so Depressed

[msword440]

I have been in depression for almost 10 years. i have taken antidepressant imipramine before i have never issued memory problem before from 4 years on i have furstrated and depressed now i have memory issue,i cant tell the story of the movie i have seen after a month it seems like that i have seen the movie or not,i find difficult to recognise people i consult psychatrist he just give me antidepressant,while consulting neurologist it seems like that you are okey,i have test my thyroid function its somewhat elevated now after taking medicine it is well under control,i checked my vitamin  B12 they are on lower side,its become very hard for me to conversate with people.what should i do and where should i go,desperatelly need help.i was taking clomipramine and risperidone now i have stop taking risperidone and minimum dose 50 mg of clomipramine.

[sara12345]

I'm glad that I've been of some help.  I hope that you got my long message back to your private message.  I alerted you once more to it.

In it, I said, "It sounds like you are quite successful with your work and have a lot of potential to move on with your life."   I meant that.  

[msword440]

Thank you very much really thanks for your suggestion.i am doing activity not with my interest,i just want to feel better and do something new.

[sara12345]

Your current psychiatrist doesn't sound the best.  If you can get a second opinion from another one, that would be good.  If not, I would really press him with trying you on some other strategies.  You deserve to feel better.

[msword440]

should i move to next psychatrist or i continue to the same psychatrist,the psychatrist whome i am currently always in rush because too many patient he have to see,always ask me whats ur major problem and prescribed medicine.doesnt talk too much with the patient,but many patient.what should i do?

[sara12345]

Yes, it's fine to prescribe older anti-depressants unless they aren't working, which this person is still having major trouble.  I also suggested MAO Inhibitors and ECT above.

[Anneinside]

Sometimes you have to move to older medications. SSRI and SNRIs didn't work for me so I went on Selegiline, called Emsam, which is an MAOI patch. I also have maintenance ECT. Of the two, ECT is the most effective but I wouldn't remain stable between treatments if I wasn't on Emsam. I do have to be on the low tyramine diet but can "cheat" a bit sometimes. A psychiatrist is not incompetent for prescribing an older antidepressant, they are seeking a solution.

[msword440]

I have inbox you my history please suggest me i have not tried you mentioned drugs and even ECT i think it is not available in nepal.

[sara12345]

Are you aware that the problems you are talking about are classic symptoms of depression?  Even some Dementia can be completely reversed by treating the depression. Yes or no, have you ever had Ability added to your anti-depressant?  Have you ever tried MAO Inhibitors, e.g. Nardil?  Have you considered ECT?  If nothing has really helped you, then you have the choice to try something that could help you.  If you have researched the ECT and are still against it, then I guess you will have to be the way you are.  There may be a new anti-depressant that comes on the market that might help you.  The drug companies are working on more, because so many millions of people are helped by them.

I think that you should let your doctor know that you are going off the respiridone on your own.

I know that you very frustrated.   I don't think that you going off your one med and are almost off the other med that you say is the only anti-depressant that you say has helped you, will make for better health in you.  But you can try.  Just be aware of the consequences since you have some psychosis problems.  I wish you the best.  

[msword440]

Actually i have tried many antidepressant and their combination,only clomipramine have given me some improvement on mood but i am.The main concern with me is brain fog,unability to study,its difficult to learn new things,heaviness in the head.i have some problem with thyroid also but now its well under level i am taking thyroid medicine also.i wean off respiridone myself so many medicine i fed up and now my mood is low because of i mention probllem,however serotine whatever given i am not benefiting my main problem is not solved i am not getting my solution.

[sara12345]

Another thing in addition to my posting above, has your psychiatrist tried you on any combination meds such as Abilify?  A lot of times Abilify along with the anti-depressant can make all the difference.  If your clomipramine has not helped your depression, why are you on it?  Again, perhaps you should explore ECT since you say that none of the meds have helped you.

[sara12345]

Does your psychiatrist know that you quit taking resperidone?   The fact that you are not having the psychosis symptoms would be most likely because of that medication.  It is a common thing that people with psychosis go off their medications which have been working and then get bad again without them.  Anti-depressants do tend to limit your libido/sex drive.  That's why I changed to Pristiq which brought mine back.  And your feeling of dull is most likely because you miss the hypomanic side of your illness.  People complain about a lot of side effects, but I've never heard anyone taking anti-depressants complain about feeling dull unless they are bipolar. There are trade offs with these medications, so you will have to decide which is worse, the medication or your illness.    

So sorry that you are still depressed in spite of being on so many different medications.  Another option would be ECT which is not bad like it used to be.  Have you tried that?

[msword440]

in past i have tried for many antidepressant no one worked for me.i have some pychosis symptoms so my psychatirst added me resperidone but now i dunt have such problem so i wean it off.he has given me high dose of clomipramine 250 mg a day.it seems like i am numbeed so i wean it of now i am in 50 mg now i have problem with my libido,sex drive and memory.i have tried so many antidepressant they have make me dull.

[sara12345]

I meant above, that your doctor does NOT sound with it.  A typo.

[sara12345]

Depression could well be the reason why you are having trouble conversing with people and your memory.  Although some people have difficulty recognizing people, but if you didn't have the problem in the past, then it's probably from the depression.  And with all the movies and TV that I see, I can't remember the stories a month later either and don't have any problem with it, because I do remember all the important things in life.  Do you?

I have a difficult time understanding why someone still suffering from depression is only taking a tricyclic anti-depressant from the early 1960s.  There are far more effective anti-depressants that have been on the market for the last 20+ years.  And why are you going off of a medication, risperidone that is typically used for people who have schizophrenia or are bipolar?  I would think that most people in those situations would need to be taking something to control those mental states.  Again your doctor does sound with it.  When you say that you are on the lower side of Vitamin B12, does that mean that you are within a normal range or abnormal one?  If you are on the lower end of normal, there is no cause for worry.  And you have gotten your thyroid under control, so that's not an issue.

The main problem that you have is that you need a far better psychiatrist who is in this century and even the latter part of the last century.  You shouldn't be suffering from depression with so little help on correcting it.  Good luck to you.