Question
Is malaise related to depression or previous prostate cancer treatment?
26 April 2007. Related: All topics, Living with HIV long-term, Side effects.
I have been HIV positive for 21 years and have felt and done well all this time and my doctos consider me generally healthy.
My viral load is non-detactable with a CD4 of 550. I was diagnosed and successfully treated for prostate cancer (targeted radiation) four years ago as an outpatient and went to work everyday. I am still, able to experience orgasms. I have always been an upbeat person but over the last year I have experienced a level of malaise. I have had no recent tragedy and have an active work and family life.
Can the malaise actually be a form of mild depression brought on by the cumulative effects of my antiviral treatments or horrmonal changes from the prostate cancer treatment?
Answer
Thanks for writing and allowing your question to be posted online.
It sounds like your health is very good in many ways. Your CD4 and viral load results are excellent and HIV is under control, and you were successfully treated for prostate cancer four years ago.
It is difficult to talk about something like malaise – which is usually defined really as a general feeling of un-ease or discomfort – without knowing about whether you have specific symptoms? Does this include pain or discomfort? Or tiredness? etc
Becasue you mention ‘mild depression’ this may be related to mood changes related to aging, previous illnesses or living long-term with HIV, or other factors. Becasue you are already aware of this, it is worth speaking to your doctor about this now. Looking at different options to manage depression is important.
Don’t understate your symptoms when you speak to your doctor though – which is a common approach (‘It isn’t really important’ etc).
Whether this was related to previous hormone treatment or not, addressing the symptoms is more important now.
I am not aware of any long term results that suggest depression is caused by combination therapy in general (unless your treatment include efavirenz which can have side effects that change your mood).
Information about efavirenz side effects is included in the i-Base Guide to Avoiding and Managing Side Effects.
Comment