Posted by bleauberry on January 5, 2009, at 18:13:45
In reply to new and VERY VERY VERY depressed, posted by Sunkistcat79 on January 2, 2009, at 10:57:57
Depression doesn't just happen for no reason. Something causes it. For many people, the cause is never looked at, never cared about, and doesn't matter anyway because they find something that makes them feel better. But for other people, the cause is so overwhelming or mysterious that the common treatments don't stand a chance in the fight. The foe is too strong.
The top two foes I am aware of: 1)Mercury and/or lead toxicity. The primary source is amalgam silver fillings in the teeth, either past or present. Another strong source is the vaccinations you got as a child...they had mercury in them as a preservative. Other sources are fish or normal environmental exposure. This is a toxic world we live in. All it takes is to be around one flourscent light bulb that is cracked or broken to inhale a lot of mercury, which is the second most toxic substance on the planet to the brain.
2)Lyme disease. Maybe you remember being bitten by a tick, maybe you don't. Doesn't matter. It is worth having a detailed diagnosis by someone who knows a lot about Lyme.Both of the above are diagnosable and reversible. Symptoms can be lessened or cured, depending on how much longterm damage was done that can't be repaired.
I have no idea what your previous meds or supplements were, so it is almost impossible to make suggestions. The common supplements for depression include: St Johns Wort (Kira or Perika brand); SAMe; Rhodiola Rosea; Ginkgo biloba; B vitamins; Vitamin D3; often several or all in combination.
For meds, I wonder if they ever gave you augmentation strategies of synergy, such as Prozac+Zyprexa; Lexapro+Risperdal; any with Ritalin, etc. ???
When a whole bunch of psych meds fail, it kind of logically says there is something else going on. Thousands of people have been cured of longterm depression with things like antibiotics (hidden infectious disease), DMSA (lead and mercury), or hydrocortisone or prednisone (hidden inflammation and lab confirmed low cortisol). They reacted poorly to depression meds and did not get better on them, because they were off target from the real problem.
Tests that would be helpful to get a better picture:
Organix Urine Dysbiosis, Metrametrix Labs...to see what pathogens you might have.
Adrenal Stress Index...measures saliva cortisol four times over a 24 hour period. Tells a lot.
Food allergy testing...you could be under constant poisoning from foods you eat all the time and don't realize it.
DMSA challenge test...take low dose DMSA every 4 hours for 3 days, then a huge one-time dose followed by collecting urine for the next 6 hours. This will show how much lead and mercury you have. There should be scant to none. Keep in mind, no amount is safe. If it registers in the upper normal range or higher, you are extremely toxic and it is no wonder you have the history you do.
Thyroid...measure Antibodies, TSH, freeT3, and T4. You could be hypothyroid and don't know it. If your antibodies are high, your thyroid numbers are faulty, and you'll have to take doses of thyroid meds based on feel rather than lab reports.
ECT. I've done it. If you have a serious undiagnosed condition, such as one of the ones mentioned above, it may work briefly. It kind of resets everything, kind of like rebooting a computer. But if the original problem isn't fixed, the reboot will quickly fall prey to the computer virus again, as a symbolic example. ECT success rates are highly overexaggerated and relapse rates are high. The procedure itself is not scary. You sit in a waiting room. A nurse takes you in another room and lays you down. A needle is stuck in your arm painlessly. Next thing you know you are at home and don't remember anything happening. It takes 3 treatments per week for 2 to 4 weeks to see any improvement, if there is going to be any. Memory loss is high, but you probably wouldn't mind that. I think that in itself is actually kind of helpful, because you forget how depressed you were, and you forget the tragic times leading up to ECT. ECT worked briefly for me...2 days after 12 treatments, and then I was hospitalized for suicidal intentions.
Since you seem to have a free-wheeling doc, I would look into getting some special tests done. They paint a clearer picture than all the pure guesswork that has been done so far. In the meantime, any or all of the listed supplements are good to go.
poster:bleauberry
thread:871909
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20081006/msgs/872413.html