Diagnosed With Depression

If your doctor has prescribed medication without recommending alternate treatments, then I would be very cautious in following his/her advice.

Yeah good luck with that !!

 

Dear ShabnamF,

I can give up a few pointers about depression and the usage of anti-depressants. Please ignore, if you are aware of them. Will be glad if even one of it helps you make a choice.

About your doctor:
- It doesn't matter if the hospital is reputed. The doctor as a person should be good. Every time you visit, the doctor should be aware of your history and should be interested in treating you properly. A doctor handling too many patients and is not aware of what he/she prescribed for depression is a no no.
- Don't hesitate to ask questions. Ask any question about depression or your drugs or the dosage. It will help to see if the doc is really interested in sharing knowledge with you and is genuinely working on seeing improvement in you.
- Set small timelines with your doctor and discuss about how you feel.
- If you see no improvements and the doc keeps refilling the prescriptions without a dedicated timeline, consider getting a second opinion.

About antidepressants:
- Keep track of your prescriptions. Save everything as a file.
- There is no guarantee that the prescribed medication will solve the issue. Be open to the fact that it may or may not work.
- If you see a change in the pattern of your medications, don't forget to ask why and understand.
- Inform your doctor about your diet and any other medications that you take. Try not to mix any other medications with antidepressants
- Be open to side effects. All medicines have side effects. The severity will be different. Make yourself aware of any side effects you may face and how to handle it from your doc. (Say, if you have severe nausea, dizziness, drowsiness or if you feel way too happy for no reason)
- Follow the exact dosage as said by your doctor. Keep a journal if you can.

Others:
- Speak about what you are going through with a trusted friend only. You need positive people around you now. Surround yourself with positive vibes and only those who have it.
- Don't spend too much time researching about studies about depression or medications. It will leave you more confused. A basic understanding should be enough.
- I am not sure where you live, but if you have a support group, join one. (A positive one). It helps better if you can talk about yourself to a counsellor. The professionals will listen to you and they don't know you beforehand. So no judging, just sharing will help.
- Let someone you trust keep track of you and your medications.

Best wishes to you!

 

@ShabnamF

At least three weeks of continuous intake of Anti depressant medications is necessary to sense the beginning of benefits.

So, have patience while you take drugs

It is not like a fever drug, you take now and within half an hour you feel fever gone

Also go through the following thread patiently No. Depression can't simply be willed away.

It contains lots of technical and really authentic information in it.

 

Hi shabnam ,

Medication is necessary , but simultenously you can start walking , exercises and listen to pleasant music, which reduces the depression levels. Try to be in public if possible , i mean spend some time with friends and relatives ..They will help you a lot .

 

@ShabnamF i just remembered an important suggestion i meant to add in my earlier post - i hope your doctor has checked your thyroid, vit b12 & vit D levels as part of diagnosis. This is important because hypothyroidism & deficiency of above vitamins can also cause depressive symptoms. It is important to rule out physiological causes before concluding psychogenic causes. Hope you/your dr have taken care of this.

 

Good response.

 

A layman experience :

Somebody very close to me let us say x (I cannot compromise on revealing who it is can hurt the person if he gets to know), had been through depression, when his friend and benchmate died, it affected the person so much because a couple of days before that they had a tiff and both of them left angry. next day x was admitted in hospital for acute dehydration and fever and missed school for a week. so both the kids did not have time to reconcile, as the guy was admitted in hospital the day x started school and within a day he passed away..may he rip.. The mind plays tricky games when you allow it, x started feeling guilty about fighting with him, and missing him so much that he would wake up in the middle of the night stating that his friend was sitting next to him and talking to him. a very cruicial year for x and you are helpless. so it went on for sometime. we talked to the doctors who know us and they said let us look at him for a couple of months and then thick of destressers or anti depressants.
I got him to talk to a lot of people, it did not help. add to it other personal reasons, and i could see him closing himself , becoming silent and more.

We upped his vitamins, found foods that would help in vitamins (b12, and D ..lower numbers can cause or mimic depression. read a lot of books on helping the depressed. saw a lot of videos on the same so as to help him.

i feel nothing helps more than the support system. you need somebody to hear/bear you through your mood swings, helplessness, crying or anger or whatever be the way your express your feelings. x had the habit of closing or bolting the door for days, we never knew when he would get up to eat, we used to lay awake to hear a little noise from the kitchen, the smell of coffee brewing was such a relief on certain days. Would go and sit with him be it 2 or 4 in the morning, talk to him about anything without hinting that we are talking about the friend, and much more.

It is now a year since the death of the friend, x now stays in a hostel, still has sad days (will not call them depressed) where he feels bad for his friend. the days he is sorry for himself..a call, and talk and a pep. i believe a good listener, who is not judgmental and who is just there for you, supporting you through this phase, and boosting your morale and that it is not the end of your life. and that person needs to be aware of what it means to be depressed, and what goes through somebody who is depressed

how we educated ourselves, listening to good books, listening to music, listening to ted talks

Teen's Heartbreaking Speech On What It's Like To Live With Depression (VIDEO) (Kevin's talk helped me a lot to relate with x.)




I am not going to say do not take your meds, but be aware of what you pop, the side effects, the duration and more. i would say do not get into too much technical and medical forums, that living becomes scary (personally googling about symptoms and sickness, makes me more sick). just be aware, see if you can talk to your doctor again about therapy, counselling and more.
Finding happiness

Find a group shabnam, that would help you rise again, from wherever you have pushed yourself into. find people who can cheer, give a virtual push when needed..rise and be YOU, and remember that is something you have to do it on your own, and there is nothing wrong, embarrassing,shameful in grabbing all the help you can get. you can even use this space to talk or vent. you can pick a hobby to help you out.

all the best dear.

 

Gauri's post has excellent information.

For what it's worth, from my personal experience, I sought medical help when I felt very low. With a preschooler to attend to, I couldn't indulge myself and have duvet days - I just wouldn't want to even get out of bed in the morning.

The doctor I went to said she could prescribe pills but it would be a few weeks before they'd take effect. I bluntly said I don't like popping pills and asked for alternatives. She then gave me a huge list of what I could try first - exercise, cognitive behavioural therapy, support groups ( which I didn't go to) , mindfulness exercises, counselling options if the above failed before she'd say pills were absolutely necessary. I must say the alternatives were very effective.

I'm not saying at all that pills are never to be consumed but I'd be wary. Even if (or should i say especially if) a doctor quickly prescribed them. You are doing the right thing by asking questions and doing your research. You could get a second opinion, talk about alternatives. Try a couple of other things as long as you as still functional. If the depression takes a lot out of you, it's a different story.