Depression Diagnoses

[zak]

Hi,

After bursting into tears at my Urologists office, he felt I should see a psychiatrist.

I had felt I was going into depression on and off for the past 3 years, but since December it has been worst. Now it has come to a point where I feel I need to get help since I am also getting panic attacks and anxiety. a lot of nervousness that causes me to make errors at my job. So I decided this was an issue that I needed to deal with otherwise I would be damaging my relationship with my husband and loosing my job

Like I mentioned in another post of mine, I had a doctors appointment yesterday about this. She felt I should go home and think about how I want to deal with my depression. She concluded by saying that she strongly felt I had depression and asked me 3 times during the appointment what I felt like I wanted to do about it..she gave me my options and kept repeating I wasn't alone numerous times and after one point it started making me annoyed. I had researched about this enough to know that I wasn't alone and this was very common. anyways, so I have until next week to think about it. Another this she mentioned was that she thought it might be my birth control pill, orthotricylin, which i have started using since january, around the time that my depression got worse. I feel it could contribute to it but can't be the main reason.

I am doing my research about different options including antidepressants. I am scared about the side effects. the doctor mentioned the side effects come first, peek in the 2nd week and then the drug starts kicking in after a month or so. so it gets a lot worse before it gets better. some side effects were sleeping problems, constipation, weight gain etc.

I also asked her if there was an antidepressant that would make my IC worse, she said she will talk to her supervising doctor about it and see what he has to say but she didn't think so.

Has anyone dealt with clinical depression after having IC? I read quite a bit about depression and some people talk about having it for no apparent reason. I know for me its not like that because right now I am more overwhelmed rather then anything else. having IC, not being able to sleep well, chronic fatigue, stress driven new job, school work and a new marriage makes things a bit challenging for me. Post IC I was involved in a lot more activities, volunteer work and such.

I have heard a lot about Elavil, does anyone know about that? what about sexual side effects? due to painful intercourse, my libido is 0 at this point, I can't imagine things getting worse! is there a antidepressant that helps with that issue as well?

Please give your input...it would help a lot at this point! and share your story as well, because I am sure there are alot of people out there like me who would benefit from hearing and learning from each others experience.

Cheers,
Zak.

[jen_dahling]

I can relate to just about everything you are going through. I was diagnosed with post-pardum depression a few years ago. The antidepressants helped me feel myself again, with few side affects. I only took them for about 6 mo. Lately I have had more frequent bouts of depression but I think they are hormone related along with my IC. I am going to try the Seasonale BC pills starting this month. My uro and gyn think that my estrogen drops too low and too soon during my cycles each month. I hope this works because antidepressants tend to make me feel numb, not literally, just no emotional feeling.
Anyway, I really feel for you and your challenges right now. The term overwhelmed almost feels like an understatement sometimes and when combined with anxiey it can be unbearable.
As far as Elavil goes, I just started last week taking 25mg at night. It can still be a little hard to fall asleep but I feel much better in the morning because it knocks me out for the whole night.
Good luck and keep us posted.

[SharonA]

I have been on Elavil going on 2 1/2 years. I take 25mg at bedtime. I am able to live a pretty normal life despite IC. I believe that is due to the Elavil. If I try to deduce the dose, my flares come back.

As far as Elavil causing the libido to decline, I am not sure. I am postmenopausal and do not take HRT. Therefore, I think most of my problem comes from that. That's not saying that Elavil does not contribuate. I do know that loss of sex drive is one of the side effects.

[theclownster]

Hi Perry! I'm sorry to hear that you are having a difficult time. IC is very challenging physically in addition to the emotional effect it has on us.
I am also taking elavil 25 mg at bedtime. That is not a therapeutic dose for depression. In my case it's for the IC. I believe a therapeutic does specifically for depression is up near 300 - 350 mg. It is also a fairly inexpensive anti-depressent. Are you getting up a lot at night? I found in my first months of discovering a diagnosis that I was functioning very poorly due to the lack of sleep. Of course, I did not realize this until after I started taking he elavil and atarax that help me sleep at night.

As far as antidepressants that are better for IC patients to take, you might want to double check with your uro too. Your uro may know ones that would be the most compatible. Additionally, some pills have inactive ingredients (known as fillers) that can be bladder irritants. I take my nighttime meds with two prelief to prevent any discomfort from the meds.

Medication is a good part of treating depression. You may also want to considering counseling or support programs. Medication is good to help with the brain chemistry, but adding the other component may also increase the outcome.

I want to thank you for your courage in sharing your story. It's good to know that people are not alone in their IC journeys. Thanks!

Take Care!
Jennifer

[Sarojini]

Let's see... I don't know how to answer your question about antidepressants, as I am not on one yet either. However, I just wanted to let you know that the same thing happened to me; my uro sent me to a psychiatrist because she was concerned that I was becoming depressed. I've had a tough time at work recently, and in addition, I've been in severe pain for a while, and things were really starting to get me down. I had my first visit yesterday. So far, I've just started "talk therapy" with no antidepressant pills ... we will make that decision slowly as I don't think it is something to take lightly, given all the OTHER meds I'm on for IC, asthma, etc.

However, the talk therapy, in addition to lots of loving support from my husband, has ALREADY helped me, as I was able to find the strength to resign from a very abusive situation at work. I strongly encourage you to particpate in some kind of counseling in addition to any meds you decide on.

[mayray518]

I have been on elavil for 5 years and it has helped immensely with IC. It does have its side effects and I am now down to a low dose. Elavil in low doses is a pain blocker, you have to take a much higher dose for depression. And it is an old tricyclic anti-depressant. The newer SSRI anti-depressants, like prozac, zoloft, etc are now used for depression. I took prozac for a year and had no side effects. Unfortunately it didnt help my IC so I still had to take the elavil.

[zak]

Thank you all for your response..it really helps to hear from people in similar situations and to get your advice on how you have handled depression.

Sarojini, like you I too am in an abusive work situation. However due to career and financial reasons i can not leave this job at this time. I am trying very hard to resolve the issue but dealing with IC at the same time does not help the situation.

I think all of this does contribute to my depression and talk therapy is a good place for me to start rather then go on meds right away. however the referal system is really slow over here in Canada so I don't know how soon I would get the appointment.

Thank you all again for all your advice...i really appreciate it.
-Zak