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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Couleuvre on June 12, 2019, at 7:30:23
Hi. I'm new here, sort of. I posted to this site regularly a very long time ago, but various family and personal stuff (including depression) led me to stop. I've decided to try and start posting again (obviously).
Some of you who've been here for a long time may recognize me by my writing style, my, umm, distinctive medical history, etc. If you do, feel free to say hi, but I would like to request that you not identify me (or say anything that might lead others to identify me) on any of the Psycho-Babble boards. (I used to post under my real name. This was, as I mentioned, a *long* time ago, when the internet was...well, a very different place.)
I have treatment-resistant major depression. Originally it was the episodic ("recurrent") sort, but over the years, due to the "kindling" effect (where depression tends to get worse, episodes get closer together, etc. if it goes untreated or incompletely treated), some of my symptoms have gotten to be chronic to varying degrees. Probably the worst is insomnia: without sleep aids, I haven't been able to sleep more than about 2 hours at a stretch for years, which makes it very difficult, among other things, to maintain decent sleep hygiene. (I don't generally have trouble getting to sleep, although I think most people have this problem at least sometimes, like when they're anxious about something that's happening the next day, for example.) It started out as, when I was depressed, waking up really early in the morning and not being able to get back to sleep (often despite feeling really tired -- I'm not a morning person!). My doctor described my current situation as double depression (recurrent major depression with dysthymia (chronic "minor" depression)). Although I still sometimes have episodes of major depression, they're not nearly as bad as they were, and there are a few meds that can help get me back to baseline (such as it is) pretty quickly.
I also have a history of anxiety, but I've pretty much recovered. I found that cognitive therapy was very helpful with anxiety, although it didn't help much with my depression. My general experience in life has been that changing the way I think about a problem is very helpful: I think cognitive strategies like this can potentially help people with all sorts of problems. (Indeed, I believe that a lot of the various social and political problems and conflicts and things in the world today could be solved, or at least alleviated, if people just found a different way to think about them.)
It should come as no surprise that I've tried all sorts of meds, including some rather obscure and exotic ones as well as the standard stuff. I've experienced all sorts of weird drug reactions and side effects and things. Now I'm taking a, well, distinctive combination of meds which has helped a lot, as I described, even though it's not perfect. I hope the things I've learned from my experience can help some people here.
So, anyway...well, hi everyone!
Posted by Radish on June 13, 2019, at 17:07:15
In reply to Hi everyone!, posted by Couleuvre on June 12, 2019, at 7:30:23
Hello. I dont recall you, but Im new. I hope to see your posts in the future. We need more posters here again. Im glad cbt helped your anxiety. I wonder what is the distinctive meds combo you have that is helping?
Posted by Couleuvre on June 15, 2019, at 18:33:47
In reply to Re: Hi everyone!, posted by Radish on June 13, 2019, at 17:07:15
> Hello. I dont recall you, but Im new. I hope to see your posts in the future. We need more posters here again. Im glad cbt helped your anxiety. I wonder what is the distinctive meds combo you have that is helping?
Hi, Radish. It's great to meet you. I'd like to hear about your story.
The reason I don't post a list of my meds is because they're *so* distinctive that people who were here "way back in the day" when I was posting a lot would probably be able to identify me from certain ones that are *very* unusual, and I'd really prefer to stay anonymous if possible.
The more standard ones I take are: Parnate, Ambien, and the occasional Ativan. The Ativan is mainly for what I think is "officially" called "psychomotor agitation." It's this thing I get sometimes where I pace a lot or get up and walk around for no reason. It's not really anxiety as such, it's kinda hard to describe. I think it's related somehow to my insomnia and depression. Anyway, a moderate dose (About 1mg Ativan, or 0.5 of Xanax) of a benzo usually seems to put a stop to it.
Recently I also started taking esketamine in an intranasal spray. I posted about it under the thread on that topic, "Spravato (esketamine)," started today by Ruuudy.
Posted by Lamdage22 on June 29, 2019, at 3:14:15
In reply to Re: Hi everyone!, posted by Couleuvre on June 15, 2019, at 18:33:47
Welcome back. I have joined the conversation in 2010.
Posted by Couleuvre on July 1, 2019, at 6:44:02
In reply to Re: Hi everyone!, posted by Lamdage22 on June 29, 2019, at 3:14:15
If you first posted in 2010, it's safe to say we never met before. I was so depressed by 2010 that I was hardly using the internet at all.
I'm glad to meet you. Even when I started getting somewhat better, I never got into social media (for example, I have a Facebook page, but I hardly ever post anything to it), but this board is an exception, and being able to start posting here again is a big step in the right direction for me. I'm looking forward to getting to know you and other posters. (Just the fact that I'm looking forward to anything is another good sign!)
This is the end of the thread.
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