Depression Community

Do you have a pdoc and a tdoc? Don't give up, there are many things to try. I recently started on a different antidepressant, Emsam, an MAOI patch. I think it may be working but since I am also doing ECT I am not sure. My hope is that I will be able to stop ECT and continue doing well with Emsam. I was on Cymbalta for the last two years or so but hit a crisis and my pdoc decided to try me on Emsam.

Am sorry to hear that this is happening. As a psychiatrist, I have met 1 or 2 patients in the last 12 years that have really tried every med, every therapy, and every device to see it fail.... I do not know your whole history but suspect you still have some good treatment options available to you but per the other post, you will need to ask your docs

I have had depression since my first wife died in 1998. Tried many anti-depressants. Wellbutirn worked fairly well but a Dr. advised that it isn't for long term. He suggested tryin and over the counter supplement called SAMe. I take 4000 mg daily and have for several years--- it is marvelous. Just a week or so on it my depression was lifted 99%. I met and married a c;harming lady but also lost her in 2007 when I wrecked a car and she died of her injuries. Only 2 incidents of problem depression since then. The SAMe works but don't skip a day!!!!
I'm now married for the 4th time and so happy it should be illegal for an 82 yr old to be so happy!
Try it you'll like it!
Love and prayers, Grandpa Dale

Hello Glumey: My name is Linda and I am going thru this also, major clinical depression,treatments have never really worked that well and the darkness is always there waiting to suck you in.
I wish I had some magic advice I could give you but I don't think there is any. I think that the only way to keep the darkness back is to recognize that it is there and before you slip into it reach out to someone, anyone, me if you want , or someone else. This is the only way i have found i can cope and sometimes i don't cope i just opt out for a day, sleep it away, go to the ocean and sit or drive anywhere that is comforting to you. I am sorry you have to live with this, I will try to be there for you if you would like. Bye L.


I

Grandpa Dale, do you continue the wellbutrin or just take the SAMe,? Please let me know as i am currently on wellbutrin and have been for about 5 years but it does not seem to be working very well anymore. Thank you Linda

Depression runs in my family on my mothers side. Her grandpa killed himself, her dad had ECT and was never the same. 3 sisters have it and now my mom has developed it. So it was bound to happen to me as well. I actually was molested when I was 8-9. I developed schizophrenia during this time. I heard voices in my head telling me all kinds of things. I dealt with it okay but I was a shell of myself. No friends. It was awful. Well I didn't even date until my current wife showed interest in me. Still heard voices but dealt with them without meds. Well everything was going good until around 2006. I hurt my knee at work, the job then went overseas. I have had 7 knee surgeries since. Our daughter was DX with Cystic Fibrosis a few years back as well. If it could go bad for me it did. I am not exagerating. Nothing went right. I fell into a deep hole. Tried suicide on November 1,2007. The day before my middle childs birthday. The wife and I argued about money before she left for work. I was no good to anyone. So I could go on but I have been dx with schizophrenia, then schizoaffective disorder, bi polar , and major depression disorder. It is so bad we are now running out of meds and combos to try. Have been on wellbutrin the most. 3 different times. Currently been on it for 8 months. They just added Provigil as with the Depression I just want to lie around and sleep off and on. This is the worst part for me. When I say lack of motivation, think of your worst day when you are sick. That's me everyday. It is so bad I am on SSDI. I won in 2009. It is no better at all. I may have 2 days a month that are tolerable. I am 44 and there is no way I will live like this the rest of my Natural Life. I just can't do it. I have a great wife and 3 daughters that make it worth it. Well after 3 days the Provigil has helped me with wanting to do some things around the house. I am supposed to take 2 200mg pills a day. I take 3 right now and drink a monster energy to make it thru. Hopefully with the Provigil things will get somewhat better. Hard to believe they cant find me any meds to work. I see a psychairist every 4-6 weeks and a psychologist every 2-3 weeks. I really like my psychologist however I think she has basically given up on me. Our sessions that used to last 55 minutes, but now I am lucky if she gives me 30. We rehash the same thing over and over. Anyway I pray to the Almighty for help.

sorry it took me so long to reply, i have been up and down for the last 2 months, this last week has been a fair to middlin one although i have been dealing with a lot of upheaval as my husband has not been well, lots of added stress there. How are you doing with the provigil hope you are holding your own with . I took provigil for a few months, reallly helped me but I could not afford it so I had to stop, things seemed to go downhill again after that so I have found it at canada rx for 141.00 bucks for 90 pills so i am going to order some, I also started taking pristiq with the wellbutrin and it does help some but again it is very expensive so i have to use it very sparingly. I will pray for you too.Don't give up, sounds like you have a good wife and children too so that is a plus. Take care L.

hello, W --

finances are always a big problem with psych meds, i know. below are some resources for finding free/low-cost meds; i hope they help. do not try to tackle all of these entries at once. check out one or two, see what they say, then tackle one or two more.

-- ask your prescribing dr or your primary-care dr for samples;

-- ask a pharmacist if s/he knows of local/state/national programs for getting free/low-cost meds;

-- ask a pharmacist if any of the meds you are taking have generic equivalents, which are much less expensive than brand-name ones; many discount stores (target, wal-mart, etc.) and grocery store pharmacies dispense generic meds at $4/month and antibiotics for free;

-- look at the labels on your current meds, get the manufacturer's name for each, then apply to each manufacturer's patient assistance program;

-- check out the listings from these websites -- http://www.pparx.org/prescription_assistance_programs , http://www.needymeds.org/indices/pap.shtml , http://www.rxoutreach.com , http://www.gskforyou.com/10_programs.htm , http://www.211.org , http://www.copays.org ; and http://www.rxassist.org/default.cfm;

-- check out the website for the national conference of state legislatures, which lists prescription assistance programs by state (subsidy programs, table 1, and discount programs, table 2, each can be reached by a link within the text); the page with the listings requires a little maneuvering but is well worth the effort -- http://www.ncsl.org/IssuesResearch/Health/StatePharmaceuticalAssistanceProgramsNCSL200/tabid/14334/Default.aspx#Discount ;

-- call your city, county, or state dept of health and dept of family services (or something that sounds equivalent), and ask if there are state or local programs for prescription assistance;

-- go to the website for your state government, e.g., http://www.your_state.gov , and click on every social services link you can find;

-- ask around at food banks, shelters, united way and other charitable organizations, the YMCA/YWCA, and similar places about local programs thru churches, fraternal organizations, etc.; and

-- check out these websites to determine your eligibility for various govt assistance programs -- https://www.benefitscheckup.org/index.cfm?partner_id=0 , http://www.govbenefits.gov/govbenefits_en.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=gbcc_page_home&_nfls=false , and http://www.eldercare.gov/Eldercare.NET/Public/Home.aspx .

unfortunately, provigil/modafinil and pristiq/desvenlafaxine are not yet available in generic form, but wellbutrin/bupropion is, so be sure to get the generic on that.

you may be subject to a major interaction if you will be taking wellbutrin and pristiq simultaneously. this combination can increase the risk of seizures. starting at low doses -- that is, 450 mg/day for wellbutrin -- will reduce this risk.

you may also be subject to a major interaction if you will be taking wellbutrin and SAMe simultaneously. this combination could increase the amt of serotonin in your bloodstream, leading to shivering, anxiety, and heart problems. SAMe should not be taken at the same time as most antidepressants.

you may be subject to a significant reaction if you will be taking wellbutrin and provigil together; this combination increases metabolism, which makes bupropion leave the body more quickly.

i hope this helps.

-- susie margaret

thanks for the info, i will look into some of these resources. bye linda

Linda, I only, repeat only, take SAMe, 2 each 400mg tablets once a day. The results are wonderful-- no side effects that I know of and a sunny disposition for most of the time.
Works great for me.
Life can be great, grandpa Dale