Posted by bleauberry on May 17, 2009, at 18:54:27
In reply to Hospital -in or out ?, posted by cee on May 17, 2009, at 13:32:06
Unfortunately a hospital rarely produces any good results. It isn't their job. Their job is to "stabilize" the patient, and make room for the next one.
Sometimes they get lucky. I know a guy who attempted suicide, was hospitalized, and a week later was doing remarkably well after they started him on Prozac.
I've been hospitalized. Not a good place to be, unless you like being in PJs 24/7, locked up from the world, living in a hallway that never has enough light, hope is nowhere to be found, and cared for (or not) by nurses and pdocs who are there to get their residency training fullfilled. I was in a major hospital and I swear the so-called experts didn't seem to know any more than a Nurse Practitioner.
I have since found that Nurse Practitioners with a license in psychiatry are more creative and intuitive that pdocs. Their training and daily practice is more rounded with the whole body and not just psychiatrict prescription pads. It was mine for example, after all psych meds and ECT and hospital, who said, "Gee, I wonder if you have Lyme disease?" Why the heck did no one else ask that question in the previous 15 years? And she also asked to see my teeth...looking for silver (mercury) fillings, which she found huge ones, and had them removed. And she suspected my adrenal glands were shot which would prevent most meds from reaching their potential, and the lab test showed she was correct.
A better option is to scratch your pdoc and get a second or third opinion from someone completely new. In that move is much greater hope and much greater chance of progress.
It is also a good idea to get an MD who is trained in natural, homeopathy, and alternative treatments. Not that you would necessarily do any of those treatments, but these MDs look for causes of your depression that are way beyond what a regular pdoc or MD would do. Adrenals, thyroid, infections, heavy metals, unknown intolerances, etc. And they usually put you on a good lifestyle management program of diet and such that in itself can win you a couple points on the 1-10 depression scale.
Get a new doc. Stay out of the hospital. Force yourself into the sun for walks. The absolute worst thing to do is what feels natural...that is, hibernate and isolate. It is a terrific force, rarely any fun, tedious, meaningless, and hard, but it is extremely important to get out of the house. Go to the mall and window shop, walk around, get a snack. Drive to a scenic landmark. Take a hike. Go with someone somewhere to do something. Pull weeds. Vacuum the car. Wash windows. Anything. Everything. Just take little steps and do something, forced as it is. None of these things will cure you, but they do serve the purpose of halting the depression from getting worse, and can even partially reverse it for the better.
Diet goes a long way to win a point or two as well. Heavy on raw or slightly cooked veggies, all the time, every meal, good fruits every meal, proteins, omega fats from free-roam eggs, walnuts, avocados, whole grains, flax oil, plenty of purified water, very little sugar and keep caffeine consumption low to modest. And take a high potency dose of probiotics (50billion to 150billion per day).
Fighting stubborn depression bad enough to think hospital requires a multi-pronged approach much broader than any pill. You gotta do everything perfect for the body to give those pills something to work with.
Start with a new doc. For meds, consider combinations that hit both serotonin and norepinephrine, such as Zoloft+Nortriptyline, Savella (awesome med that worked for this ECT failure), Celexa+Nortriptyline, add Zyprexa or Risperdal, Prozac+Zyprexa. Those meds and combos would in my opinion be high priorities.
And one final thing. With any and all meds, insist on and pay the extra price for brand names. Refuse generics. My doc has had countless patients deteriorate on generics after being fine on brand. So stack the odds in your favor. You need every single opportunity of success you can get, and brand vs generic is one of them.
poster:bleauberry
thread:896272
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090515/msgs/896321.html