Posted by cellular on January 21, 2013, at 19:14:23
Hello Babblers,
This is my first post on this board, and I'd like to greet everyone here.
Hopefully somebody with the same experience as I've been having could reply.My medication for over ten years:
sertraline 150 mg
trimipramine 75 mg
flupent(h)ixol 1.5 mgMy symptoms:
enormous lack of energy
extremely sensitive to stressThe medication I'm on has been effective enough to escape the darkest depths of depression such as suicidal thoughts, however, my daily life is marked by above symptoms.
Recently, my condition worsened insofar as I feel paralyzed to do the most basic tasks such as brushing my teeth, washing my face and hair, preparing meals, washing dishes, doing the laundry. Even when my bladder tells me to visit the bathroom, I can't push myself to go until it really gets uncomfortable.
After five days of unusual "paralysis", I resorted to taking the glucocorticoid prednisolone and within an hour the "paralysis" was gone and I was able to take care of basic tasks again.
For four days I've been taking varying doses of prednisolone (10 to 20 mg per day) except for yesterday, because I didn't feel I needed it.
Alas, after waking up today, I felt "paralyzed" again and after taking 10 mg prednisolone I was able to function again.I was prescribed prednisolone (tablets) for hefty pollen allergy a few years ago but didn't use it for that matter. Instead I self-administered the med a day or two every couple of months whenever I felt "paralyzed", after I discovered its powerful antidepressant effect.
I did some research on the net and the following is what I found:
Prednisone augmentation in treatment-resistant depression with fatigue and hypocortisolaemia: a case series.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10999245
The glucocorticoid receptor: pivot of depression and of antidepressant treatment?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20399565
The Corticosteroid Receptor Hypothesis of Depression
http://www.nature.com/npp/journal/v23/n5/full/1395567a.html
My question is:
Has anybody on this board had a similar experience?
What type of doctor would I need to see if I want to find out whether I'm suffering from some kind of disorder involving corticosteroid secretion, receptors and so on?
I can't tell my pdoc about this matter, since he's been angry at me for having "tested" other meds in the past on my own.
Thanks for reading,
cellular
poster:cellular
thread:1036019
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20130112/msgs/1036019.html