Paxil and Breast Cancer

[Maria1952]

Hi Doctor,

I was recently prescribed Paxil CR for depression from anxiety I have been suffering from a very long time. I moved to a new State and my new General Dr noticed it right away and asked why I was never treated in the past.  I guess I was too scared to take medicine for years, but I am so tired of fighting it.  Tried the health foods and all and nothing worked.   I started the end of February with 12.5CR and just increased to 25 CR with no side effects and actually feeling much better these days.  Of course being a worry wart I researched Paxil online and found a study that suggested Paxil is the worst SSRI to be on and that it is the only one that may increase my breast cancer risk.  I was wondering how true these statements are and should I ask my Dr to switch me to another SSRI just in case.   I am 55 years old and post menopause.  I did have a biopsy in 2003 for microcalcifications that turned out to be benign and all Mammograms since have been negative.  

Any help would be greatly appreciated.  

Maria

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

Paxil is a very good medication, and not any harder to stop than the others if it is done cautiously over a three week period.  I don't know the study re breast cancer, but ask your doctor to interpet it for you, because if there is an increased risk, and may not be enough to worry about...

[copernico]

My wife had BC, she has already had the chemo and surgery and is now on the part of the treatment focused on preventing recurrence (herceptin and tamoxifen). She had been taking paroxetine for the last two years. Now she started to see the psychiatrist at the cancer centre (the one who routinely sees cancer patients) and the dr advised her to change the paroxetine for another antidepressant. She mentioned the study, but said that it was a bad study (not conclusive) but she prefers breast cancer patients not to take paroxetine just in case. The switch is not abrupt, she first reduced the dose of paroxetine and started with a low dose of the new drug for a while.

[Maria1952]

Thank you