Posted by Walfredo on December 27, 2009, at 2:53:25
In reply to Help w/ atypical depression? (my first post here), posted by Walfredo on December 24, 2009, at 4:03:22
Hey guys,
I'm back. Holiday functions have prevented me from checking back in until now. I hope a few of you might be willing to hop back into this discussion a bit. I appreciate all the feedback I have gotten so far, especially Ace and bleauberry have gone above and beyond. bleauberry sounds like an MD! I'm gonna try to get into answering all the specific questions that were thrown my way. I also have a few follow-up questions to some comments that were made.
One other potential factor I failed to mention in my initial post is the whole Mitral Valve Prolapse issue which is pretty controversial/debated in itself. Long story short, I have a very mild case (nothing threatening as far as heart structure goes) but apparently this disorder may or may not be related to a specific form of nervous system dysfunction that (if its really a legitimate disorder/link) correlates pretty strongly with my set of symptoms - fatigue is my number one complaint and that seems to be consistent with MVP-syndrome. I get the sticking/stabbing chest pains, etc. Still, even if I do have this MVPS, they say that like 70% of MVPS patients are also depressed so depression is likely still a major factor with me. Anyone unfamiliar with this disorder should check out: http://www.mitralvalveprolapse.com/
-As far as Paxil withdrawal went, yes it was pretty much hell. Basically, mine consisted of extreme worsening of my depressive symptoms - those I have already mentioned (energy, concentration, memory etc.)
-For my Nardil trial, how fast did I go up to 60 mg? Jus checked. I was one 60 mg for just at 2 weeks. I think my thinking was that (after reading on here) optimal dose probably equal to body weight in kg. So, that would be approaching 90+. I figured it was probably safe to go up to 60 pretty quickly. I stayed there for close to 5 weeks with no noticeable improvement. And yes, I split doses (half in morning/half 12 hours later). I did not take any other medications in conjunction with it. I have always been about taking the least possible medications. Also, I wanted to get a good baseline for what effects, if any, Nardil would have. In hindsight, I could have probably tried taking something to sleep better but the thought of having to take a pill to sleep scares the hell out of me and seems completely unnatural. My heart goes out to anyone with true insomnia because I experienced it on Nardil and it was a terrible experience.
-As far as the abilify goes...I said I may feel slightly worse. If so, it is marginally worse, but there is certainly no improvement. I have been at 5 mg for 10 days now. And defending my doc's choice at going here, I feel like she maybe wanted to get a baseline for what Abilify would do for me alone before possibly using it on conjunction with something else.
-As far as sleep deprivation goes, someone asked if there was any "rebound depression". Yes, whenever I go back to sleep is the simple answer.
-Ace, I know you are a major proponent of Nardil (you;'re the "Nardil King" right? Yes, I have seen some of those posts). My drawback with them has been the side effects. I want to find something that works with the least severe side effect profile as possible. If MAOI's are all that can work for me, I may try to tolerate the side effects but as of now, there are other options and my experience with MAOI side effects was miserable. Couldn't sleep. Couldn't get get an erection (sorry to be blunt). Not to mention having to take it twice daily and the diet. Just way too high maintenance considering there are other options and considering Paxil did work for me once.
-Someone asked if I had tried Wellbutrin. Yes I have in conjunction with Lexapro. I think my doc was trying to recreate a Serotonin/NE combo since I had success with Paxil. This did nothing for me. And oddly, Lexapro upset my stomach pretty good while its supposed to have some of the least side effects from what I hear.
-I am curious to hear more theories about Lyme depression and/or candida. Candida couldn't really be a major cause considering the chronic and longstanding nature of my issues though I would think. I sort of feel the same about Lyme though I admittedly know very little about it. I will say that I have a first cousin who has similar "issues" and as far as the family knew, he has/had "Lyme disease" though his symptoms and behavior (became basically agoraphobic from what I understand) suggest more depressive symptomology. From what I gather, he was oversleeping a lot too (like me) so we seem to have similar experiences to some extent. But what are the odds, ticks are responsible for both our experiences, right? Seems dubious.
-bleauberry, why do you suggest sampling hydrocodone? Just curious. Is it supposed to have some anti-depressant qualities? Was this something to do with the opioid receptor deal?
-bleauberry, you also mentioned that you could create a "whole new topic explaining how to easily test biological causes"...so, like, what's stopping you? =)
Thanks again to all of you who have helped with feedback. Knowledge is power and you all are definitely smart and anything you can impart is much appreciated.
Cheers,
Alex
poster:Walfredo
thread:930645
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20091217/msgs/931064.html