Posted by bleauberry on April 24, 2010, at 18:48:26
In reply to Re: Nardil failing - bedridden, depressed, suicidal ed, posted by Enigma on April 23, 2010, at 18:30:32
This is a tough story. I mean, we all have some rough stories, but I can usually see some reasonable promising things to do. In your case I find myself thinking real hard. It's an unusually tough scenario. But here are some thoughts to share.
I do not believe making progress will happen if pills are the primary focus. In other words, it must be a comprehensive approach, where pills are merely one piece of a larger gameplan.
As for the pills, one of my doctors happens to deal with many patients who are very sensitive to drug side effects. They all happen to have Lyme. Not to get sidetracked, but have you ever been exposed to ticks? Forget the testing, doesn't work, long story, but just thought I would mention Lyme looks exactly like what you are describing. Doesn't mean it is, just worth mentioning in case no one else ever brought it up to you. Back on topic, sensitive patients are not only sensitive to the side effects, but to the therapeutic effects as well. Every heard of someone doing well on 1mg of lexapro? Well, my doctor does that kind of thing with success.
Here is a for-example: A potent all-around combo is zoloft+nortriptyline. You've probably been on both. But did you take them at the same time? Probably not. Did you take them at doses where adverse events did not happen? Probably not. Do you think a mere 12.5mg zoloft and 5mg nortriptyline can work? It can. Do you think 1mg lexapro instead of 10mg lexapro can work? It can.
I mention these real-life examples just to open your eyes to a whole new world out there that your doctor probably is not familiar with.
Food choices. Critical. Most doctors are not trained on the topic of candida, and many scoff at it. They say, "yeast cannot survive in a healthy individual"...the whole while not even considering the fact that you are obviously NOT healthy, something is VERY wrong?
Study the symptoms and behavior of candida overgrowth, and you will see yourself. The way you describe your symptoms and history actually fits the common scenario of several hidden unsuspected infections, Lyme and candida being the top contenders. They can look identical, they are great imposters in that they can mimic just about any psychiatric disease, and they look for all the world exactly like the rage, depression, and irritation you feel. The potent toxins they secrete in their normal lives wreak absolute havoc in our brains.
Back to food choices. For many people it is a choice. With you, I think not. I believe you must follow a strict pattern of eating that includes: mostly raw or slightly cooked veggies, avoiding starchy or sweet ones (avoid most root veggies); fruits, mostly just berries (frozen is cheap) because the others have too much sugar; modest amounts of lean meats, but spend the extra couple dollars for organic...maybe someone else has the elbowroom to deal with some accumulation of trace pesticides and herbicides and antibiotics, but you do not; lots of purified water; avoid most grains, especially wheat (gluten intolerance looks like depression, fatigue, and rage); avoid anything where barley malt is an ingredient (gluten again); rice is good; good fats come from avocadoes, nuts, and eggs (again, organic eggs, they only cost a buck more.), limit all sugars and avoid all artificial sugars except stevia; limit caffeine; eat all the raw garlic you can handle (extremely potent antimicrobial), a clove a day is a good start. Your plate at each meal should look like it is mostly veggies. After a couple months, your taste buds will prefer your new life. You won't want your old diet anymore. Cravings will be gone.
The reasons for eating this way are many. Eat for health, for healing, not for pleasure. We're talking candida, other infections, adrenal glands, blood sugar issues, on and on. The more load you can take off your body, the smoother you can make it work, the better your depression and rage and fatigue are going to get. The better any pills are going to work.
If your doctor is game, ask for a one week trial of 100mg/day diflucan. See if you have a Herx reaction. If you don't know what that is, it is massive die-off of candida. It is diagnostic, no tests needed. Do the same with Doxycycline for general infections including Lyme...200mg per day for 2 weeks to see what happens. The tests are unreliable and likely to pronounce you negative when you could very well be strongly positive. The Herx reaction, or amazing improvement, either way, are diagnostic.
I already had suspicions of candida to begin with, but when you spoke of the intestinal issues, that pretty much nailed it for me.
Do you have silver fillings in your teeth? If you do, hope not, it is your highest priority to get them out ASAP.
I hope this helps. A lot to think about. If you stay on the path of dwelling on pills as the only means to get better, I think the odds are not good.
As for the marriage, well, I'm no counselor, but start doing some stuff together. Even if totally fatigued and depressed, go window shopping at a mall, take a walk each evening, anything, just get some together time happening.
I have no idea of your religious stance, but the Bible is good. Even if you have no faith and no belief, pray to God each day. He doesn't ignore. I've never seen miracles myself, but I have seen lives gradually transformed in ways that were not humanly possible without some kind of superior force. But in all cases, it only happens when there is prayer.
Hope. That's the main thing. This post is all about that. I see lots of hope because I see lots of avenues that need to be explored, and all of them happen to have depression/rage/fatigue written all over them in big bold letters.
poster:bleauberry
thread:944558
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100416/msgs/944922.html