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Depression and UC?

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Posted 11/7/2007 12:30 AM (GMT 0)

How many of us are something for depression that occured POST diagnosis? I am just wondering because I never had a history of depression but after a long flare and being on Prednisone at one dose or another ever since diagnosis, as well as some concurrent family stresses, I am now on Lexipro. It seems to be helping somewhat, it appears to be a rather subtle medication. But it did get me to thinking about how common or not it is to experience depression with UC. I notice depression meds seem to be fairly frequent on peoples signatures.

Meesh

Posted 11/7/2007 12:36 AM (GMT 0)
Yes, i agree and my husband is also. I'm on lexipro 20mg :(
Posted 11/7/2007 1:18 AM (GMT 0)
I've tried many drugs for depression, but nothing seems to work for me.  Some of the pain killers I take work more than anything else, but of course they can't be prescribed for depression, nor would it be safe to do so.  Not taking anything at the moment, only because I can't afford to keep seeing my psychiatrist, so he can prescribe something else that won't work.
Posted 11/7/2007 1:23 AM (GMT 0)
 You know how chronic disease can affect your

 sleep.  There is always pain and inflammation

 in the colon, joints, possibly around eyes.

 In addition with colon not processing and

 forming stools- nutritional intake suffers-

 possible results are anemia, chronic fatigue,

 depression, anxiety. 

 a good test is if you achieve remission,

 and sleep and eat right, see if depression

 and fatigue lessen.

 

Posted 11/7/2007 4:31 AM (GMT 0)
Other than the meds for UC, I don't take anything. I try to find natural ways to lighten my spirits. (My way of dealing with things... not condeming anyone elses choices...)
Posted 11/7/2007 7:24 AM (GMT 0)
I take citalopram, it works well for me.
Posted 11/7/2007 1:05 PM (GMT 0)
I think the internet has stressed me out more than anything.... without a doubt reading the daily stories help but only in a knowledge sense, they do not help at all in managing the stress with having a chronis illness - it is a vicious circle because stress will nearly always cause a flare.
Posted 11/7/2007 2:20 PM (GMT 0)
Hey, UC Fighter:

You said: Other than the meds for UC, I don't take anything. I try to find natural ways to lighten my spirits. (My way of dealing with things... not condeming anyone elses choices...)


Unfortunately, for someone with clinical depression, lightening your spirits is not often possible. And when your WILL to change your attitude bumps up against your chemistry and it doesn't work, you have, once again, failed. More evidence that you are

A. Fatally flawed
B. Worthless
C. A parasite on society.

Trying to overcome that level of self-loathing by "finding natural ways to lighten your spirit," just isn't possible.

Unless you have dealt with clinical depression, you cannot possibly know the way your mind hijacks your life and causes you to tumble into an abyss of utter despair. Helping yourself is certainly possible when you have a case of the blues; helping yourself was impossible for me without medication. Believe me, I tried and tried and tried (and failed and failed and failed)for several years. Only once I got my thinking and chemistry straight with medicaiton was I able to really do the work, institute the changes in order to lighten my spirit.

Just my perspective.

Mitz
Posted 11/7/2007 3:07 PM (GMT 0)
Many people who suffer from chronic illnesses also have depression. I think that battling a disease and trying to deal with everything else life can throw at you can get too much sometimes.Sometimes the only way out of this cycle is to start medications. Its only when you start these medications that you realise how low we are.
Marty
Posted 11/7/2007 4:46 PM (GMT 0)
I am having a really bad days. My whole abdomen feels raw. I have to walk carefully and sit carefully. I called into work today, which I hate doing, it makes me look bad. Then whenever it gets this bad and I can't function, I feel like I let everyone down. My family,(I have things that need done and can't do them,which makes my husband have to pick up the slack) my work and myself. All I do is cry. I was doing so well. Then bam, like a freight train. I have no insurance so I can't just rush to my DR. and when ever I go to the emergency room, they act like I'm faking or its not as bad as I say it is. They do a couple of x-rays, say i'm swollen and thats why it hurts and send me home. It seems if I don't have insurance they don't care. Thank you for letting me vent. I have faith I will get better again. I just hope it happens soon.A person can only handle so much pain.
Posted 11/7/2007 4:55 PM (GMT 0)
MitzMN

I was only speaking for myself. No I'm not clincally depressed. That's why I added "My way of dealing with things... not condeming anyone elses choices..."
Posted 11/7/2007 5:25 PM (GMT 0)
I do feel depressed a lot but I did not take the Lexapro my doctor recommended. Does the prednisone cause depression? I've been on and off of prednisone for several years. I was off it for about 4 months but then begged to start it again because I was flaring so badly. I feel much more depressed now that I am back on it. I cry a lot.
Posted 11/7/2007 5:35 PM (GMT 0)
I've had depression/anxiety all my life...a nice inheritance from my mom's side of the family.

Therapy was my lifesaver, but there was a point in my life where I was dizzy 24/7 for almost 3 years and a professional turning point happened that sent me plummeting into a downward spiral. Yes, my flares were up and down during that time which were emotionally worse just because of the added distress.

Eventually, I asked my GP for antidepressant help and she put me on Effexor XR....low dosage...but it was amazing as to how it lightened my mind and spirit.

I did go off the med for a few months....not good at all...tried Paxil and Celexa which left me feeling stoned. I went back to Effexor but at the next incriment where I'm still at.

The draw to be depressed is very strong for me...but the tools I learned in therapy has changed my perspective. At least I've learned to recognise the symptoms.

Now....for a natural approach.....a huge bag of M&M peanuts does the trick!

quincy
Posted 11/7/2007 6:20 PM (GMT 0)

quincy said...

Now....for a natural approach.....a huge bag of M&M peanuts does the trick!

 I really like the way you think!
Posted 11/8/2007 1:25 AM (GMT 0)
Sometimes ya gotta do whatcha gotta do ta getcha thu!!
:-D

q
Posted 11/8/2007 3:06 PM (GMT 0)
Hubby was put on Zoloft after this last flare...I've heard it sometimes helps UC patients in other ways (isn't it supposed to slow your system down, too?), but I think the only reason he was put on it was because this flare that started 8 months ago was a result of a high stress incident at work, which led to a worker's comp claim, which led to woker's comp mandating that he must see a psychiatrist.

The psych talked with him for abut 10 minutes and threw the Zoloft prescription at him - hubby was frustrated because the doc thought he was depressed over the work incident, but it was really because of the frustration of having his colon rule our lives!

Anyway, he's still on it, but neither of us knows if it's doing him any good. He still has ups and downs, directly related to the disease and how it's doing.

Quincy - we use that 'natural approach' here too! Works for both of us! ;)
Posted 11/11/2007 5:15 AM (GMT 0)
im not depressed, i dont think. not "medically" speaking.. but the 50mg of prednisone im on every day makes me feel down in the dumps a lot. is that depressed? im not sure cuz ive never been "depressed" in a clinical or medical sense. but i sure dont feel normal. and i dont really feel happy as much as i used to be. i do get moody and grumpy and down. and i just feel like ill never get better...
i think its the prednisone.
but im not taking anything for the down in the dumps feeling. im on so much other meds, i dont want to add to it...
i try and work on my art to get my mind away from how i feel and what my body is feeling. pain and cramping just sucks and it sucks your energy away from you..
i feel like i have no energy field sometimes. does that make sense?
im up and down like a roller coaster... and i cant wait to get off the prednisone!!! it can't come soon enuf!

i was just feeling crappy and depressed today so i went and made chocolate chip cookies. made me feel much better. tasted good too.
Posted 11/11/2007 7:10 AM (GMT 0)
krazygirl, I wouldn't doubt it's the pred...most on here who are on it complain of the same symptoms.

Maybe once you're at a lower dosage, ask your doc to add the 5ASA retention enemas....maybe you'll not have to go on it.

Why didn't you go back onto the imuran?

What kind of art to you do?

Home-made cookies do wonders..lol!
Posted 11/11/2007 11:53 AM (GMT 0)
My perspective is that mind - body connection is a strong one. Perhaps stronger than we realize. I can't prove it, but I think for me there is a connection in how I dealt with stress and anxiety and the emergence of UC in my life. Since I "ate" my stress etc. for years without a healthy way to process it, the long term impact on my body helped allow the UC to emerge.

I spent some time with a great counselor "root causing" my underlying mental issues and have since learned a lot better ways to deal with my own bs.

So it's kind of like what came first the chicken or the egg.... call it what you want... depression, melancholy, gray thinking. GI's should look to treat both the mind and the body from the onset. I'll bet outcomes would improve dramatically.
Posted 11/11/2007 4:01 PM (GMT 0)
UC Fighter:

Sometimes you can do it the natural way, and sometimes you need help. A lot of times when you need help, you are unable to seek out help because you feel stuck, unworthy, stigmatized, have a lack of funds. Most of all, you want to believe you can pull yourself up by your boot straps or "do it naturally" by willing yourself to get better. You feel so different and incapable of making yourself better, but you remember how you used to be and you swear tomorrow will be better, and then the next tomorrow will be better. In the meantime, you are not really getting better.

I believe a part of my inability to escape my depression and get back to the old me is at least partly the result of failing to seek help for the first couple of years when I was so depressed. And when I finally reached out for help via therapy, I refused for another prolonged period of time to take medicine since it wasn't natural and it would mean admitting defeat over my depression. Maybe, just maybe, if someone had encouraged me to get help and try medication, I would have put that all behind me and would be able to now pull myself out of the abyss "the natural way." That's the only reason for my post. When you are truly clinically depressed, you don't have the resources oftentimes to pull yourself out of it. Another failure day after day after day.

Mitz
Posted 11/11/2007 4:14 PM (GMT 0)
And I can totally appreciate that. I have a family member that suffers from depression and is on medication. Like the old saying, "You don't know someone until you walk a mile in their shoes" you can't understand what someone is going through (no matter what the condition) unless you're in that situation too.
Posted 11/11/2007 8:15 PM (GMT 0)
UC Fighter.....The fact that you don't have depression is awesome! No one ever suspects me of being depressed because I don't tend to show it except at home. There are so many different forms of depression, many don't even recognise it in themselves.

One thing I did learn in therapy was how depression and anxiety work together in perfect harmony. Recognising that has helped me not be fearful of the state of being...and I allow myself to wallow for a short while and then get myself moving into a more motivated state of mind.

It's a simple process or event that can complicate one's life toward total dark despair...and it can all happen without anyone else even noticing until......very scary place to be contemplating one's own demise and how people will react or be at your funeral.

quincy
Posted 11/12/2007 5:12 AM (GMT 0)
im feeling pretty crap today... kinda depressed.   it sucks.  im usually so happy and upbeat, and right now i could just cry. im sick of feeling like crap and my tummy hurting all the time. its gettin to me.. i hope its the pred and im not falling into depression!!!

Quincy said...
Why didn't you go back onto the imuran?

What kind of art to you do?

im not doing the imuran thing cuz i want to have a baby.  my birth control shot wears off in middle of dec and i want to see how i heal with the prednisone and im now using colifoam.  if it all goes good then no imuran.

if i go backwards or dont get better, i will get back on the imuran in dec, get another birth control shot and just wait a few more years to have a baby.   which sucks cuz i aint gettin any younger (32 in march).

as for the art... well, i own a company over here in australia that does website and graphic design.

but my personal art is of the fantasy genre and the female genre.  i like to paint naked girls (which bring much pleasure to my husband tongue )   i have lots of galleries online of stuff.  

since the prednisone i've become a bit of a monster and have started taking pictures of all my OLD paintings and uploading them so i can digitally 'REPAINT' them.  its nice to give me something to do when i can't sleep and take my mind off my crappy/unwell feeling in my body and mind at the moment.

www.twilitestudios.com/wallpapers/wallpaper-gallery.com has all my newest desktop wallpapers that i made.  the planet 367 one is a 5' x 4' canvas painting that i digitally repainted the other night. working on more as we speak.

www.globaljourneysmusic.com if you go to the "graphix" section, there is an art gallery with my old paintings and art as well as a skin art / tattoo section cuz i custom design tattoos as well (this is an old unused site at the moment, but has stuff to look at)

www.twilitestudios.com  is my current company site with samples of graphic design and websites etc...not your usual, im very artsy.

wow... just writing about this is making me feel a bit better already.. thanks for the question quincy!

and the cookies are scrumptious!!! i think i will have one now!

Posted 11/12/2007 5:42 AM (GMT 0)
UC definately sent me into depression...so much that now I am a psych major in college!
Posted 11/12/2007 7:28 AM (GMT 0)
krazygirl....well, it all makes sense now...a tortured artist who wants to become pregnant while on fertility meds and prednisone!!! eyes tongue


WOW!!! you do freaking awesome work! I love the fantasy stuff....reminescent of the the days I used to collect Conan comics and Boris Vallejo calendars...lol!

I can't relate to the wanting to become pregnant because my choice was to not have kids because of my inherited health issues...but I understand the drive and urgency because a few friends went through the same thing..and became pregnant.

Maybe an IBD support group or even some conselling might help your frame of mind....but if it's the prednisone and hormone fluctuations....I'd say learn how to bake artistically creative cookies and have however many per day to help you hang tough till your flare is over. And keep drawing...I totally envy your gift!

quincy

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