Posted by Bill L on March 25, 2001, at 21:18:52
In reply to I would bet I have worked harder than you, posted by Bradley on March 25, 2001, at 16:19:58
I agree with you that we are behind where we should be. But it's changing. In recent years drug companies have been working very hard on treatments for depression and related conditions. It's turning out that there is a large overlap in treatments for ADD, depression, anxiety, OCD, fibromyalsia, etc.
These drugs are basically just trial and error. Aspirin was trial and error also. I think that although there is LOTS of room for improvement, that a really good doc can help pick out the right drug combo (eventually) from today's drugs to treat depressive symptoms and help with the AD's side effects with practically any patient.
You mentioned that you have tried a lot of AD's. I hope you don't give up. Call a teaching (University) hospital and make an appointment. It might be expensive but you might only need a couple of visits to come up with the best drug combo.
You might be right that the endocrine system turns out to be the main culprit. Estrogen replacement often helps the mood of para and post menopausal women. Thyroid replacement (especially T3) makes some people feel better even if they had "normal" TSH levels to begin with.
So docs have looked at hormones but there very well be important stuff about hormone treatment for depression that has not been discovered. I'll bet you that even when the drug companies finally do come up with revolutionary new treatments, that they still won't really know why they work.
I personally went through lots of stuff. I am currently having very good results from a combo of SAM-e and Celexa. Once again, please do not give up.
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> I don't mean to be confrontational. Sure the more treatments a person tries the odds of finding help increase. But what many of us have had to go through is way beyond extreme. I have really lost count of how many treatments and docs I have gone through. My frustration is where we are with mental health treatment. I think it is far behind where it ought to be. The reasons for this are many. Limited amount of funds addressing this area is a big factor. Little focus on the endocrine system does'nt help. Where do you think the future of treatments is headed? It was'nt that long ago that your upbringing was blamed for a persons mental health problems. At least we have progressed beyond that. Current nuero transmitter theories do not explain a large percentage of mental health disorders. Although now my particular disorder is diagnosed as atypical refractory depression, one day it will not be. It will be found to be an endocrine disorder and treated properly. Current research( HPA axis function, cortisol imbalances, androgen role in mood, nuerosteroid fuction,etc.)is addressing different causes of mood disorders, but it is slow slow slow. Yes I envy people that are'nt stuck in this nightmare. I think I can see your perspective, try on my shoes and millions of others and you will find them uncomfortable.
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> > > Of course you don't see the chaos of mental health treatment, you are one of the few lucky ones that find something that helps. There are millions of us that are'nt succefully treated. You don't hear to much from us because we don't have the energy to do much. We usually just die.
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> > No I am not the few, I would say all my close friends are mentally ill and have sucess with their treaatments. Support groups I have attended indicate 50-60 % of people get better on the first or second meds they try (depression). What I see is that those who say "I'm sick, help me" and then wait remain sick. Those who have a negative view of mental helth providers do poorly.
> > If your care is in a state of choas, change it. Seek out others who do well and find out what they do and what docs they see. Don't envy me, nothing magic happened, I just worked hard at getting well. You have to educate and advocate for yourself. I have walked out of several docs offices on a first meeting because they were weong for me. If you are staying with bad docs or docs that are no helping you then it is your fault
> > fore waisting your time.
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> > Pat
poster:Bill L
thread:57231
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010319/msgs/57526.html