Blame it on depression?

[giftseklectica]

I am a 34 year old woman & I have dealt with depression my whole life. I also believe that the problem I have with feeling any kind of emotion is more than likely due to PTSD. My family knows the trauma I have been through & they all think PTSD is just a bunch of hooey & "get over it" is thier attitude. So I have learned ways of creating deversions that can pull me out of my ruts most of the time. The problem I have right now is that I have all the sudden gained about 10 pounds for no reason, nothings changed. I am cold all the time & my toes & fingers will go numb. I cant seem to focus on anything & lose words when I am in a conversation, my short term memory has become increasingly bad, my thoughts are racing constantly, my ears are ringing so loud CONSTANTLY that I cant go to sleep without the radio or TV on to tune out the ringing, my periods have become heavy, I feel totally weak, my skin, hair & nails are extremely dry, my face & eyes are all puffed up and along with constapation, you would think I have all the symptoms of  "hypothyroid" right? I mean I have searched out my symptoms for months and it all pointed to "hypothyriod" The problem now is that I cant stay awake. I am sleeping 18 to 20 hours a day and this sleep thing has gone on for almost two weeks now. When I am awake I just feel weak & any little smidge of pressure or stress makes me feel horrible anxioty. I cant even talk on the phone or have a simple conversation without feeling like i am using every bit of brain power I have left, just to get through a simple call. I went to the doctor and explained all of this and he nonshalonly mentioned : Lukemia, Anemia, and thyroid...explaining to me his concerns for wanting to do a blood test. I hardly remember a thing he said & didnt care I just wanted him to fix me. So a week goes by and today my results came back... NEGITIVE! So not being satisfied, I went back up there & he said "nothing is wrong with you except that it may be 'depression' and I am going to give you Zoloft" So I take the Zoloft, go home and sleep. Now I am awake & as tired as I am, I need to know, does this sound right? I know what depression feels like, this is not it. What can I do? Every time I have been perscribed meds for depression, I get worse! I fear that the Zoloft is only going to make me even more tired. I cant stand feeling like this. My whole family thinks depression is just something people cook up in thier heads & keep telling me I just need to get out more.  I was actually disappointed that he found nothing wrong with me, because now I have no hope to fix anything quickly. I just need some direction here & I have no insurance. I did sign up for it but it doesnt kick in for 2 more weeks. What can I do?
Thank you in advance,
Wanda Doty

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

If a thorough medical workup is truly negative, then one sounds like depression probably is depression. That is, before you mentioned the negative workup the symptoms sounded like a very significant depression.

Taking antidepressants is a good idea but it won't work magic. Taking these medications gives you the boost you need to get out and get your life going forward. If you don't do that, the depression stays.  The quick fix is only in your attitude. If you can figure out what you need to do( with or without a therapist) and start doing it, you are on your way out.  If you can't afford a therapist, you can still start now in a low cost way by going to www.masteringstress.com.

[giftseklectica]

I visited the site & unfortunatly when you begin you have to fill out the "problem" section so they can determine if they can help or not. You only have thier options to choose from and NOTHING not a single topic has to do with my problems. It seems to be focused around short term or temporary stress from specific activities such as "I was kicked out of my house" or "I have too much time on my hands" If I knew the specific reason I felt so bad I wouldnt be searching for answers. After taking 100mgs of Zoloft yesterday, instead of sleeping, now I cant sleep at all & my thoughts are racing faster, my hands are shaking, my eyes feel twitchy, I feel an uncontrollable need to swing my feet off the side of the bed & I still feel exhausted yet I cant sleep. I only took 50mgs today so i will see if it helps.

[Phance]

I have to say that I have been going through the same thing.  Same feelings and so tired that by 2:30 in the afternoon, I was wiped out on the couch and that was the end of my day.  I had nothing to be depressed about but I couldn’t make it anymore.  I went to the doctor and he ran blood tests.  All came out negative.  I started crying because that meant to me that he thought nothing was wrong with me.  He started talking to me about counseling and I told him I was just starting a new job, going back to school myself and I was very happy in my life.  He agreed that it didn’t sound like depression.  I then started taking vitamins with 18 mg of iron.  I could feel when they kicked in.  I took one everyday for 1 1/2 weeks then that wasn’t enough.  I was back to feeling the same.  So I bought iron pills, 36 mg.  They worked great.  I was back to feeling normal.  I only had to take them for 2 weeks then my body was back to normal.  Now every 2-3 months, I have to take the iron pills for a while.  Iron was one of the things the doctor had checked for.  He told me that my iron was normal in my system.  But that is the only thing that works and I am normal again.  Hope this helps.

[Phance]

I have to say that I am very glad to see this problem with someone else.  At least that means my problem isn't as bad as I was thinking because someone else has been going through the same thing.

[computersarefun]

If you don't have luck with Zoloft, you might want to try Wellbutrin or Effexor.  Effexor XR gave me tons of energy.

[nileview]

You could be hypothyroid despite having a "normal" test result. It's not unusual for women to start to develop thyroid problems. Your TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) could gradually be increasing and a doctor might not declare you hypothyroid until you're number exceeds the "normal" mark. If you can, you might try seeing an endocrinologist.