I'm not a doctor but I have pretty much experience with depression.
What happened two years ago to make you so depressed? Lets start there I think I might have some answers for you.


Darlene

Well that's one of the most frustrating things, I honestly have no idea why i've become depressed or how/why it all started. A lot of my time with both counselors and psychologists was trying to figure out some reason, but we never could find a reason.. Just seems to have started out of nowhere... And its not in my family either.

My current psychiatrist seems convinced that it has to be a physical thing with seratonin and all.. But no meds seem to work. I've had all sorts of tests, even met with a neurologist to get an eeg to rule out neuro stuff.. My docs are stumped, and my second opinion docs can't do anything.

I guess its part of being depressed, but I feel completely hopeless now.. I was hopeful with all these docs and tests and meds that somethin would work?

I don't know if this will help or not but try to think about things that make you feel truely happy.Not things that make you sort of happy or ok but things that make you feel true bliss.Think of things that make you enjoy like and then think of the things that are making you feel so depressed and why they are making you feel so depressed.Also this helped me...Try meditation...Just focuss on the things that are upsetting you or making you mad at the time and just let them disapear and let them shrink down and not take up so much room.I know I am saying this yet i'm a cutter but I guess its still good advice...Meditation does help me sometimes if i'm not extremely upset or mad but when i'm extremely upset or mad I do cut.

-danielle

Thanks for the reply danielle, yep meditation and prayer works to calm me down whenever I start to really break down, so youre definitely right about that.

The frustrating thing with me is that I don't even feel joy anymore.. I can have my favorite meal, favorite dessert, watch a movie or tv show I like, but for the life of me I just can't experience pleasure anymore.. My doc said it sounds like "anhedonia", which I guess might be true, but I dont know what to do with it.


Maybe its unfair, but to be honest ive lost confidence in doctors and in medicine; sure there are millions of bucks going into these drugs and all the things I read say that most depression responds well, but nothing seems to help me.

Hi sgraider,
the similar thing happened with me. I am 20 and a few years ago I got really depressed. I stopped going to school and I just felt like death was the right answer. I saw doctors, had ect, meds. I was sent to live at a residental home for people with mental illness. There (for six months) I went to therapy everyday- group and individual. I finished four months ago and now I am back at college. I still often feel like caca but being in a supportive environment helped. I wouldnt suggest this though- but if you think you need it!
Ask your doctor about ect and maois. I also try herbs too like kava kava, 5-htp, wort stuff. They dont work for me but maybe they will work for you. Ask your doctor about atypical depression. Dont give up! Keep updating.

Thanks for the replies... So my meds history is:

prozac, celexa, depakote, remeron... And now ive been switched to wellbutrin. Whew quite a ride its been, and so far nothing but more depression.. But I guess I have no choice but to try something else. I really dont have much hope though to be honest

Sgraider,

when you've tried 3 or 4 antidepressants, you will not respond to just one drug. You need to try a combination. You've got 'treatment resistant depression'.

You should be put on one antidepressant first and either 50 micrograms of t3 - brand name cytomel, or lithium. In the 1960's lithium was found to both potentiate and accelerate the response to antidepressants, and cytomel was found to have the same effect in the late 60's/early 70's. Try the cytomel first. T3 works better than t4 and you have to take at least 50 micrograms for it to work. If that doesn't work, then you add another antidepressant (usually the antidepressants with different ways of working). If a combination of 2 antidepressants (the ssris, tricyclics, etc) doesn't work, then you should switch one or both antidepressants, trying the rimas (reversable inhibitors of mao) such as moclobemide, and the old maois. You may need to take more than the max recommended dose with any or all of the antidepressants.

Atypical depression - good idea 7462, it responds better to some drugs and combos than others.

If you're depressed and have 2 or more of the following you have atypical depression: anxiety, excessive sleeping, increased appetite, social phobia, leaden paralysis.

I take - wellbutrin 300mg, celexa 30mg, cytomel 50micrograms, imovane 7.5mg, alertec 20mg. I took 17 different antidepressants, one after another. They did nothing, but this combo makes me almost completely normal. It's like a miracle. Don't give up, just insist on a referal to a psychiatrist who specializes in drug therapy for treatment resistant depression. A hospital 'mood disorders clinic' is your best bet. These psychiatrists don't do talk therapy, they just diagnose and prescribe and leave the therapy to your normal psychiatrist.

It's late, so i've probably forgot something or am confusing. Write back, i'll answer. I can point you to actual journal articles that support this stuff from medline. It's a good idea to get informed - it's the easiest way to get a referal :)

whoops, I forgot - take b vitamens, esp. Folate and fish oils (or just eat a lot of fish). Antidepressants may not work without these.

Hi--- I had been clinically depressed all of my life and had no idea what was "wrong" with me, until I basically had a breakdown at work(teaching-thank god the kids hadn't gotten there yet) it seemed like it took forever(and I mean forever) for something to work for me- I was noticing in your list of meds that there are some really effective antidepressants that you didn't list-maybe just because you had already listed plenty and you didn't need to list more. For me, the first thing I had to find was a super psychiatrist and there happened to be one who worked with the same practice as the therapist I was seeing at the time.

In the past, i've had friends who were getting help and got some really great recommendations from them. I know that, for me, I had an underlying chronic illness, in fact, two of them, and in addition to peeling myself out of bed to get to the psychdoc's, I was so exhausted that I had to sleep almost constantly, as I had completely over-depleted my energy
(energy? What's that?)

i know that, for me, the psychdoc had to give me major med for anxiety, as well as for the clinical depression. (please keep in mind that I was 44 or so before I ever even realized that these things were a diagnosis for me- I knew that I never seemed to feel like anyone around me did, didn't really care to be around people, because what they seemed to like to talk about didn't interest me, and just generally felt like I never "fit in." as a child, my father would reprimand me for "never being happy." he was right, as far as my never feeling happy. As for the anxiety, I just knew that I constantly worried, always felt "imposter's syndrome" with any job,
did my darnedest to be a major perfectionist and had panic attacks during which I thought that I was suffocating.

I doubt that i'm helping you much, but my intent is to help. If there
were suggestions that I might make, the first one would be find an excellent psychiatrist. If you have to ask everyone in town, go to "interview" potential psychiatrists, ask a friend in the medical field for a recommendation. But by hook or by crook, find a super psychiatrist.

Then I would suggest that you and your psychdoc work to find out your true diagnosis, i.E., whether there are two things that you suffer from, etc.

Third, I would cry as much as I needed to, scream as much as I needed to, hit a pillow as much as I needed to, etc. I would do this at whatever step felt right for me.

All the while, i'd be trying whatever the psychdoc prescribed and make weekly or twice weekly appointments to check in with them so that they could see how I was doing with the particular meds he/she had prescribed,
keeping in mind that most meds can easily take a month or a bit more to
take effect.

I would tell them of my total frustration and lack of anything helping, and let them offer some support and reassurance to you.
(i have these all out of order- I would do this first-sorry!)

i would call the mental health hotline and talk with them as often as I needed to--they might even have a referral list that they could give you,or maybe your regular physician has one.

And all the while, I would pat myself on the back for having the courage to
reach out and continue reaching out for help. I really appreciate your honesty.