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Clinical Depression generally and Mirtazapine

Posted , 4 users are following.

keni
keni

I have clinical depression caused by the last general anaeshetic I had in 2010. It was like flicking a switch. I'm  not the kind of person to have depression / be depressed, it needed a trigger and the anaesthetic was that trigger for me. My Psychiatrist told me that it happens to about 1 in 100 patients he sees, a side effect possibility which wasn't ever explained to me. I believe ther are two main types of depression. One is circumstance based, e.g. you break up with a girl or something like that and the other is a chemical imbalance in the brain. This is what I call clinical depression and is what I have. My advice is that if your depression is in the first category, put things right, e.g. get a better girlfriend, job, whatever is getting you down take positive steps to put it right. If it's in the second category as mine is, get the right tablets for you and there's only one way, trial and error 'til you find the right one. To cut a very, very long story short, I ended up on Mirtazapine. This helped a lot at first. When I increased the dose as advised, after a few weeks my depression strangely got a lot worse. I now have it self tailored to 2x one half of a 15mg tablet daily and about 7 hours apart the first taken at about 8:30am. It's not perfect but I can cope with this level of depression. Be careful with the Mirtazapine as if you take too much "for you" (we're all different) then it can make matters worse, only in my opinion for that was the case with me. You'll gradually get to know what your dose should be yourself.......the doctors don't understand this low dose I'm on nor how more can make me worse.....my Psychiatrist confirmed this and he's an expert so GP's have no chance! By the way, anyone with depression should not take Statins, again only in my opinion, they do lower mood and when I stopped taking them during a course of anti-biotics (they can't be taken together) my depression got a lot less severe immediately. The GP said that they do lower mood, so why prescribe statins for a patient with depression??

My advice to anyone with depression would be to start doing your family tree, it really does absorb you and takes you out of the depression as you are concentrating so much on finding historic stuff. It also makes you soon realise just how insignificant we all are in the grand scheme of things....when you see all of the people who came before you who are no longer here and realise we're next in line! So make the most of every day.........Kencheesygrin

3 likes, 8 replies

8 Replies

  • deaver
    deaver keni

    Posted

    Intrigued by your analysis. If only coping, dealing and overcoming depression was so simple.
    • keni
      keni deaver

      Posted

      I did say to cut a very, very long story short........mine started in 2010 and it's only been for the last few months that I've got kinda on top of it...in between it has been hell....I didn't want to be negative, only positive and recent mood is positive. Of course it's not simple and I haven't suggested otherwise. There was no analysis only an account of where I've been with depression.
  • molly70240
    molly70240 keni

    Posted

    I believe whatever works is what you should do to relieve the depression. Some of us like to be philosophical, but I need to get the pressure off by dancing or painting.
    • keni
      keni molly70240

      Posted

      Exactly Molly, whatever floats your boat. Anything in which you can become absorbed. I'd like to try line dancing, it looks great when you see a load of people doing the same steps in time but I'm a bit old and legs aren't so good nowadays. Have you ever tried it?
  • gwen1953
    gwen1953 keni

    Posted

    Some wise words there.  I have Bipolar Disorder and a locum at my doctor's surgery gave me statins because he said my cholesterol was slightly high. Well I have never felt so ill  when I went back to my own doctor he was furious as the locum hadn't taken into account the medication I was on. It was a tough couple of months but I started to feel normal again once I came off the statins and my GP said I should never,ever take them again.

    You are right in that you know yourself better than your doctor does and he can only prescribe on the basis of the information you give him. There have been times when I have halved my medication and felt all the better for it. So it just goes to show that we are all different. My current medication means I don't get depressed but the idea of researching my family tree has always appealed to me so I might make a start on that!biggrin

    • keni
      keni gwen1953

      Posted

      Thanks Gwen, you've just confirmed what my body told re. statins. I think everyone on this site should be asked if they're taking them, the effect they have on depression is very strong indeed and my GP knew I was on a/d's when she prescribed the statins. The considerable lessening of the depression was immediate once I stopped taking them.

      Family tree making is great, a good place to start is thegenealogist .co .uk (all one word)..........if you have a common name like Smith the likelihood is you'll struggle!  Keni

       

  • hypercat
    hypercat keni

    Posted

    HI I am interested to hear  that 'you are not the type to suffer depression'.   There is no specific type of person who suffers from it you know!   If you are human that is enough.   I am glad you are dealing with yours.   Good for you.

     

    • keni
      keni hypercat

      Posted

      Thanks Hypercat, you are right of course, it's just that since I'm not ashamed of it. I tell anyone about it and never bottled it up and because of this people have made that statement that I'm not the type....I'm strong emotionally and always having a joke but when I was at one of my lows........well you probably know what that's like. Thanks again, Keni
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