Posted by SLS on August 18, 2009, at 6:02:21
In reply to my new Dx, posted by floatingbridge on August 17, 2009, at 20:59:32
> Well, the prognosis for that is not great. He said we have to get you in remission and keep you there. Lithium at low doses was a possible nueroprotector--
> but he also said most ad's like pristiq also have some of that quality.
Yes, but I believe that this occurs ONLY when they work. In fact, when they work, they seem to reverse much of the tissue loss that the illness is responsible for. If I am wrong about the neuroprotection, perhaps Linkadge can correct me and shed some more light on this.
> I'm in shock right now, with new reading to do. I don't even understand what depression is, really.
Either sadness or lack of interest is considered necessary for MDD to be diagnosed if one goes by the DSM IV. Personally, I think the diagnostic protocol suggested by the DSM is primordial for depressive disorders when compared to the personality disorders that it describes. It is disgraceful.
In your case, I am not sure that it really matters if you are MDD or BD, the treatment is not terribly different. Even the use of "mood stabilizers" can be justified in MDD if it is refractory to treatment. Your illness might fit somewhere in the bipolar spectrum. There are presentations of bipolar disorder where it is only depression that emerges. You will see this as a diagnostic subtype in the next DSM.
MDD is not a death sentence. It tends to be more treatable than BD.
> In reading Wikipedia, seems I've moved from a younger atypical, to now, as I've gotten older, a melancholic depression.
I was taught that it was the other way around.
> Two questions:
>
> 1) How long can one treat depression with 55mg of dexedrine a day? (plus klonopin + pristiq)I am not sure what you are asking here. Do you have any specific concerns?
> 2) Do MAOI's provide any neuroprotection? Even healing? (I've been depressed a long, long time)Again, this probably depends upon whether or not it works to resolve the depression. I don't know where I heard this, but I was once told that MAOIs can actually slow down the aging process. I'm not sure what was meant by that, though. Apoptosis perhaps?
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:912700
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090818/msgs/912770.html