OT: Depression

Caryn,

I don't believe that I suffer from clinical depression. Sure, some days are downers, and even a week , but I get over it. Maybe you are not a depressive either!!

However, I have for years had the problem of waking at 2-3 in the am, and not going back to sleep for 2-3 hours. Then I woke up, tired and bitchy!! I used to take a benadryl before I went to bed, and that helped me to go back to sleep again.

Then I was given a BP med that didn't get along with the benadryl. When I explained why I was taking the benadryl, the Doctor prescribed the lowest dose of Elavil, to be taken at bedtime. I have taken this for the last ten years, and have found that if I wake up, I am back to sleep within 15 minutes or so.

Maybe this would help?? The generic is amytriptaline, and is not expensive!! Gillian

I took amytriptaline as a therapy for migraine headaches several years ago. My husband loved it because I never got angry or upset, and I slept like a log! I had forgotten about the sleep effect!

I, too, feel that I suffer from depression. I don't feel that I want to deal with doctors and medications and the like, so I deal with it on my own. I have learned how to deal with down days, sometimes I just let myself cry. Sometimes I just ignore the world and sit at my sewing machine or in front of my drawing board....

But I agree, many people don't understand depression and it's wide variety of symptoms..how it affects each individual in a different way. There's no black and white on this topic...so I'm staying decidedly gray!

Dannielle

You have probably already jumped through these hoops, but if not it might be worthwhile to take part in a sleep study. Apparently more doctors are coming to understand that sleep deprivation and sleep disorders can cause depression, just as much as the other way around. My doctor said to me, "Let's get you sleeping so you can see how you feel without that deprivation!" And when I slept, I felt better.

Also, and this is really off the wall, a friend recommended spirulina as a way to ward off colds. The third day of using it, I suddenly realized I felt cheerful! This was the first time in a very long time, and I almost didn't recognize the emotion because it was so unusual for me. Nothing that I had read or been told about spirulina mentioned depression, so I don't think it was the placebo effect.

I have continued to take it, 2 tablets twice a day, and the depression of 25 years is virtually gone. I still have an occasional day when it recurs, but most of my days are now --- cheerful---!!

I don't explain 'em, I just report 'em!

Pat in Illinois

Many people who really have CFS are diagnosed with depression because their doctors don't know how to differentiate. Or, turning that around, people who have been diagnosed with depression may, in fact, have CFS.

There are some overlapping symptoms, but there are also a number of things (including blood tests) that can determine whether you have CFS or depression. CFS has a particular "signature" on a full-scale psych evaluation that is very different from the signature of depression.

I've been evaluated by several psych experts, all of whom outright rejected my PCP's assessment of depression as the mistake of an amateur untrained in proper psych diagnosis. My initial diagnosis came from a CFS researcher, who got it right. It was confirmed by several rheumatologists. The PCP wrote off the CFS as "self-diagnosed", so he could substitute his wrong diagnosis for their expertise.

It is possible to have CFS and be sufficiently functional to work full-time -- I did it for 12 years after my diagnosis; I had periodic relapses, but for the most part, I was OK, as long as I made sure to spend at least one full day a week resting on the couch with my stitching. So, don't let your PCP tell you that it can't be CFS just because you're not entirely bedridden -- that's not the diagnostic criteria. Just like any other disease, there are mild cases, and full-blown cases, and everything in-between.

If you don't have the emotional symptoms required for a depression diagnosis, check Co-Cure.org for a CFS doctor in your area. I was wrongly treated with anti-depressants (which are useless for CFS

*without* depression), and the delay in getting proper treatment means I will never work full-time again, no matter how hard I try -- the damage is permanent.

I take Desyrel/Trazodone, it's a quadracycliate (sp?) while Elavil is a tricycliate (again sp?). It has a bit fewer of the side effects, less dry mouth, less weight gain (not that you'd know it looking at my soft midsection! LOL).

I started on Elavil while a teen, but got switched to the Trazodone when it came out. It works wonderfully for me.

Caryn

It can also make you feel poll axed for the rest of the day! Fortunately lack of sleep is something that rarely affects me, but Amytriptaline has a terrible affect on me, my husband AND my daughter, who`ve all tried it!

It must do SOMEONE some good, or they wouldn`t make it - but do be careful!

If I DO have a sleepless night, warm milk with a shot of whisky works as well as anything, for me.

John wakes up every hour and just keeps a book of crossword puzzles by the bed - after our experiences with Amytrip. he won`t take sleeping pills unless totally desperate. He does have some which get him off to sleep, but he`s thrashing around all night even whilst asleep, so is still exhausted in the morning.

How come he can sleep fine in his favourite armchair, though?

Pat P

As long as it works for you, that is what counts. I have absolutely no side effects from the Elavil; No extra weight gain, fuzzy mouth etc. My current Dr had asked about that a few years back when he took over my health care. In fact he was talking about it just last week. One of the very unusual side effects is some heart fluttering in older patients. Since I am 70 next month, we ran an EKG to check. His message with the negative results was " It works so well for you, keep on taking it!"

Gillian

Sniped

Perhaps he is more comfortable in that position with his head and shoulders elevated. Some people seem to breath more comfortably in a semi reclining position. People who are prone to acid reflux defiantly sleep better in a semi reclining position. ruby

When I was 12 I was diagnosed as having low level, long term, major depression. I had to be hospitalized till the medication kicked in and I was no longer crying constantly.

Depressi>It occurs to me that depression is being as misunderstood by some here

To heck with the warm milk...just take the shot of whiskey! *grin*

I have several nights that I sleep better in my armchair or on the couch in a semi-sitting position. I managed to rearrange my pillows on my bed for a few nights that gave me nearly the same elevation as the armchair, and it was fantastic! Maybe it's the position he's in in the chair or that his chair has molded so nicely to his shape? Who knows...as long as it works!

Dannielle

You`re right - that`s the only way he COULD sleep when he was so ill with heart failure a couple of years ago. I used to settle him down in his chair with his feet up on a stool and a quilt wrapped round him. We tried elevating the top of the bed but he just slides down until he`s flat again!

Oh for the days when beds had a head AND a foot, so at least you had something to push against if you slid down too far! ;-)

It`s a wonder I can sleep at all - he talks, laughs and sings in his sleep - at least he sounds happy! Once I get off to sleep it would take a bomb to wake me, fortunately - meanwhile I always have the radio on or Beethoven`s Pastorale blasting out on the CD player! It`s the one time when I`m glad that John`s profoundly deaf - I can have the volume up as loud as I like!

All the same, any STRANGE sound wakes me instantly - for instance the dog , in the kitchen, quietly howled in her sleep the other night. I shot out of bed and went to see if she was OK, but she was still sound asleep and obviously just dreaming

Pat P

Oh but Pat, there are some gorgeous beds with heads and feet now! Have you seen them? Yeah, I know, who wants to spend the money on one now. I happen to have a canopy style with a head and foot and I do love it! The sleighs look real nice too....

I used to stay awake at night listening to my DH sleep. He would stop breathing every few minutes and I'd wait until he either woke himself up and started breathing again or I'd poke him in the side and wake him up enough to get him breathing. Finally got to a doctor and realized that the poor guy has sleep apnea. He hadn't really reached a good sleep state for years! No wonder his eyes looked black! Now that he has a CPAP, I sleep like a log! (Except now that DD is here, I spend a lot of time listening for her. Couldn't hear a dog, a car or anything else though...those are all white noise to me!)

Dannielle

What is spirulina? Where do you get it?

Health food store.

I have been diagnosed with dysthmia - long term, low grade depression. Antidepresants ahve been a lifesaver. However, I can't take any antidepressant for too long, or it stops working. But it seems I can switch back and forth every four months or so and the drugs are effective. Right now, I am switching between Lexapro and Zoloft. When I start to get too testy and grumpy, it's time to switch. anyone else have this problem?

I have been diagnosed with dysthmia - long term, low grade depression. Antidepresants ahve been a lifesaver. However, I can't take any antidepressant for too long, or it stops working. But it seems I can switch back and forth every four months or so and the drugs are effective. Right now, I am switching between Lexapro and Zoloft. When I start to get too testy and grumpy, it's time to switch. anyone else have this problem?

Actually a fairly common problem with a lot of medications -- you build up a tolerance to them and they stop working.

I know you have a QVC UK and here they sell this great five position pillow. Maybe you have it on your QVC also:

and paste this URL

Spirulina is blue-green algae and I think you can get it wherever they sell health supplements. It is really like a food supplement, basically mostly protein and lots of antioxidants. Everything I read says it is totally benign and doesn't interact with anything.

Not affiliated with anybody that makes it, just pleased with its results.

Pat > What is spirulina? Where do you get it?

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