was also taking tamoxifen vfor my cancer treatment. i have also gained alot of weight and have alot of bloating. i have alot joint and muscle pain and basically quite lethargic.

Answered by Dr. Jorge Brenes-Salazar (8 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Can consider going back

Detailed Answer:
Dear XXXXXXX

Thanks for your query. After chemotherapy for breast cancer, it is of utmost importance to ensure that your heart remains in good shape, as the chemo agents and radiotherapy can predispose to heart disease, particularly heart failure, which can manifest with fatigue, shortness of breath, weight gain and swelling of legs; an echocardiogram or ultrasound of the heart is extremely useful for that purpose.

Yours truly,

Dr Brenes-Salazar MD
Cardiology
Mayo Clinic MN

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar