hello, 
it seems pretty clear that one of the side effects of this horrid old CFS/M.E. is a bit of depression, and quite understandably so. :roll:
It's been interesting to hear what kinds of anti-depressants everyone is on, and I was just wondering if anyone else was on escitalopram or similar, or had been on it?
I was on low dose citalopram ages ago and it did the job fine until I was ready to come off it. Then I tried to go on escitalopram a couple of years ago, had a terrible time with side effects, and came straight off it. Luckily I managed to pick myself up without it and was fine.
I decided to try again when I was diagnosed with this and found myself weeping every day :cry: and wandering around wailing, 'oh god, why meeeeee?' in a dramatic fashion. I've started really slowly and built up and the side effects aren't too bad, but this last few days I've felt really really flat, like I can't get particularly 'up' or 'down' about anything. The problem is I'm just mildly irritated all of the time and being a bit of a pain to my nearest and dearest. 
Can anyone else relate to this and know if it will pass? I just feel kind of disassociated and disinterested in everything. Im expecting it to go away but would be nice to know im not alone. Of course, i could just be a misanthropic old grouch :wink:
Trees x
oh dear ive managed to post that twice - any ideas how to remove one? :?
LOL Trees-are-green
Don't worry about it. I will remove the other one and leave this one in place.
Melbi x
It's only the mods that can delete a post. I totally agree with want your saying. I take anti depression drugs, at first I felt they took all my emotions. I am still a moody grumpy person at times. I think it is me rather than true depression. I say I am in mourning for my old life.
Oh my moods are all over the place .......... I'm sure it's all part and parcel of this lovely illness :roll:
And I'm sure I'm a misanthropic old grouch too (only I'm not sure what that is :lol: ) but it sure sounds good Trees 8)
I can have extreme highs and lows several times a day, and then just have days when I feel just .... nothing. Those are the worst.
From my bible 'depression should be seen as yet another nasty symptom rather than to do with the personality of the patient. Many ME sufferers are people with no previous history of emotional disurbance, and their changed behaviour can be alarming to both their relatives and themselves'
TOO RIGHT :evil:
It gets worse :shock: 'uncontrollable tears, terrible black depression, despair, panic, suicidal thoughts - all these can be felt by someone previously regarded as well-adjusted and in control of his or her emotions.
Such a miserable wreck can also become cheerful, laughing or manic, the transformation taking place overnight or over several days'.
Criky .... think I'll just keep taking the tablets!!!
I have rejected all anti depressants. For 2 and a half years my GP pushed them on me. I was on Prozac for 6 months and took another 6 to get off it. I have had fluoxetine, citalopram, sertraline and another one I've forgotten the name of. None of them worked and all of them upset me. The reason being that I wasn't depressed in the first place and the chemicals had nothing to balance so they unbalanced me.
When I got my written report from the N. ME C. Dr Mitchell wrote that 'Mrs B. is not suffering from clinical depression' and he underlined it twice. After this my GP stopped pushing them on me and I vowed never to take mood altering or brain affecting drugs again.
I cannot judge who I am or what I am feeling if I am artificially controlled by some chemical that earns a lot of money for the pharmaceutical companies.
True depression is an imbalance of brain chemicals and can be helped by anti Ds, but if depression is not there then they can do more harm than good.
I am talking about Depression with a capital D, not merely the blues as a reaction to events or environment. Doctors are too quick to prescribe them, especially to women of a certain age with a vague array of non specific symptoms.
The reason my GP prescribed Dosulepin (an anti-depressant) was for pain relief from the truly agonising fibromyalgic pain I was suffering from. I was intitially very reluctant to take them, but have found them a godsend.
I feel that any side-effects outweigh the positives. Several types of drugs which were originally used only for depression are now being used as pain relief particularly for systemic pain eg. fibromyalgia for which normal analgesics just are not effective.
Pain relief antidepressants usually also had a sedative effect and are taken at night and have definitely improved my sleep quality.
I recently decided to try and cut down on the medication but my pain returned with a vengeance.
We all have a choice, and I know what my choice is.
I'm not on any medication and haven't been offered it by my G.P :?
My mood varies, when i'm tired i get really cranky, I moaned non stop when i came home from work today but no wonder the day i have had. :evil:
I find i am crying at the least wee thing, like X factor :oops: Maybe i'm just a wee softy :cry:
Ah Teedie ...... your Scottish accent even comes over in your typing!!
Now that's CLEVER!
H Ha Katie :lol:
Is it because we say \"wee\" alot :lol: Everything is: a wee cup of tea - a wee drink -a wee baby etc :lol:
By anti depresants also act as mrscle relaxants, to help with my headaches. I take amitriptyline they also help me sleep. They don't work all the time, but I know if I ever forget to take them, the burning sensation in the back of my head becomes unbearable.
Yes LouLou
Amitriptyline is in the same group as Dosulepin and both act as muscle relaxants and therefore are pain-killing - are also best taken in the evening as have sedative effects.
In the past i have had Prozac and it worked really well. This time with the depression related to the ME they did not work as well. The dosepulin that Katie also takes works really well for me. I have been on it 3 weeks taken at night and it helps me sleep and I feel better. The side effects ( weight gain!) are worth it for how much better I feel. Honest :oops:
Dale xxx
Yes, I second that Dale.
I'm sure your weight will stablilse .... I have put on half a stone in two years but the the last year it has remained pretty constant ..... so I'm sure yours will settle down soon too.
Katie :D
I've actually been trying to tone up a bit these last few weeks ... nothing drastic though. Like doing a few pressups on the kitchen work surfaces whilst waiting for my wheatbag to heat in the microwave :puff:
thanks for all the feedback
i haven't decided to go on these pills lightly, and was very proud when I actually got myself off anti depressants some years ago. i've always suffered from mild-middling depression although luckily ive never been severely incapacitated by it. :roll:
the problem is that when i decided to get myself better my 'magic cure' was exercise :fairy: just 3 20mins sesssions a week swimming or running or doing yoga made the world of difference, and i hadn't felt unmanageably down since starting that. of course, CFS = no exercise, and i think that, and coming to terms with this horrid thing, have tipped me over the edge a bit. :cry:
ah well. im still feeling a bit odd today. :? i just hate the initial few weeks of being on these things. like i said, the sort of flat, irritable, disaccociated feeling is the worst and i made my girlfriend cry last night :cry: that made me feel worse than anything else. i'll have to buy her a :gift: to make up for it i think.
maybe i am just a miserable old grouch! :erm:
Trees x
Trees, she'll understand. I seem to remember you saying she had been on anti Ds herself. :cuddle:
I just want to add the Citalopram saved my son's life when he had a breakdown after his relationship with my granddaughter's mother broke down. After a year he weaned himself off and has been managing ever since. I wouldn't say he is ok, because he is still in love with her and she has moved on. Unfortunately they are still in touch because of their daughter which makes it hard for him.
Anyway, never mind all that, Citalopram gave him the crutch he needed when he was broken and it worked very well for him.
yes, it did help me a few years back when i had bad time. just took the edge off things. that's what im hoping it will do now.
it's just that horrid first few weeks. yuk :roll:
are you feeling a bit better today alicia?
Trees x
Trees, things should start improving fairly soon hopefully. :?
I do know what you mean by exercise giving you a natural high though .... I used to come back positively glowing after a spin class at the gym ..... it's so unfair we really have to restrict ourselves now :cry:
ME is a BUMMER :evil:
Better than this morning thank you, but I haven't done anything today except chat online. I didn't even take Max Dog out, hubby did that.
Oh, I tell a lie, I gave him a bath, Max Dog that is, not the husband :lol:
Going to the theatre tonight to see DDM's 'Rebecca'. I am so excited to be off to Manderley :biggrin: