Discussion
I'm on 20mg citalopram. They just level things out a bit for me. Reduce the peaks, but also the troughs. I did have a stint where I was on 40mg citalopram and 15mg (I think) Mirtazapine a day.
There are plenty of other ADs available. Unfortunately finding the right one can be a bit trial and error. If you're not already aware, Google SSRI and SNRI, which should give you a steer.
There are plenty of other ADs available. Unfortunately finding the right one can be a bit trial and error. If you're not already aware, Google SSRI and SNRI, which should give you a steer.
I have been treated with CBT and REMD therapy over the last few years. Tried Venlafaxine and various MAO tablets. Predominantly to deal with some lasting injuries and PTSD.
I found this lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOAgplgTxfc (there are shortened versions out there)
Helped me to understand the reasons behind depression. It now seems I have low testosterone, also a cause of depression but it seems not something that is regularly tested. May be worth asking a GP for a test/referral if you get hot sweaty spells etc.
I found this lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOAgplgTxfc (there are shortened versions out there)
Helped me to understand the reasons behind depression. It now seems I have low testosterone, also a cause of depression but it seems not something that is regularly tested. May be worth asking a GP for a test/referral if you get hot sweaty spells etc.
Having being recently diagnosed with deep depression after being in denial for 2 years, I've realised what others have....... Nip it in the bud! There's 3 ways of dealing with it, there's Meds ( which I declined) counselling and self help. Yet to start my counselling but you need to try pin point what triggered it. Mainly a traumatic event such as bereavement or losing your job etc. I was given a couple of websites by my gp which help https://moodgym.anu.edu.au/welcome and http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/stress-anxiety-depres... also books available which I'm currently looking in to.there's apps too to download. Hope this helps and find your way back to normality. It'll be a long process but you'll be better for it.
I would strongly advise talking to your OH or someone you can trust because that will help. Try not to cut yourself off from people and just battle through this. My GP also said running was good for you too as it keeps you busy and fit. There will be times you feel like ending it all but think of something that means the world to you, For example I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my little girl, she is my sole reason to live and all the more reason to make me get out of this horrid s
tty time.
I wish you and everyone in the same boat as us a speedy recovery and come out of this more wiser and stronger.
I would strongly advise talking to your OH or someone you can trust because that will help. Try not to cut yourself off from people and just battle through this. My GP also said running was good for you too as it keeps you busy and fit. There will be times you feel like ending it all but think of something that means the world to you, For example I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my little girl, she is my sole reason to live and all the more reason to make me get out of this horrid s
tty time. I wish you and everyone in the same boat as us a speedy recovery and come out of this more wiser and stronger.
Edited by Nervasport on Monday 21st July 18:37
Here's a thread I thought I wouldn't be dipping into for a long time. Those with long memories will remember a whole load of mental health troubles I had back in 2006/7 when my wife decided she no longer wanted that title. I was on various ADs(Citalopram, yuck, and Prozac) until about 2009 when I finally got it together along with a lot of talking therapies.
Work has just been horrendous for the past 10months, pushed to the absolute brink with demands, stress and huge hours that all reached a crescendo 3 weeks ago. Jobs done then a massive personal issue just when I wanted to celebrate. I just fell apart, completely and utterly, got sent home from work by OH and only just gone back on reduced hours.
After 4 doc appointments in 10days I have leveled out of crisis and had a very long chat this morning with the doc who has prescribed 15mg Mirtazapine as the traditional SSRI families just seem to have so many side effects for me and getting off Prozac before took me months. I have also been referred for some talking sessions.
I guess it had to happen with the stresses of work over the past few years and the last 10months has just drained me so much to the detriment of personal relationships and life balance. It stops now as I've had enough and need to focus on putting the shards of my life back together if I can. Pah.
Work has just been horrendous for the past 10months, pushed to the absolute brink with demands, stress and huge hours that all reached a crescendo 3 weeks ago. Jobs done then a massive personal issue just when I wanted to celebrate. I just fell apart, completely and utterly, got sent home from work by OH and only just gone back on reduced hours.
After 4 doc appointments in 10days I have leveled out of crisis and had a very long chat this morning with the doc who has prescribed 15mg Mirtazapine as the traditional SSRI families just seem to have so many side effects for me and getting off Prozac before took me months. I have also been referred for some talking sessions.
I guess it had to happen with the stresses of work over the past few years and the last 10months has just drained me so much to the detriment of personal relationships and life balance. It stops now as I've had enough and need to focus on putting the shards of my life back together if I can. Pah.
After having low points and occasional self harm/suicide thoughts over the years in January last year I properly crashed.
I found myself unable to concentrate on what I saw as the unimportant things at work meaning that whilst I was still technically competent at scanning I was failing dismally on the paperwork side, which ended up with my having not filled a timesheet/expenses in for 3 months and being summoned to a disciplinary hearing.
This was the straw that broke the camels back for me, I broke down and admitted to my wife how I felt, about the suicidal urges and just how low I was.
My GP was brilliant, really supportive, did the depression scoring tests with me and that really brought it home to me just how fked my head was. A normal person would score roughly 5 out of 25. I scored 21.
She persuaded me that taking the happy pills (sertraline) really would help me, she signed me off sick for a month on the spot to give myself a chance to recover.
I was never particularly sympathetic about depression before but I have really changed my tune now after going through it, the weeks of proper insomnia not getting any more than an hour or so sleep, basically when you crash through exhaustion, the random massive hits of adrenaline when your body does the fight/flight response usually at a really inappropriate time, the random stuff like getting up to go for a pee and having to persuade yourself that you wouldnt be better off dead even stupid thing of not being able to face going out to see anyone or do anything.
It was(and still is) a long journey, it took over 3 months before I was well enough to work again and I still have bad days but I am generally much better now, the random panic attacks have pretty much stopped, and I can generally manage 5 or 6 hours sleep now. I was sent for an assessment for talking treatment but the person I saw didnt think it would help, she said I had a pretty good handle on the things I should be doing
I found myself unable to concentrate on what I saw as the unimportant things at work meaning that whilst I was still technically competent at scanning I was failing dismally on the paperwork side, which ended up with my having not filled a timesheet/expenses in for 3 months and being summoned to a disciplinary hearing.
This was the straw that broke the camels back for me, I broke down and admitted to my wife how I felt, about the suicidal urges and just how low I was.
My GP was brilliant, really supportive, did the depression scoring tests with me and that really brought it home to me just how f
ked my head was. A normal person would score roughly 5 out of 25. I scored 21.She persuaded me that taking the happy pills (sertraline) really would help me, she signed me off sick for a month on the spot to give myself a chance to recover.
I was never particularly sympathetic about depression before but I have really changed my tune now after going through it, the weeks of proper insomnia not getting any more than an hour or so sleep, basically when you crash through exhaustion, the random massive hits of adrenaline when your body does the fight/flight response usually at a really inappropriate time, the random stuff like getting up to go for a pee and having to persuade yourself that you wouldnt be better off dead even stupid thing of not being able to face going out to see anyone or do anything.
It was(and still is) a long journey, it took over 3 months before I was well enough to work again and I still have bad days but I am generally much better now, the random panic attacks have pretty much stopped, and I can generally manage 5 or 6 hours sleep now. I was sent for an assessment for talking treatment but the person I saw didnt think it would help, she said I had a pretty good handle on the things I should be doing
4 weeks in now from admitting I have a problem. Not feeling great, insomnia, restlessness and apathy are the order of the day. School holidays so getting on with stuff but I would lay in bed all day if I could. Of work with an injured leg at moment so that's not helping but the thought of going back and making small talk and effort is draining me. On the plus the OH has been brilliant and very supportive. She gives me a kick up the arse in a morning .
Thank you for all the contributions and this thread. I am going to back to the start and read it all again.
Thank you for all the contributions and this thread. I am going to back to the start and read it all again.
Ruskie
It's a long battle to get back to "normal". My best mate had cancer last year. He had surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy and he's since had the "all clear" (as much as one gets that with cancer). I really struggled around Christmas why I wasn't better when he had cancer and was better (physically at any rate).
The utterly brilliant mental health people who do my home visits put a few things in perspective for me - depression/mental health issues can take a looooooong time to sort out. There is no quick fix. You will have bad days and good days. Eventually you will recognise the bad days as just that and more importantly, just because today might be a bad day, tomorrow may well be a good one.
The mental health people told me that one of the biggest "problems" is us having unrealistic expectations of how long recovery takes. It's easier to deal with once you get your head round the fact it's a long slow process. You've just got to hang in there.
I also said I found it frustrating that my mate had been so seriously ill with cancer but was better before me. After all, there's nothing worse than cancer, is there? The mental health nurse's response? "You've both had potentially life threatening illnesses". When you look at it (and accept it) like that, it does put mental health into perspective. It can be a big deal.
Keep on keeping on.
It's a long battle to get back to "normal". My best mate had cancer last year. He had surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy and he's since had the "all clear" (as much as one gets that with cancer). I really struggled around Christmas why I wasn't better when he had cancer and was better (physically at any rate).
The utterly brilliant mental health people who do my home visits put a few things in perspective for me - depression/mental health issues can take a looooooong time to sort out. There is no quick fix. You will have bad days and good days. Eventually you will recognise the bad days as just that and more importantly, just because today might be a bad day, tomorrow may well be a good one.
The mental health people told me that one of the biggest "problems" is us having unrealistic expectations of how long recovery takes. It's easier to deal with once you get your head round the fact it's a long slow process. You've just got to hang in there.
I also said I found it frustrating that my mate had been so seriously ill with cancer but was better before me. After all, there's nothing worse than cancer, is there? The mental health nurse's response? "You've both had potentially life threatening illnesses". When you look at it (and accept it) like that, it does put mental health into perspective. It can be a big deal.
Keep on keeping on.
Ruskie said:
4 weeks in now from admitting I have a problem. Not feeling great, insomnia, restlessness and apathy are the order of the day. School holidays so getting on with stuff but I would lay in bed all day if I could. Of work with an injured leg at moment so that's not helping but the thought of going back and making small talk and effort is draining me. On the plus the OH has been brilliant and very supportive. She gives me a kick up the arse in a morning .
Thank you for all the contributions and this thread. I am going to back to the start and read it all again.
It took me probably 10 or 11 weeks and an increase in dose from 50mg of sertraline to 100mg before the insomnia started to settle down, once I started to sleep properly the energy and ability to concentrate came back too.Thank you for all the contributions and this thread. I am going to back to the start and read it all again.
My OH was very supportive BUT she did do some things that I didnt like at the time but with hindsight were the right thing to do, mostly this involved making me go out, go talk to people even just go shopping with her, anything to stop me wallowing in the pit of despair.
1st of all well done for taking the step to see your doctor. I know muyself that it's not easy admitting that there is something wrong.
As for whats to come. Well, its different for everyone. Just remember that there isn't a quick fix to this but, after taking this step things usually do get better.
I've been back today - I've been doing really well for about a year or so but over the last few weeks the "black dog" is back and I've been struggling, maybe it's got so bad recently because depression has been in the news due to Robin Williams.
He's suggested councilling again and wanted to sign me off sick for a couple of weeks. I refused as I have a lot on at work but am struggling for motivation now I'm here (hence the PH posting I guess). I'm back at Drs Monday morning and we'll see what happens then.
As for whats to come. Well, its different for everyone. Just remember that there isn't a quick fix to this but, after taking this step things usually do get better.
I've been back today - I've been doing really well for about a year or so but over the last few weeks the "black dog" is back and I've been struggling, maybe it's got so bad recently because depression has been in the news due to Robin Williams.
He's suggested councilling again and wanted to sign me off sick for a couple of weeks. I refused as I have a lot on at work but am struggling for motivation now I'm here (hence the PH posting I guess). I'm back at Drs Monday morning and we'll see what happens then.
darren9 said:
1st of all well done for taking the step to see your doctor. I know muyself that it's not easy admitting that there is something wrong.
As for whats to come. Well, its different for everyone. Just remember that there isn't a quick fix to this but, after taking this step things usually do get better.
I've been back today - I've been doing really well for about a year or so but over the last few weeks the "black dog" is back and I've been struggling, maybe it's got so bad recently because depression has been in the news due to Robin Williams.
He's suggested councilling again and wanted to sign me off sick for a couple of weeks. I refused as I have a lot on at work but am struggling for motivation now I'm here (hence the PH posting I guess). I'm back at Drs Monday morning and we'll see what happens then.
Thanks. It's taken a long time to admit something is wrong but I already feel slightly better for it. I've heard exercise is a good way to take your mind of things so I might start going for a run after work. As for whats to come. Well, its different for everyone. Just remember that there isn't a quick fix to this but, after taking this step things usually do get better.
I've been back today - I've been doing really well for about a year or so but over the last few weeks the "black dog" is back and I've been struggling, maybe it's got so bad recently because depression has been in the news due to Robin Williams.
He's suggested councilling again and wanted to sign me off sick for a couple of weeks. I refused as I have a lot on at work but am struggling for motivation now I'm here (hence the PH posting I guess). I'm back at Drs Monday morning and we'll see what happens then.
Petrolhead95 said:
Hi guys,
After 6 to 12 months of absolute hell I've finally plucked up the courage to go to the doctors for medical help. I was just hoping for some pointers/insight on what's to come if I do indeed have depression.
Cheers.
Depends largely on you. You choose what you want to do about it, seeking help is a great start. You might come away with a prescription, you might get a referral, you might be empty handed and lighter chested - it's something between you and your GPAfter 6 to 12 months of absolute hell I've finally plucked up the courage to go to the doctors for medical help. I was just hoping for some pointers/insight on what's to come if I do indeed have depression.
Cheers.
If you do indeed have depression, then finding it lifting is hopefully what's to come, but as the great man said, if you find yourself in hell, dont stop - keep going. It might get worse before it gets better, but it will get better if you want it to.
No rush for things, you might not even return to 'your old self', after all, your old self hid a problem away for a while. Ideally you'll be 'different you'
Being fixed is something that people think is the goal or target, it's not - a lot of the time it's recognition and being able to deal with things better
andy-xr said:
Petrolhead95 said:
Hi guys,
After 6 to 12 months of absolute hell I've finally plucked up the courage to go to the doctors for medical help. I was just hoping for some pointers/insight on what's to come if I do indeed have depression.
Cheers.
Depends largely on you. You choose what you want to do about it, seeking help is a great start. You might come away with a prescription, you might get a referral, you might be empty handed and lighter chested - it's something between you and your GPAfter 6 to 12 months of absolute hell I've finally plucked up the courage to go to the doctors for medical help. I was just hoping for some pointers/insight on what's to come if I do indeed have depression.
Cheers.
If you do indeed have depression, then finding it lifting is hopefully what's to come, but as the great man said, if you find yourself in hell, dont stop - keep going. It might get worse before it gets better, but it will get better if you want it to.
No rush for things, you might not even return to 'your old self', after all, your old self hid a problem away for a while. Ideally you'll be 'different you'
Being fixed is something that people think is the goal or target, it's not - a lot of the time it's recognition and being able to deal with things better
andy-xr said:
Depends largely on you. You choose what you want to do about it, seeking help is a great start. You might come away with a prescription, you might get a referral, you might be empty handed and lighter chested - it's something between you and your GP
If you do indeed have depression, then finding it lifting is hopefully what's to come, but as the great man said, if you find yourself in hell, dont stop - keep going. It might get worse before it gets better, but it will get better if you want it to.
No rush for things, you might not even return to 'your old self', after all, your old self hid a problem away for a while. Ideally you'll be 'different you'
Being fixed is something that people think is the goal or target, it's not - a lot of the time it's recognition and being able to deal with things better
This. X100If you do indeed have depression, then finding it lifting is hopefully what's to come, but as the great man said, if you find yourself in hell, dont stop - keep going. It might get worse before it gets better, but it will get better if you want it to.
No rush for things, you might not even return to 'your old self', after all, your old self hid a problem away for a while. Ideally you'll be 'different you'
Being fixed is something that people think is the goal or target, it's not - a lot of the time it's recognition and being able to deal with things better
Wacky Racer said:
That is an excellent video and the first 2 minutes sum up my feelings in a nut shell.darren9 said:
1st of all well done for taking the step to see your doctor. I know muyself that it's not easy admitting that there is something wrong.
As for whats to come. Well, its different for everyone. Just remember that there isn't a quick fix to this but, after taking this step things usually do get better.
I've been back today - I've been doing really well for about a year or so but over the last few weeks the "black dog" is back and I've been struggling, maybe it's got so bad recently because depression has been in the news due to Robin Williams.
He's suggested councilling again and wanted to sign me off sick for a couple of weeks. I refused as I have a lot on at work but am struggling for motivation now I'm here (hence the PH posting I guess). I'm back at Drs Monday morning and we'll see what happens then.
That sounds like me - I have been doing well since last October but the last day or so I just want to curl up and cry. Kicked off by the stupidest thing in that I didn't run my 10k race yesterday the way I wanted and that has led to me deciding that I can't cope with what's going on at work.As for whats to come. Well, its different for everyone. Just remember that there isn't a quick fix to this but, after taking this step things usually do get better.
I've been back today - I've been doing really well for about a year or so but over the last few weeks the "black dog" is back and I've been struggling, maybe it's got so bad recently because depression has been in the news due to Robin Williams.
He's suggested councilling again and wanted to sign me off sick for a couple of weeks. I refused as I have a lot on at work but am struggling for motivation now I'm here (hence the PH posting I guess). I'm back at Drs Monday morning and we'll see what happens then.
I don't want to go back to the Dr as when I was on the medication it turned me into a robot with no emotions.
Am sat at work just wishing I wasn't here.
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