depression rears its ugly head

I've had UC for more than 5 years and have been on Humira now for 1 year. I've been in "remission", but must still watch what I eat. The immunosuppresant has caused other conditions: a skin disease, c-diff, low blood platlets, kidney stones and obviously depression. I'm now on 10 mg of prednisone as part of the treatment for the skin condition. I started out at 40 mgs and will be off completely sometime in mid-Sept. Of course the pred has resulted in a weight gain of 40 lbs. in 7 months, part of that time in the hospital for the kidney stone and UTI.

All this brings me to the depression that seems to set in at night when I'm so tired that I drag myself to bed, only to look forward to another day of meds and trying to accomplish some chores around the house. I know I should look at a "half-full" glass because I was 70 when the UC hit and it did not interfere with a job or raising a family.

The biggest thing I'm feeling right now is that no one really understands the tiredness, or "just feeling lousy" condition that comes with chronic illnesses. Maybe it's just time for a pity party for me!

OK, I'm over it! I know those of you who've fought these conditions will understand.

Thanks

Maybe it's time for surgery? That would sound better to me than what you are going through.

I have problems with depression and anxiety because of UC, and completely get what you mean about feeling like all you've got to look forward to is another day of meds!
I decided to start CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) a few weeks ago to see if that would help and would definitely agree that seeing a therapist might be helpful; I've only had 3 sessions so far and I've already noticed a huge improvement in my mood and anxiety levels. While it doesn't really help directly with the physical symptoms of UC it's made me much more able to cope with these symptoms and just the general feeling of being sick of having a chronic illness!
I still have the odd bad day when UC gets me down (but then who doesn't!) but I'm having fewer and fewer bad days as I get further along with my CBT treatment so I definitely think it's helping!

I'm not surprised that you are suffering from depression. The digestive system is highly connected to mood. It's a circular effect.

I recently watched The Depression Sessions--a series of videos with renown alternative health practitioners. Many are doctors who went the alternative route after discovering that western medicine not only did not cure their patients but also wasn't even supposed to.

SSRI's:

Short-term: SSRI's work by keeping serotonin outside the nerve cells, in others words, they inhibit the re-uptake of serotonin. The more serotonin floating around outside the cells, the happier and less anxious your mood will be. That's the short-term effect.

Long-term: However, serotonin that is not in the cells gets broken down by enzymes. As a result, the level of serotonin outside the cells gradually declines over months and years, causing the effects of SSRI's to gradually diminish simultaneously. Your doctor will then recommend increasing your dosage or adding another anti-depressant.

Getting Off SSRI's: When you taper off SSRI's, it takes only a few weeks for the SSRI's to get out of your body. However, it takes a long time for your body to start increasing its production of serotonin to raise the level of serotonin back to normal levels. Plus, the inhibited receptors have trouble working again. The result is that you become increasingly depressed and anxious. Depending on how long you've been on SSRI's and the dosage you were on, it could take anywhere from four months to four years for your body's production of serotonin and uptake of serotonin to be back to normal levels. For some people, they never get back to normal. This is why many have trouble getting off SSRI's.

Now the good news, there are other ways to raise dopamine, serotonin, and gaba levels. The main one is through vitamins, minerals, herbs, diet, and exercise. Herbs have a caveat. Certain herbs won't work if you're deficient in certain vitamins and minerals, especially the B vitamins. So you should definitely be taking a daily multi-vitamin and a Vitamin B complex at the very least.

Curcumin

By the way, anyone who has a digestive disease can also develop inflammation in the brain, which can is a cause of early dementia. Symptoms are brain fog (forgetting words, misplacing things, loosing your train of thought). Curcumin, which is a great herbal remedy for inflammation, can pass the blood-brain barrier and reduce inflammation in the brain. Take curcumin with black pepper to increase absorption.

One thing you must be careful about is that the pharmaceutical industry hires people to write on social media outlets, including forums, to promote their drugs.

One of my first UC symptoms was anxiety, and it worsened until I finally got a proper diagnosis and treatment......which was a course of Prednisone. As I was tapering the Pred I began to become depressed and it has spiraled over 7 months. I'm in remission from UC symptoms now. My M.D. suggested a SSRI and I began 10 mg Paxil two months ago. She also told me that 60% of a body's serotonin is made in the large intestine. I had some uncomfortable side effects for a few weeks but they are gone; the anxiety and depression are noticeably lessened. And I'm sleeping through the entire night now, something I haven't been able to do for years. I didn't want to take another medication but I was almost unable to function--too afraid to drive my car to the grocery store--believing every little ache was a sign that I'm dying, etc. Horrid. a zennie on a SSRI now THAT'S depressing.