I'm Doomed.. Is There Anyway Out of This? Posted: 01-19-06 22:24pm
Hi everyone, i'm 20 and have been
depressed for about 2 years, and within
the past six months i've taken a huge ride
down to deeper and deeper depression to
the point where i'm not really functional
anymore and have even had to quit college
and abandon what was a promising career
with a big company.
I've tried counselling, psychologists,
psychiatrists, prozac, celexa, remeron,
even st johns wort.. Nothing at all has
even slowed it down. I just feel
completely doomed and nothing at all seems
to work. Ive had it, and dont see any way
out at all.
I open my old yearbooks and see how I was
popular, well-liked, voted 'most likely to
succeed' by my graduating high school
class... So much for that I guess. I
just dont know what went wrong and what to
do.
Please anyone, is there anything else at
all that I can do? I just feel my life is
ruined beyond repair
|
darlene1956
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 20 Jan 2006 Posts: 1 Location: Missouri
Doomed? Posted: 01-21-06 02:59am
I'm not a doctor but I have pretty much
experience with depression.
What happened two years ago to make you so
depressed? Lets start there I think I
might have some answers for you.
Darlene
|
sgraider
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 19 Jan 2006 Posts: 4
Posted: 01-22-06 00:53am
Well that's one of the most frustrating
things, I honestly have no idea why i've
become depressed or how/why it all
started. A lot of my time with both
counselors and psychologists was trying to
figure out some reason, but we never could
find a reason.. Just seems to have
started out of nowhere... And its not in
my family either.
My current psychiatrist seems convinced
that it has to be a physical thing with
seratonin and all.. But no meds seem to
work. I've had all sorts of tests, even
met with a neurologist to get an eeg to
rule out neuro stuff.. My docs are
stumped, and my second opinion docs can't
do anything.
I guess its part of being depressed, but I
feel completely hopeless now.. I was
hopeful with all these docs and tests and
meds that somethin would work?
|
cut-alone92
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 21 Jan 2006 Posts: 17 Location: Kansas
Thanks: 1
Thanked:0
Posted: 01-22-06 01:03am
I don't know if this will help or not but
try to think about things that make you
feel truely happy.Not things that make you
sort of happy or ok but things that make
you feel true bliss.Think of things that
make you enjoy like and then think of the
things that are making you feel so
depressed and why they are making you feel
so depressed.Also this helped me...Try
meditation...Just focuss on the things
that are upsetting you or making you mad
at the time and just let them disapear and
let them shrink down and not take up so
much room.I know I am saying this yet i'm
a cutter but I guess its still good
advice...Meditation does help me sometimes
if i'm not extremely upset or mad but when
i'm extremely upset or mad I do cut.
-danielle
|
sgraider
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 19 Jan 2006 Posts: 4
Posted: 01-23-06 00:30am
Thanks for the reply danielle, yep
meditation and prayer works to calm me
down whenever I start to really break
down, so youre definitely right about
that.
The frustrating thing with me is that I
don't even feel joy anymore.. I can have
my favorite meal, favorite dessert, watch
a movie or tv show I like, but for the
life of me I just can't experience
pleasure anymore.. My doc said it sounds
like "anhedonia", which I guess might be
true, but I dont know what to do with
it.
Maybe its unfair, but to be honest ive
lost confidence in doctors and in
medicine; sure there are millions of bucks
going into these drugs and all the things
I read say that most depression responds
well, but nothing seems to help me.
|
7462
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 18 Jan 2006 Posts: 5
Similar Posted: 01-23-06 18:57pm
Hi sgraider,
the similar thing happened with me. I am
20 and a few years ago I got really
depressed. I stopped going to school and
I just felt like death was the right
answer. I saw doctors, had ect, meds. I
was sent to live at a residental home for
people with mental illness. There (for
six months) I went to therapy everyday-
group and individual. I finished four
months ago and now I am back at college.
I still often feel like caca but being in
a supportive environment helped. I
wouldnt suggest this though- but if you
think you need it!
Ask your doctor about ect and maois. I
also try herbs too like kava kava, 5-htp,
wort stuff. They dont work for me but
maybe they will work for you. Ask your
doctor about atypical depression. Dont
give up! Keep updating.
|
sgraider
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 19 Jan 2006 Posts: 4
Posted: 01-30-06 01:03am
Thanks for the replies... So my meds
history is:
prozac, celexa, depakote, remeron... And
now ive been switched to wellbutrin. Whew
quite a ride its been, and so far nothing
but more depression.. But I guess I have
no choice but to try something else. I
really dont have much hope though to be
honest
|
jellyfishattack
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 10 Jan 2006 Posts: 15 Location: Toronto, Ontario
Time to Try Combinations of Drugs. Posted: 03-21-06 02:55am
Sgraider,
when you've tried 3 or 4 antidepressants,
you will not respond to just one drug.
You need to try a combination. You've got
'treatment resistant depression'.
You should be put on one antidepressant
first and either 50 micrograms of t3 -
brand name cytomel, or lithium. In the
1960's lithium was found to both
potentiate and accelerate the response to
antidepressants, and cytomel was found to
have the same effect in the late
60's/early 70's. Try the cytomel first.
T3 works better than t4 and you have to
take at least 50 micrograms for it to
work. If that doesn't work, then you add
another antidepressant (usually the
antidepressants with different ways of
working). If a combination of 2
antidepressants (the ssris, tricyclics,
etc) doesn't work, then you should switch
one or both antidepressants, trying the
rimas (reversable inhibitors of mao) such
as moclobemide, and the old maois. You
may need to take more than the max
recommended dose with any or all of the
antidepressants.
Atypical depression - good idea 7462, it
responds better to some drugs and combos
than others.
If you're depressed and have 2 or more of
the following you have atypical
depression: anxiety, excessive sleeping,
increased appetite, social phobia, leaden
paralysis.
I take - wellbutrin 300mg, celexa 30mg,
cytomel 50micrograms, imovane 7.5mg,
alertec 20mg. I took 17 different
antidepressants, one after another. They
did nothing, but this combo makes me
almost completely normal. It's like a
miracle. Don't give up, just insist on a
referal to a psychiatrist who specializes
in drug therapy for treatment resistant
depression. A hospital 'mood disorders
clinic' is your best bet. These
psychiatrists don't do talk therapy, they
just diagnose and prescribe and leave the
therapy to your normal psychiatrist.
It's late, so i've probably forgot
something or am confusing. Write back,
i'll answer. I can point you to actual
journal articles that support this stuff
from medline. It's a good idea to get
informed - it's the easiest way to get a
referal :)
whoops, I forgot - take b vitamens, esp.
Folate and fish oils (or just eat a lot of
fish). Antidepressants may not work
without these.
|
emmiebg
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 03 Apr 2006 Posts: 4
Re: I'm Doomed.. Is There Anyway Out of This? Posted: 04-03-06 23:52pm
Hi--- I had been clinically depressed all
of my life and had no idea what was
"wrong" with me, until I basically had a
breakdown at work(teaching-thank god the
kids hadn't gotten there yet) it seemed
like it took forever(and I mean forever)
for something to work for me- I was
noticing in your list of meds that there
are some really effective antidepressants
that you didn't list-maybe just because
you had already listed plenty and you
didn't need to list more. For me, the
first thing I had to find was a super
psychiatrist and there happened to be one
who worked with the same practice as the
therapist I was seeing at the time.
In the past, i've had friends who were
getting help and got some really great
recommendations from them. I know that,
for me, I had an underlying chronic
illness, in fact, two of them, and in
addition to peeling myself out of bed to
get to the psychdoc's, I was so exhausted
that I had to sleep almost constantly, as
I had completely over-depleted my energy
(energy? What's that?)
i know that, for me, the psychdoc had to
give me major med for anxiety, as well as
for the clinical depression. (please
keep in mind that I was 44 or so before I
ever even realized that these things were
a diagnosis for me- I knew that I never
seemed to feel like anyone around me did,
didn't really care to be around people,
because what they seemed to like to talk
about didn't interest me, and just
generally felt like I never "fit in." as a
child, my father would reprimand me for
"never being happy." he was right, as far
as my never feeling happy. As for the
anxiety, I just knew that I constantly
worried, always felt "imposter's syndrome"
with any job,
did my darnedest to be a major
perfectionist and had panic attacks during
which I thought that I was suffocating.
I doubt that i'm helping you much, but my
intent is to help. If there
were suggestions that I might make, the
first one would be find an excellent
psychiatrist. If you have to ask
everyone in town, go to "interview"
potential psychiatrists, ask a friend in
the medical field for a recommendation.
But by hook or by crook, find a super
psychiatrist.
Then I would suggest that you and your
psychdoc work to find out your true
diagnosis, i.E., whether there are two
things that you suffer from, etc.
Third, I would cry as much as I needed to,
scream as much as I needed to, hit a
pillow as much as I needed to, etc. I
would do this at whatever step felt right
for me.
All the while, i'd be trying whatever the
psychdoc prescribed and make weekly or
twice weekly appointments to check in with
them so that they could see how I was
doing with the particular meds he/she had
prescribed,
keeping in mind that most meds can easily
take a month or a bit more to
take effect.
I would tell them of my total frustration
and lack of anything helping, and let them
offer some support and reassurance to
you.
(i have these all out of order- I would do
this first-sorry!)
i would call the mental health hotline and
talk with them as often as I needed
to--they might even have a referral list
that they could give you,or maybe your
regular physician has one.
And all the while, I would pat myself on
the back for having the courage to
reach out and continue reaching out for
help. I really appreciate your honesty.
