With all the symptoms we all have and the fatigue how can you tell if it’s just the CM or if it is depression? I guess I always thought depression is a chemical thing in your brain, not sure the technical terms. If that is true is the way we feel some days a chemical imbalance - true depression - or is it just the symptoms of CM? If it isn’t chemical would anti-depressants be benificial? I know this seems like a strange question but I’m not a fan of taking pills but of it would help I am all for it. I just feel so down and sad, but I’m not sure if I am really depressed or if I truly just don’t feel good because of the CM.
Anyone have any luck with anti-depressants? How did they make you feel?
Well put! I guess I don’t feel like I am suffering from clinical depression. Taking another drug scares me because the way it is if I take a wrong drug at the wrong time I am already risking possible death, how scary is that? Unfortunately my PCP admittedly knows nothing about CM so talking to him would be pointless but when I finally meet with my NS at the end of the month I will talk to him about it!
Thank you!
Beeba said:
This is a very fine line. Do YOU think you are depressed? I can’t tell you how many times I have asked myself this question. I am lucky that I have many friends in the medical field that help me to decide. There is a basic questionnaire for depression. But I would have to say most of us would fail miserably based on those questions. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you are depressed. If you feel that you are and you wonder if it would help to deal with all this then I say it probably couldn’t hurt to look into it. But if in your head you say no then it is probably being sick. You should speak with your dr and really discuss it. I think most of us start to think it is just depression because they don’t understand all the medical stuff that goes with it. And even if you are just sick than perhaps a little mood elevator will help with dealing with being sick. If they only had a better test for people who deal with a chronic condition I think it would be hugely helpful.
Be very careful if you take pain meds , muscle relaxers, neuralgia- central nervous system meds & then if you add a SSRI antidepressant. You can get Serotonin Syndrome. It is horrible. I get it every time I try to take antidepressants. It feels like you have been hit by a truck. You can get antidepressants that aren't SSRI's but they don't work well for me. They do prescribe some antidepressants to help pain mgmt. As far as Depression vs CM.....It's kinda like what came first the chicken or the egg. It's a vicious cycle....I have also had to educate my PCP over the years. He will be the first to say that in Medical school they only had a paragraph on CM. Lucky us huh???? Please let me know you are doing. You always have people here to talk to that understands.
I've never had luck with antidepressants either, only stimulants (currently adderall, caffeine)... but it's risky to take these with this condition.
Becki Bowling said:
I have always thought I just had depression. Now that I know I have CM I wonder if it really was just plain depression. I never had much luck with antidepressants. The side effects were worse than the benefits.
I've been seeing a wonderful psychiatrist for years and I believe that she has helped me so much. I think the great part of psychology is that you can learn how to deal with things from falling and getting back up with the help of the psychologist/psychiatrist. She's taught me how to look for and understand the truth of things and use that to live. Now after at least 5 years of it, I know when I'm having good days, or when it's simply out of my control ---- and I think that's what's happening with me now. This condition affects so much of me that I know it's not psychological, it's the messed up anatomy that I'm living with.
With that being said, I think that if you have symptomatic CM then it is mostly to blame for your depression. On top of that though, we can't forget that there are a lot of other things at play. Some of us deal with family and friends who don't accept or understand or flat out reject our condition and this is very stressful/depressing. For me lately, knowing what I'm living with, after seeing all these MRI's... it's just disturbing to me that I have to sit around in this chaotic state and wait for help. Being so isolated and misunderstood is not helping either. These are just some of the things that can make us depressed, but these are things that we normally would have control over... but not when you feel this bad.
CM can have a domino effect of chemical imbalances so if it's too much for you to deal with, then I think pills and a healthy diet are the only choices you really have. From what I've observed, women seem to have much more luck with SSRI's for antidepressants but there's also a chance that the right anti-anxiety med might help - I've had good luck with Xanax and Klonopin but I'm still looking for something a little better. If anti-depressants don't work for you ( "treatment resistant-depression) then I would suggest stimulants like Adderall.
The real truth is that we have to get this CM fixed!