Tell me about depression

In My Humble Opinion
1

Dunno if this is the right place to put this, so mods, feel free to scoot it along if it should go elsewhere.

I was just diagnosed with major depression along with anxiety. My therapist wants me to make an appt with a doc so I can start on an antidepressant. I’m not thrilled about doing this, but I understand that it doesn’t have to be a permanent thing and that it makes the healing process go a little faster.

So, my questions for all of you:

  1. Which meds have you taken and how bad were the side effects?
  2. How long did you have to stay on them?
  3. Any thoughts on the effectiveness of things like yoga, massage and other relaxation therapy along with things like improved diet?
  4. Any advice for me?

A little background: I’m 37, female, married (I left my husband briefly, but realized that it was the depression, not him making me unhappy and went back), no kids. I have a job that I love, but it’s very demanding. I also was sexually abused as a kid, and this undoubtedly plays a role.

Thanks everyone.

2

I don’t have a lot of experience, but I can point you to a forum where there is a lot of information:
http://www.wingofmadness.com/phpbb/

I was diagnosed with “mild” depression, and eventually agreed to try medication. I apologize, but I can’t remember the name of the medication, but I was told it was not as heavy duty as prozac or stuff like that. What I can tell you is that I had bad side-effects - mostly nausea. And I stopped taking it.

My recommendations (such as they are) are:

  • be sure to see a therapist/psychologist, and not just take the meds alone. It seems there are psychiatrists out there that pretty much presrcibe meds, but don’t do the therapy part (or only minimally - to see how the meds are working). I think, and I believe studies have shown, that the combination of the meds with therapy is the most successful.
  • Whether it is yoga or whatever, doing more exercise (regularly) seems to be very helpful. When I started seeing my therapist she insisted I get in at least a good 30 min. walk every day. I think 1) getting your body moving, and 2) releasing the endorphins gets your head moving in the right direction.

For more specific questions about meds and such, I’d recommend posting on the board I mentioned above.

I hope this helps.

3

There have been a couple of threads about depression recently (and someone with better Straight-Dope-Search-Fu than I maybe able to direct you to them.)

Why are you not thrilled about taking medication? Depression is not something you can conquer by strength of will. You are not a weak person because you have been diagnosed with depression. You have a disorder in your brain chemistry. I have high blood pressure. I take medication for it. There are many other things I can do that are beneficial – healthy diet, exercising, etc. But I still need to take the meds.

I started out about 20 years ago with Prozac. I was on it for three or so years, then stopped on my own. I’ve been on Wellbutrin now for eight years, maybe? I may have to be on it forever. I sure as hell can tell when I’ve missed a couple of days. No side effects with either that were persistent.

Side effects regarding libido and weight-gain are common, however. When you’re depressed, those side effects seem horrible, intolerable. But you’re not going to start on a med and instantly become an anhedonic blob. Finding the right medication(s) can involve some trial and error. It takes time, because you have to allow enough time for the medication you’re trying to take effect.

Yes, yoga, etc., can be very helpful, if that’s what works for you. There is no doubt that I feel better when I’m exercising and have healthy consumption habits. Cognitive behavior therapy is also very helpful.

Advice? An anti-depressant is not a “happy pill” that puts you into some la-la state where you don’t care about anything. What it should do for you, however, is remove the shit-colored glasses of depression so you can assess your situation more rationally. Perhaps depression was the reason you left your husband. Or perhaps there was another reason. Once the depression has abated, that might be clearer to you.

{{{{moonstarsun}}}}

4

I don’t consider meds to be a ‘fix’ for depression (I’m not seeing a therapist currently, but plan to once I can get a job again) but they can certainly help you feel better. I feel better than I have in at least 6 years thanks to them. Myself, I’m on Effexor and Wellbutrin, and the side effects have been minimal for me*.

I’m not going to really give any advice, because aside from personal experience I don’t know enough about depression to give any. But I hope that you’re able to sort things out. Bon chance.

*I was warned that one side effect of the Wellbutrin would be “problems with dreams” when I started taking it. What, like nightmares? “No, just more vivid dreams.” Frankly, I’m rather enjoying that side effect.

5

Look at the depression like being a diabetic - some diabetics need insulin, some depressives need antidepressants. Your body does not process seratonin well. Depression meds don’t generally make you feel happy (unless someone prescribes Valium or something for you) - the ALLOW you to feel happy - or at least content (I go for content myself).

Impramine (old school antidepressant, not used for depression any more), Paxil (no side effects, worked fine), Zoloft (didn’t work). Impramine for about a year, Paxil for another two, the Zoloft was a brief period - maybe a month - a few years later. The combination of meds/therapy does seem to be most successful - stay on the meds at least a year, you may be able to go off and never need to go back on - IF you are successful at learning to manage. But some studies have shown a year on the meds gives you a smaller chance of relapse.

Yoga helps me, may or may not help you - but I don’t do it enough. Behavioral Modification Therapy has been more successful that talk therapy for me.

6

It’s mostly the side effects that worry me, so I guess that’s why I say I’m not thrilled about the idea. I’ve never taken anything more than birth control, so I don’t know anything about what to expect in terms of effects.

I’ve been doing yoga for about 4.5 years, so I intend to continue with that, along with sneaking in lunchtime walks. And I’m going to try to cut back on caffeine (I’m a non-sleeping depressive) and fast food. My lifestyle is generally pretty healthy, but the work schedule can make that challenging.

Thanks everyone. It helps to hear about others’ experiences with this.

7
  1. I took Zoloft rather briefly. I did in fact not care about anything – but it was definitely not all that. I wasn’t sad, but I wasn’t happy either. I didn’t get worked up about anything, but it just made the whole world dull. Probably not the right medication for me, but it was prescribed by a GP when I said “I’ve been feeling really down for a long time now with loss of appetite and generally just not wanting/able to force myself to get out of bed.” “I’m going to prescribe you some Zoloft,” he said. And here I was angling for a recommendation to a therapist.

I took St. John’s Wort later on. It’s probably almost entirely psychosomatic, but I found it worked much better than the Zoloft. I felt energized and motivated to go, do, be. I’m advised that it is a slight MAOI, which is apparently what I needed.

  1. I’m bad about taking medication. I’d take the St. John’s Wort when I felt I needed it. I stopped with Zoloft after a few weeks.

  2. I find meditation a marvelous way to get over depression. It brings me back down to earth and rationality and “what are you really worked up over again?”-ness.

  3. I’m bad about advice. I find the best thing to do is to ask yourself what you should do. :slight_smile:

8

I’ve not been active there for a long time, but I’d second this recommendation, it can be a very helpful and mutually supportive place.

9

  1. I’ve been taking Paxil for a couple of years now. No side effects at all.

  2. I started off with a dose of 20 mg, and then increased it recently while I went through a tough phase. I’m tapering off on it now to reduce at least to 20 if not less.

  3. I find yoga and exercise to be really helpful; however, when I’m really down, it’s hard to get motivated to do these activities. Healthy things you can do to help lower stress are good.

  4. I was sexually abused as a child as well. It’s not a lot of fun, and I hope that you can find peace.

Finding a good therapist was really instrumental in getting over a lot of pain and anxiety.

I had a few bumps lately, but for the most part I’m better off now than I had even been before.

I hope the best for you.

10

I’ve taken Zoloft for about a year and I’m happy with the results. I tried Prozac about 12 years ago and that worked as well. I’ve had low- to moderate-depression most of my life and have found that talk therapy doesn’t work.

Several years ago, following a huge life change and some family trauma, my depression became acute. The day I found myself curled up on the floor in my closet with all my coats piled on top of myself was the day I started meds again.

The meds, at least for me, give me the ability to negotiate through the “static.” There are days I feel low, but it’s a normal kind of low and I’m able to think “some days are just like this; tomorrow will be better.” I also don’t catastrophize situations and am far less anxious.

11

I was diagnosed with moderate to severe depression the beginning of last summer (summer 2007). I went on meds for the summer then tried going off the last one, Wellbutrin, this semester after having major memory problems. Unfortunately I am not well enough to go off meds and I am in the process of a medical withdraw from school while I try to get my mind back in order.

  1. I have tried Zoloft (extreme nausea and tiredness), Lexapro (sleeping 12-15 hours straight) and Wellbutrin (memory problems). Wellbutrin was the first med that truly worked, and having the memory problems really really sucked.

I started taking Cymbalta four days ago. No real effects yet except some insomnia.

  1. The Wellbutrin started working in about three weeks. I didn’t notice a difference on the Zoloft (3 weeks) or Lexapro(1 1/2 weeks), but apparently I was very “chipper” when taking Zoloft. As others have mentioned, it wasn’t a state of euphoria. Mostly just the pounding weight of the depression was lifted, and I could feel true emotions as opposed to feeling muted.

  2. Yoga and walking help. I walk extra around campus and take yoga classes when I can. It also really helps to go volunteer at an animal shelter, it’s amazing how much the animal interaction can lift your spirits. Especially when you see a cute puppy or deserving older animal go home with a good family.

  3. Getting help is the biggest step to helping yourself. Also, stay on the meds your doctor prescribes! If you are having problems don’t just stop the meds cold turkey, talk to your doctor. Most side effects are temporary, and if a med just isn’t working then they can help find a different one that might work better.

12

Frankly, there has been no side effect I’ve ever heard about worse than severe depression (I’m a low level depressive nowadays). When I was moderate to severe, I didn’t give a damn if there were memory issues, sexual dysfunction, more sleep, less sleep, tummy issues, headaches - nothing could have been worse than the depression.

On the other hand, the EXCUSE to not take responsibility and not change is HUGE for a lot of depressives, including myself. Depression is a lovely excuse for ‘I don’t feel like it’ and ‘I can’t take responsibility for myself.’ And getting better, if you’ve been depressed for a long time, is scary. Your comfort is with your current emotional state.

13

I think of depression as “the greys.” Like a grey fog over every potentially pleasant thing. Before I was being treated for depression, I could look at something beautiful and would not enjoy it, although I recognized that at some time in the past I might have. Or be in a situation that I knew objectively I should have been happy about, but was not.

I tried everything I could find for a long time – vitamins, exercise, iron, alcohol (not recommended – works for a few hours & then you’re worse than before). I tried a regimen I read about called precursor therapy, which consists of B vitamins, Vitamin C, L-Tyrosine and L-tryptophan. Worked pretty good for a while. Also St. John’s Wort.

Came a time when it wasn’t enough. The greys were very dark, and I felt like I was falling into a well, a deep, black well, about to spiral down into it, and I was clinging to the edge with my fingernails. Waves of fear would come on me. I would sometimes have to go off by myself and just cry for a while, for no particular reason. The day I had a panic attack on the way home from work, and had to sit alone in the dark crying for hours was the last straw and I finally told a doctor. Fortunately, one who listened.

I had to transition off the herbal meds, and started with Paxil, a small dose at first and then an increase. It took some weeks, and when I went for a follow-up to my doctor she right away noticed that I looked better, and it was obvious to her that I felt better. We found the right dose and I have been taking it ever since. Side effects? I think it makes my digestive system more sensitive, but not enough to be more than occasionally inconvenient. I plan to take this for the rest of my life and am very glad somebody invented it.

Upon reflection and discussion with my sister, we have determined that this disease probably runs in the family. Both of us have it. Our mother, from what we recall, probably suffered from depression, but back in the old days of course nobody would talk about such a thing. We remember one time both of us being sent to Grandmom’s for a couple weeks for no reason that we were told about, during a time when things must have been very stressful for her, as our father was recovering from a near-fatal auto accident. She also used alcohol more than she should have in her later years. She was very good at hiding her feelings.

We don’t know about my mother’s siblings or parents because of the aforesaid ancient shame of having mental illness. However, both of us have it, as do one of my daughters, my niece and my great-niece. It didn’t seem to have affected my nephew or my great-nephew, so our theory is that there is some genetic component in our family that is carried mother to daughter but not mother to son. (This is based on a very small sample size, though, so the theory is of course suspect. )

There is no abuse of any kind in my history, and I am convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that my particular illness is a chemical imbalance related to the processing or production of serotonin or something similar. I don’t go for any psychotherapy. The medical treatment is quite sufficient; it takes away the fog so that I can cope with problems using ordinary coping mechanisms that didn’t work at all before.

One problem is that the real Paxil is no longer available. It’s out of patent protection and all you can get is generics. I find that several of the generics simply do not work well for me. I had to try different brands to find one that approximated the “real thing.” As others have said it’s important to note that these medications are NOT “happy pills.” They don’t make you wild and crazy, or inappropriately ecstatic. They just let you be normal.

One more thing: It’s important to consult with an expert in your particular situation. One danger is taking antidepressants if you have bipolar disorder. BP is a much more difficult problem to diagnose and to treat, and can actually be made worse if the sufferer is treated only for the depressive side of the illness.

14

I was also sexually abused as a very small girl and yes, it most assuredly did play a huge role in my depression. I underwent treatment for about four years, including a lot of counseling, and anti-depressants. Because my depression had a clear trigger, I have not needed to remain on them although as others have pointed out, there’s certainly no shame in being on a necessary drug.

For me, Prozac ended up being the best choice after trying several others. I do want to disagree with Dangerosa on one thing–while on Paxil, my anxiety levels were far, far, **FAR **worse than what I was already feeling. After just three days of feeling really truly crazy and out of control, I saw my doctor and told him we had to find something else. At that point, I preferred to be on nothing than feel so out of control.

Yes, Prozac did have the usual side effects-- loss of sexual energy, I also gained weight, things like that. But–and here I’m agreeing with Dangerosa–those side effects were nothing compared to the depression and anxiety I was experiencing.

Altogether I was on the Paxil briefly, then a combo of Anafranil and Xanax, then off the Anafranil and on Prozac instead. After a couple of years of that combo, my psych had me wean off the Xanax and take Klonopin (that was not a fun few weeks). I went off all drugs within four years of having started the whole journey. I didn’t incorporate exercise at the time since my eating disorder (anorexia) was massively triggered during all of this and I was at a dangerously low weight initially.

If you are physically able to work out (ie no restrictions from your health care professionals), then yes, I would recommend you either start or continue programs like yoga, walking, or Pilates. I do yoga three times a week now, which is most helpful and as a side effect I stay connected to my body (had trouble with that during treatment, I’d look down and not realize those were my arms). I also run three times a week which is a FAR better stress relieve than the Xanax ever was :wink:

Good luck, feel free to IM if you want to.

15

Well, there I will completely agree! If your medication makes you less stable (more depressed, more anxious) than the side effects aren’t worth it - if your depression is more or less a stable state where you aren’t endangering yourself.

One of the NICE things about antidepressants is there isn’t a doctor in the world (ok, there are probably actually a few out there) who thinks that one antidepressant fits all - so when you start one you generally aren’t given a prescription and shoved out the door - hopefully at least your doctor and you are working with a therapist who can track the medications efficacy and side effects, even if you aren’t regularly seeing the prescribing M.D.

16

I’ve taken Prozac and Wellbutrin, both at their maximum dosages and at the same time (severe depression, much?). So, yes, I did see some side effects.

The two most noticeable side effects- weight gain and lowered libido. Now, for me, the lowered libido was not a problem, because I apparently have an insane sex drive comparable to that of a 14 year-old boy’s, so it just made me normal.

The weight gain bothered me.* I realized later, when taking Wellbutrin by itself and not experiencing the weight gain, it was most likely the Prozac. Research later confirmed that Wellbutrin has a lower incidence of weight gain than Prozac.

But, as others have said, not all antidepressants work the same way for everyone, so you might not see any bad side effects, or you might have a temporary side effect like nausea (which I had with Depakote, but I believe that’s a mood stabilizer or some other class of drugs, not an antidepressant).

Talk with your doctor, try it out. If you are forewarned (weight gain and sexual problems seem to be the most common side effects I’ve heard of) you might be able to mitigate the effects- changing your diet or exercising more if you notice the scale creep up a few pounds or your pants get a little tight.

I was on them for maybe 2 years. My parents could no longer afford health insurance, so paying for them was nearly impossible. But I still needed them, and later went back on Wellbutrin for a little less than a year. I stopped because it just wasn’t doing enough for me, I felt better but not enough. I’m going to see my psychiatrist again to see if we can try a different drug this time.

I’ve found exercise to be absolutely wonderful… if I can manage to force myself to do it. But, with meds and therapy and other support, it is a lot easier. Yoga is great, too. I usually do some combination of running and then yoga afterwards, sometimes with some strength training thrown in, too. The running definitely gives me that runner’s high, the yoga just a wonderful sense of well-being, plus it keeps away those annoying little aches and pains you hardly notice.

Another thing I’ve found to be really helpful, somewhat related to yoga, is posture. I realized one day when a friend pointed it out, that I had abysmal posture. So I made a conscious effort to stand tall, keep my chin up, all day long. I felt, for the first few days, like I was trying to hold a yoga pose all day. But I got used to it, and after a week or so I noticed I really felt a lot better about myself. I looked better, too. Of course, I kind of forgot all about that with my most recent depressive episode, so my posture sucks again. But that’s something I found really effective to keep my mood up on a day to day basis.

Here’s hoping you find something that works for you. Good luck.

*In the interests of full disclosure, I gained 90 pounds. It still pisses me off, because I haven’t gotten rid of all of it. Now, like I said, I was taking very high doses- the highest milligram pill available of both Prozac and Wellbutrin. Twice a day. You probably won’t be taking that high of a dosage.