May be suffering from atypical depression and didn't know...opinions?

Hi there,

I just turned 30 and I remember when I was in my teens years that I used to go downstairs in the middle of the night and have a feast and most of these foods consisted of the bad type of carbs. In these years, I also developed OCD. At first it was the physical kind where you do compulsive acts but then it turned into the pure obessional form where I was and still am plagued with anxious thoughts.

Anyway, for years I have what I have always described as a "heavy" feeling in my arms. I cannot say the same for my legs because I am a wheelchair user. I also have a pressure like feeling in the back of my head, possibly due to anxiety.

My train of thought is most often like, "I want to play the computer but it's a big effort to figure out how to play those levels and turn the system on, so I think I'll leave it." In my childhood years I had no problem with playing the computer and loved it! Now, it's not something I enjoy so much. In fact, I can find myself sitting there in front of the laptop a lot of days. I have the energy to do the necessary things throughout the day ie take my dog for walks, cook dinner, do the washing, etc. I treat weekend days as my "treat food" days. But those days tend to be FEASTS!! I cook my own food but I put a heck of a lot of fries on my plate, load up my burgers and even put away a pint of ice cream, no problem. That's not normal, is it?

I respond well to happy events but I can find myself to be irritable a lot of the time. As an example, if a family member calls me then I may come across as somebody who has a chip on their shoulder and they will ask me what is wrong. I can't really respond to that because I have no idea what it is!

I also suffer from anxiety and can get panicky in particular situations. This may or may not be important information but I diagnosed myself as gluten intolerant a couple of months ago. I diagnosed myself because the blood test for it is quite innacurate and can give false negatives. Everytime I have gluten I am impatient, irritable (which I can be anyway), even more anxious and can fly off the handle with people about the most stupidest things! I will also feel very weak and breathless. Since going off gluten I have experienced a less need for sleep, an increase in energy and SLIGHTLY more cheerful mood, but I still have a problem with not enjoying the things that I used to and the "heavy" feeling in my arms, as if I am being forced to not do the things that I enjoyed once upon a time. I have short term memory issues as well but this is most likely related to the gluten intolerance because it can leave you feeling very foggy minded. My mind is clearer since staying off gluten.

I read that the healing of Celiac sufferers can take up to a year so I am hoping for even more improvement than I am experiencing now, but yesterday I purchased Chromium Picolinate. Not sure if that was a great idea but this atypical depression thing really struck a nerve with me! Most of the symptoms describe my state very well. It only cost me £5, anyway so not much to lose.

What do you all think? And thanks for your replies!

Post Edited (Lee_S) : 8/2/2011 6:11:01 AM (GMT-6)

It's Genetic said...
Hello, Lee_S, and welcome to the depression forum. You already have a good idea of what's wrong by posting on the depression forum. I'm glad you decided to talk to the members about your problems.

Omitting white flour products from your diet has already begun to show improvement in your feeling tone, and whether you have a gluten intolerance or not, the abandonment of white flour products in your diet is a strong, helpful thing to do for your overall mental and physical health. In addition, you should consider removing all milk products. That includes milk, cheese, butter, yogurt made from milk, sour cream, cream cheese, whipped cream, etc. Reduce the number of times you have meat in a week. And eliminate sugar from your diet.
(Sugar causes highs and lows that are comparable to some of the mildest highs and lows of bipolar illness.)

The reasoning for this is that the foods listed are all digested as highly acidic, and you need to keep the fluids of your system in a more alkaline state. Look at some things in nature: many animals are meat eaters solely; others are grass-eating animals. Notice the aggressive difference between the two types.

To maintain a more alkaline condition of fluids, try eating more green vegetables, add lots of salads to your diet, avoid all caffeine-containing foods and beverages, and eliminate alcohol from your diet. Both caffeine and alcohol make depression worse.

Take your prescribed medications if you have seen a psychiatrist and
been diagnosed with depression, given medication, and directions for taking it. Be sure you get your rest.

These are the things that my psychiatrist recommended for me to follow to maintain feeling tone in a calm, content mode.

Diet plays a far more vital part in overcoming depression than is generally known. Most of the neurotransmitters are located in the digestive system, not in the brain as is generally thought. So watch what you eat, please!

Drink plenty of water; if you prefer a different flavor for palatability,
add lemon to it. Lemon is wonderful for the body.

Take care.

It's Genetic

It's Genetic, thanks for that very helpful reply!

I am a little confused when you say about reducing meat since it contains essential B-vitamins that are good for the brain. I would have thought that the more B-vitamins one gets into their system, the better, and meat contains the most B-vitamins.

And it is strange that you bring up milk because I have noticed that in the past few weeks that when I drink milk it seems to actually motivate me to do stuff. It "wakes me up", so to speak, even if only for a couple of hours. So does eating oranges. I do not eat a lot of cheese except mainly on weekends. Milk is the main dairy product that I consume.

I drink lots of water throughout the day but admittedly I do not eat many green vegetables. I need to start! I bought some broccoli yesterday but have not eaten any of it so far.

I also researched that serotonin is developed mainly in the gut area so I do agree that diet is very important!

Thanks!

It's Genetic said...
Thank you for responding Lee_S, I may not have expressed myself as clearly as you might have wished, so I'll give it another try.

Meats are very good for you, but we eat too much of it, as a general thing, and it's more difficult to digest than other "light" foods such as fish, lamb, etc. You certainly need meat in your diet, just not at every meal during the day and not every single day of the week. It is true that meats contain the vitamin B complex, but other foods do, too. I've read that having meat four times a week is adequate. (I assume that means for a relatively active person. The lumberjack's diet would be something else, probably.) You have to judge for yourself what your system requires.

All milk products are digested as highly acidic; that's the problem with too much of them; however, if you don't take medications (which also have a high acidic residue when digested) you may get along well with some milk in your diet. After all, it's rich in calcium and you may need that.

Orange juice is almost 100% sugar, according to my internist. So how do you get your vitamin C? You get it in fresh salads and vegetables, fresh fruit (better than just orange juice because it contains the bioflavonoids that are very good with the orange slices.) Meals should contain a fresh salad every day.

The typical American diet has far too much sugar in it and too many
white flour products. You're better off to go with whole foods and
fresh foods. Canned foods are considered "dead" food by some
nutritionists. Please go to a site called Alkaline foods.com to get a
good look at the foods which should be added to your diet to get more
foods of that type. Then go to Acid-reacting Foods.com to
get a clear understanding of which foods tend to be acidic in reaction.

The problem isn't so concerning as it might be if you do not take meds that require you to take 4 or 5 medications during the day and night. All medications leave an acidic residue and we all need to be able to assimilate the foods that replenish the vitamins and minerals that medications utilize when they are metabolized. Otherwise, the acidic residue keeps circulating in the bloodstream until the kidneys catch up and can remove it from your system.

That's the significant reason to watch the diet, and it does really make
you feel better in a short time, especially if you eliminate caffeine of any kind and alcohol completely from your diet. In fact, all depressed people should eliminate caffeine products and alcohol from their diets permanently.
They both make depression worse. Doctors will tell you that.

When you feel like it, there's nothing wrong with taking a high quality multiple vitamin, either.

I hope these ideas help.

It's Genetic

It's Genetic, thank you for taking the time to clarify your points!

I fully understand now. I did not know that green vegetables also contain vitamin C, so I will be ditching the orange juice (I did drink the so called "100% pure orange juice", but you never know what else it can contain.)

Being somebody who has had weight problems throughout their adult life, I understand that what may work for somebody may not work for somebody else because it took me time to find out what worked for me to be able to lose weight.

I am not on any medication and have not seen a doctor about any of my psychological issues except for the gluten intolerance. The blood test came back negative for that but as I said before, there is a high rate of false negatives and I used my own judgement as to how I felt after consuming gluten.

I am currently taking a B-complex, fish oil and magnesium supplement. The chromium picolate supplement should arrive tomorrow, so I will see how that goes.

I feel that I am slowly healing, week by week, from consuming gluten, but I still have trouble with this "heaviness" feeling that can be quite debilitating. It stops me from enjoying the things that I should be enjoying. But a good thing happened tonight! I managed to turn on my wii console and have a little fun. And I enjoyed it, too! So there is hope!

Can I ask if you suffer from anxiety? If you do, have you noticed an improvement? How long did it take for you to feel better with that? I think I may have panic disorder because I can freak out in certain situations. I hate being touched around the head and this sets off my panic. I have no idea why being touched around the head panicks me. I guess it's just one of them strange things that depression and anxiety can do to you.

I can be sitting on the sofa and my heart rate will start beating rapidly for no apparent reason, too, setting off my OCD thoughts. I am experienced enough and have done enough research to understand that the thoughts are just a representation of the anxiety and nothing more.

I hope you are feeling well with your issues!