Sudden massive onset of hopelessness and depression

Hi everyone, I'm hoping someone can enlighten me on this new Lyme symptom I'm currently experiencing.

I've been on Mepron (for Babesia) and Minocycline (for Borellia) since October 2014. While the battle has been tough, I've always been able to get up and do, taking naps and resting on days when exhaustion strikes. But lately (this past week) I've had MAJOR exhaustion from the minute my feet hit the floor in the morning, and now this is my 2nd day (not in a row) of massive "I give up", "I don't want to do this anymore" depression. All I want to do is go back to bed and not cope with anything. My MD recently (2 weeks ago) started me on Wellbutrin since I've been attempting to quit smoking for months now and the anxiety when I get down to just a few a day is overwhelming. She says this antidepressant should help (with quitting smoking anxiety and even help finally quit smoking) but it hasn't kicked in yet. I understand from literature that one of the strongest symptoms with Babesia is debilitating depression, but not sure if this should be treated as a herx or not, or whether there's another remedy my Lyme-literate naturopath can offer me. (Waiting for her call back.)

Am hoping someone can help me out. Many thanks.

So sorry you are feeling so bleak. It does seem to scream back at you when you are healing. It will improve. That being said, some do not do well on Wellbutrin. I have known a couple of coworkers who could not tolerate it, sure they would lose their jobs if they continued on it. It takes a few weeks taking it for it to balance out and work well if it is working for you.

Quitting smoking is quite a challenge in itself, causing feelings of loss and sadness at times. Could you use the patch instead? Or lozenges?

I agree with P that Wellbutrin might not be the best anti-depressant for you. Anti-depressants are very personal and you have to find the right one for you. Definitely discuss this with your doctor. The depression could definitely be the Babesia. The right anti-depressant can help while you heal the bugs.

Regarding your major exhaustion, have you previously had that? Babesia can cause severe exhaustion and fatigue. Your Babesia could be flaring. It's hard to say because the depression can cause exhaustion too. It could be some kind of reaction to the Wellbutrin. I have severe fatigue exhaustion from Babesia. Artemisinin has helped with that. Of course, discuss your depression, fatigue and options with your doctor.

Has the Mepron helped at all? If not, you definitely have options. As Traveler said, it is good to mix things up if you're not improving on Mepron and Mino. The analogy people use is peeling an onion. You find meds that help with symptoms and switch things up when you plateau-until you feel normal. A good LLMD will switch things up if you're not improving AND when you stop improving.

Hang in there! Depression is awful. I hope you find the right meds for you!


Edited-from Biaxin to Mino. Ooops! I should have double checked that.

I would make sure I ate foods every day that are high in tryptophan and serine. Most likely you are low on BH4. The catch 22 is that BH4 helps with ammonia toxicity and foods high in tryptophan and serine often increase ammonia toxicity. What I have found is that fish and turkey are good sources for both. Preferably cold water fish and free range turkey but most people don't have access to those. I have found that eating green leafy vegetables along with the sources of protein helps affect the pKa and helps negate the lower acidity of protein.