The depression question

Mayo started in Rochester, Minnesota, USA. But they have several hospitals across the US now. They are known for their expertise and research in many areas. 

I, too, thought I’d be walking well by this time. (10 weeks post TKR). I’m still limping considerably so I use a crutch. At work, I use a mobility scooter if I have to travel far across my large building - on concrete floors.

Even in these times, there is still a perception that depression is weakness of mind. But for some, it’s a real and treatable medical condition. And getting that stabilized will help with the knee recovery, I believe.

Meditation does help! The pharmaceuticals for depression are rough for sure and the withdrawal us slow and hell! CBD oil, passion flower, dopamine, valerian.....a good naturopath did help me. I took non narcotic sleeping pills to try to get some sleep but they were useless. After 3 or 4 months I was much better. Today, at 5 months I need to exercise more but I sure feel way better. I get a furalane s**t in my other knee and can say I feel better and move better than before surgery. It was very hard...but they right..it is worth it . I appreciate all your posts especially since I found myself looking for my real knee those first couple months - thanks for explaining that better than I could! Regards from Toronto.

Agree to disagree. :^) I take a small dose of Wellbutrin every fall for seasonal affective disorder. As soon as the days get longer and lighter, I easily transition off the medication.  And I respectfully disagree with your statement that the depression is not real. I’m not saying everyone needs medication, but it is not a weakness to at least speak with your doctor about options- particularly if you’ve struggled with clinical depression prior to TKR.  (And I do agree that many of the drugs you mentioned have awful side effects. I can’t and won’t take those.) Truce?

Excellent comments...Wellbutrin is in a class of it's own. Clinical depression can be extremely dangerous. I have had both kinds of depression...and the knee threw me into a nasty situational depression, even lost a long time friendship from it. We are all different and need to access help in dangerous and serious times. Thanks for your post - I actually use a special light every day to help combat my slide in the Fall .

Clarification...  All depression is very, very real to the person experiencing it...no doubt about that.  The question becomes one of causality.  In your SAD situation, the cause (change of seasons) is known, with or without science explaining the underlying reason for the effect. SAD is absolutely real and the meds help.  Perfect.

Post-Operative Depression is also a known, medical condition.  When I was crying for three days after my hip replacement, my MD cousin asked: "You mean your doc never told you to expect this?  He should have told you since it is so common."  So, now we know the underlying causality of POD: You're now missing a piece of original manufacurer's equipment.  Sure, it seems very real...I went through it with my hip.  However, once you are aware of what's causing the depression, you can mitigate the effects of it without resorting to SSRIs and SNRIs. 

It's the same as going to a shrink about depression or a phobia.  Once you find out what's really behind your subconscious reaction to a specific stimuli, you can avoid it or confront it and deal with it.  In this case, be your own therapist.  You know that POD is a real post-op condition and that, according to the docs, it passes pretty quickly.  Knowledge is a powerful weapon against this thing.  I felt it coming on when I had my TKR and dismissed it...no effect on me because I knew what it was and dealt with it.

Clinical depression, especially Treatment Resistant Depression (TRD), is something completely different from POD.  I agree that an already depressed person might have a tougher time with POD than one who wasn't in that state already.  My wife suffered from TRD for 7 1/2 years following brain aneurysm surgery until she became completely paralyzed by it to a very dangerous point.  For that, we had to seek out a very rare sub-species of humanity...the neuropsychiatrist.  Luckily, we have them at a special hospital in Dallas.  For my wife, they recommended Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT).  Like the old "shock therapy" but very much updated and safer.  They run a brief current through the brain under anesthesia.  After almost 8 years of hell, I got my wife back...her brain chemistry magically restored to normal.

Yeah, I have some experience with this stuff.  POD is very common, almost normal, when a body part is replaced.  Know what it is, wrestle it to the ground and kick its a$$ out the door.  If you need help by talking to your doc or a therapist, do it.  Just stay away from those drugs.  This is a very temporary condition.  You don't use a sledgehammer to squash a fly.

Truce.....

I'm with Chico - Literally millions of people taking regular medication for 'psychological problems', many of whom will struggle to get off and most of whom don't need to be on in the first place....The pharms companies wont mind however, as they depend on us being ill for profits and your GP who prescribed them for you, will be taken to the launch of the next 'super-drug' in Fiji, or somewhere similar... 

I've had some incredibly low days. And I mean very low ! I'm 16 months post-TKR and have a full revision planned for the new year, which doesn't make me happy, but there is no way I'm going to risk addiction to anti depressants..

One day your leg will improve, then you have another problem to deal with..

SMILE now and see how it 'feels'.... If it feels better, do it again and again.........

 

Peter - While I must believe you have the best of intentions, telling a truly depressed person - for whatever reason they are depressed - to smile, actually makes them (me) feel worse. It’s like saying to a diabetic, “Just think positively and your insulin levels will be normal.”

We never know the life experiences, conditions, situations  someone is dealing with. . . Just as everyone recommends that we cannot compare our own knee recovery timelines to others’ recovery experiences, we cannot use a one-size-fits-all fix for the very real blues that accompany prolonged recoveries and pain. For some, those blues are just sadness over the situation, but for others- the pain can trigger true depression that cannot be wished away. I don’t think anyone chooses to feel depressed.??

My own mother does not understand dealing with chronic pain (which I have extensive personal experience with - not just this knee), and she can reduce me to tears by telling me to “just get over it” when all I really hope for is a hug and a statement like “I’m so sorry you’re hurting.” 

AliMarie, thank you for taking a stand.  some people on here think they are experts.... 

 

Martha - I truly don’t think anyone intends to be hurtful (hopefully), but like my mother - their own experiences are different, so they come at things from a different perspective. 

BTW, thank you for explaining about the Mayo hospitals....I live in Ireland and we have a county called Mayo.....I thought this Mayo clinic might be in Ireland....silly me, 😊

Should have read effexor not effector