Speaking of depression and anti/depressants.... I could use a little pill

[GreenPartyVoter]

myself.

Not sure what to use though.

Did Prozac earlier this year and though it helped with the anxiety attacks it never seemed to help with me wanting to stay in bed with the covers over my head. (Which is where I am right back to.) I don't know if this means it didn't work or if the dosage wasn't strong enough.

So I dunno what I will wind up on. I just know I can't go much longer without. Side-effects are scary, but I have self-medicated my way up to 200 lbs, and I am having quite a few side-effects just from that.

I know the Pamelor I tried way way back when was useless. I do remember being on a little red pill during a couple of deep clinical depressions, but I forget what they were.

Hope my doc can find something that works because I am next to useless the way I am right now.


I am editing to say that I can honestly remember only about 3 months where I felt really happy and effective.. would even do the dishes and sweep after supper.. didn't seem too overwhelming or annoying as it does now. And that time was when I was nursing my son, walking 2 hours a day and eating a lot of veggies. And I could say no to junk food. Eat two bites of a brownie and walk away! 7 chips was a serving size! I suspect really, that hormone imbalances have a lot to do with my troubles, since they ebb and surge along with my time of month. I think that one summer was the only time in my life they were ever in balance.

[Taxloss]

1. It helps, but I wouldn't.

I've been down the medication route, and it helped, but only up to a point. I would advise against it. If you want to PM me about it, feel free, but I don't want to talk about this here.

[On the Road]

2. I Understand That Feeling Well

No matter what they say, your body does get acclimated to SSRIs. The efficacy drops and the side effects increase.

I tred Prozac and was really charged up for about a month -- people noticed the change. But then I started not being able to sleep and my legs would vibrate when I sat at the computer.

I tried about seven or eight other SSRIs, and none of them were as good. Paxil and Celexa weren't bad, but they all had the same effect.

I have periods of going into a shell where I just don't want to get up and don't want to talk with anyone. I've thought going back and resuming the antidepressants. But it needs to be different this time. They come out with new and improved substances all the time -- maybe one of them will work.

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. So I may be stuck with snarfing carbs the rest of my life and looking like

ballon woman? (Or I can not eat and just be frantically wishing that I was eating)

*blah* I really do wish there was a fix for this.

[Lorien]

7. One thing that helps with that

is to only eat protein and veggies in the morning (something like an omelet-with NO potatoes), then limit carbs and sugars-including tropical fruit-the rest of the day. You may have hypoglycemia which can cause extreme carb and/or sugar cravings. You might also have Candida, which can cause such cravings-PLUS depression. Changing your diet and adding supplements can help.

[gardenista]

11. GPV, you may be hypothyroid.

Have you had your thyroid checked? Did you know that most doctors don't even know that the "normal" range of TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) has gone down, so now many, many people who were not medically considered hypo now are?

If you haven't had this checked, please try it, and follow up with your own research. about.com has a great section written by Mary Shomon, who has become an expert in thyroid issues.

Please PM me if you want to hear more about my own story. But suffice it to say that when I finally got diagnosed, I was in very sorry shape, even though I was running every day, eating right, but barely functioning otherwise.

Now that I'm getting treated, my life has completely changed for the better.

[SmokingJacket]

4. I've been vaguely jealous of those who have found a solution, too...

Been off medication for a few years now, because it quit working and because of suicidal agitation/obsessive thoughts while I was on it.

Here's my self-medication routine: exercise in the morning, drink in the evening. Exercise takes the edge off the misery; drink soothes some of the anxiety.

If you're not exercising, I have to say -- it's the only thing that keeps me away from the knives. But once you let yourself get too down, it's pretty hard to lace up the sneakers, I know.

Argh. Good luck to you. Do you have a good doctor?

[GreenPartyVoter]

5. I do have a good doc, but she has never seen me

when i get into a deep depression like I did in college. (That was really really bad, the anxiety and the fear and the mental paralysis)

i often have shades of it but not as bad as it was then (Except for one PMS cycle a couple of years ago, I really was thinking about those knives too, anything to get away from the anxiety and the creepy crawly feeling of being in my own skin!) But I called my lil bro, who is a 12 stepper, and he talked me through it. (I thought I was hitting bottom and maybe needed to get back to a 12 step program myself. But a few days later the hormones evened out again and I was realatively normal.. for me at any rate)

[Lorien]

6. I gave up on pills, and now I use the Alpha-Stim SCS

I've had clinical depression since I was a teen-even was hospitalized for it. I've tried about everything, but the Alpha-Stim-a brain wave altering device that induces a meditative state-is the only thing I've tried that is both effective and side effect free. I was skeptical at first, but I ran the technology past a physicist friend who helped design the CAT scan, and he says the science is sound. It's by prescription only and costs about $500 (way less than Prozac over the course of a year).

[GreenPartyVoter]

8. That sounds very interesting. I have to ask

can you feel the difference.. i mean literally feel it in your brain when your chemistry is off. Sometimes I swear I can.

Somtimes I think I should just buy a really big swing. I love the way swinging makes my brain feel. :) (Nothing like a nice dose of vestibular stimulation, eh?)

[Lorien]

9. Well, let's put it this way

I've been using it for nearly two weeks now, and for at least the past ten days I've not had ONE suicidal thought-an amazing thing for me. I'm also fairly calm despite the fact that I'm trying to juggle three high profile clients at once-and one of them is a completely new client. I'm able to focus on my work, and I sleep through the night. It was so bad a few weeks ago that I was trying to figure out who would care for my pets when I was gone and how I could kill myself and still donate my organs to those who need them. I can't say that I'm living in a state of euphoria right now-it's not illegal drugs, after all-but there's a definite absence of torment.I only wear the device for 20 minutes a day, and I believe that it's a literal life saver. Google it for more information and research studies.

[GreenPartyVoter]

10. Wow. I have been where you are at now so I am really glad to

hear that this thing is helping you! *hugs*

I am not at that place, though. I need to stay with my kids and hubby. They need me, even as wacked out as I am right now. :)