About a hundred years ago I was treated for "depression"...

[catnhatnh]

Well, anyhow a long time ago. I had been injured on the job and was out on disability and among other helpful hints a physician suggested that stopping smoking would be a good thing. My insurance being shit, the suggestion of Welbutrin was past my means. The doctor suggested that if I complained about depression, he could refer me to a therapist who could add that to my records and prescribe a generic equivalent. Which she did. I forget which one. In the end It didn't help me quit.

Several weeks later I was caught on my motorcycle some 20 miles from home during one of those pop-up summer storms that bring cold, near icy rain and thunder. With a hearty "Fuck it!" I jumped on my bike and headed home...

Now home was a long two lane blacktop twisty from where my ass was at, and my normal attitude was "eventually". But not this day. I took off and ran for my base and I ran hard. About six fast miles later in during a downhill left hander at about 50 mph I turned in across the center line because there was no oncoming traffic and again "Fuck it!". When the tires hit the center line paint it was all over...me and 800 lbs. of Gold Wing took a slide.

It hurt and broke things surprisingly little. Serendipity put an open parking lot to my right. I picked the beast up and rode (slowly) home.

It was two weeks later the therapist cancelled my medication after mentioning it "could" cause impulsive behavior....and I'm sure somewhere in the 5 printed pages that came with the prescription it said that.

The takeaway is this-I should have asked more and she could have been more open. The result was I could have died and stupidly so. I wanted to quit smoking and instead blindly altered my thinking process.

It happens. It happened to me. Think about it when you start a new drug.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. That is an amazing story, my dear catnhatnh!

I'm so glad you weren't seriously hurt.

I agree that you need to investigate any new drug for such details.

Thank you.

[Fumesucker]

2. Picking up a laid down Goldwing is an art all unto itself...

[madokie]

36. Amazing what you can do when you're scared

I remember when I was 13 years old and our neighbors house was on fire. I picked up and carried out a lazy z boy and a big cabinet 23 inch tv. Mind you this was back when they put tvs in big wooden ornate boxes. I probably weighted all of 75 or 80 pounds, being skinny like I was and all. The tv out weighted me no doubt. Upon the fire brought under control and confined to the atic with little damage as my brother and I was returning the furniture back in the house it took both of us to carry that tv and that big ass chair. No way could I do it by myself. I did when I was scared though without thinking, just grabbed it and away I went.

I say 23 inch tv but now that I think about it It may have been a tad smaller than that as I'm not sure when the 23 inch size came out. At any rate it was way bigger and heavier than I was. This was in the summer of 61.

[Kalidurga]

3. I think depression needs to be treated

mostly without drugs. It's a dangerous thing, but it can also be a good thing like any other dangerous thing it needs to be harnessed and focused.

Some people who work in understanding depression say that it slows the person with depression down so that they will focus on the problems they are facing, they may have other issues that they are working on as well. So, the thing isn't to cure it, the thing is to make it less deadly and to use it in a positive way. Depression runs in my family, there was one suicide attempt that I know of. But, the ones who use it come out better in the end, they figure out how to be more caring people and they figure out how to make relationships function. I don't ever want to see another attempted suicide so I am all for drugs if they work and all for therapy if it works, but those approaches seem to concentrate on getting rid of the depression rather than harnessing it as a force for the good.

[hunter]

5. I assure you, if you ever saw me at my worst...

... the last thing you'd want to do is harness and focus my "depression."

As Dr. Who says, "I'm a very dangerous fellow when I don't know what I'm doing."

The black hole that is my unmedicated feral human self is without meaning.

But it has left me with many fine scars and even finer stories for when I do happen to be somewhat functional.

[Kalidurga]

8. I assure you even if I haven't seen you at your worst I have seen others

and I do want them to focus, because under all of that feral survive at any cost mentality or commit mayhem for the lamest of reasons there is something else. No they are not currently very functional. But, take my brother he is very strange and he does very strange things, but he has a good heart and more than that he has a great inventive mind. I do want those things harnessed. Currently our system does not allow for all of that.

[jeff47]

17. I think people who have not had clinical depression need to be very careful

in describing what we should or should not do.

I'm alive today because of thoughts like "I should kill myself. Eh, why bother. Too much effort.". That is not something to "harness". And it was not because I was not a "caring person". But thanks for implying I'm a borderline sociopath.

Mental illness is complex, and there are no one-size-fits-all treatments. In addition, there's a hell of a lot of people who think they understand mental illness, and come up with utterly terrible ideas on what people with mental illness should do.

If you know someone who you suspect is depressed, get them to a qualified mental health professional. Do not attempt to treat them. Do not be satisfied with their primary care doctor just giving them prozac. They need real treatment from someone who knows what they are doing. That treatment will take many forms and achieve many different results, depending on their specific situation.

[steve2470]

18. [phone] nt

[REP]

20. THANK YOU

Gee whillikers though - don't you want to come out of depression a better person?

Do people say this kind of shit to people with diabetes, or Parkinson's or other chronic conditions? Well, yes but they usually aren't quite as ... awful. (Not you. The "just stop being deprseed!" poster)

[REP]

22. Gee whiz, should we also harness cancer as a force for good? Diabetes?

Depression is a real illness. It doesn't spread rainbows and unicorn farts in its wake; it doesn't make anyone "better." People can be depressed while facing zero problems. How could that possibly be? Because it's an illness, not a passing breeze that leaves the fresh scent of personal growth behind it.

[Kalidurga]

24. No on cancer, diabetes in many cases can be avoided or treated fairly easily

if the scare of getting diabetes leads to a healthier lifestyle sure that's one way to harness the disease, you know by not getting it. Note I never said that being depressed or having depression is all sweetness and light. I know a lot of depressed people I have seen what it does. However, part of the problem is the stigma it might be one of the biggest problems with the disease. But, there are many people who are mildly depressed and looking for the positive can be a big help. It helped my daughter she is coming around. She was feeling like a failure because of how she felt, now she doesn't she knows it's not her fault and she doesn't have to feel bad for feeling bad.

[REP]

26. Really? How does one avoid type 1 diabetes?

If someone develops DMII after a course of steroids for asthma, how do they avoid having that genetic makeup or undo the pancreatic damage?

You know as much about diabetes as you do depression. What a surprise.

Please get your daughter actual medical attention. She needs it, rather than being told to put on a happy face, which she may be doing so as to not disappoint you. Please please please do it.

[Kalidurga]

32. I did tell my daughter to get medical treatment

and yes I know about type 1. You didn't say type 1 or 2 I assumed type 2 which I think is more common. My daughter did not take my advice on medical treatment. She did take my advice on not beating herself up over things she has no control over and evaluating whether or not her relationship is working for her and whether or not she is in the right job. So, she is working on issues she has some control over, like whether to stay or whether to go.

What I am trying to get at is the problem isn't just the disease it is how people look at it. If people blame you for it the outcome is going to be much worse. If you blame yourself the outcome is going to be much worse. Putting on a happy face might not cure it especially if it's a severe form, but it's not going to make things worse if it's mild and it might go a lot farther than drugs which may or may not work.

[Dont call me Shirley]

23. You are so correct.

[dissentient]

4. Good story. Yep, big pharma wants as many American's to be as deeply medicated as possible

There seems to be a wing here that loves to attack anything that isn't mainstream medicine, and label it as "woo". However, they don't seem to have any problems with the pharmaceutical industry pushing their latest drugs on Americans, day in and day out.

They are nothing but drug pushers, these gigantic corporations. The only difference from the common street hustlers and thugs is that they are legally allowed to do it via advertisements and non-stop commercials selling their latest "miracle" drug, or I should say, snake oil...

[phil89]

33. So you don't put any stock in peer reviewed research?

Really?

[catnhatnh]

6. Thanks for the replies...

The thing I want to stress is "side effects" which are always either microscopic disclaimers or fast talk at the end of a pharma commercial. They only print or speak them because they are legally required to. But while "anal leakage" because of a diet product can be embarrassing, "impulsive behavior" or "suicidal thoughts" are important information that require both discussion and monitoring.

[blue neen]

7. You very well may not have been able to metabolize that medication.

There is now DNA testing, done by a simple cheek swab, that can pinpoint what medications your body can tolerate best.

http://genesight.com/

It's miraculous, actually taking the treatment of brain disorders into the realm of science.

[merrily]

30. This is great info. Thank you!

[blue neen]

34. No problem.

Doctors are finding this testing extremely helpful; patients don't have to feel like guinea pigs anymore. I believe it was actually invented by the Mayo Clinic and Cincinnati Children's Hospital.

[Hekate]

9. It would help a whole helluva lot if doctors would check these things themselves as well

and pay attention when someone complains of side effects, or shows side effects but doesn't know what is causing the problem

[roguevalley]

10. thank god you are alive and well. I hope it never

happens to you again.

[AtheistCrusader]

11. Picking up a Goldwing is no small feat.

Glad you came out mostly ok.

[JDPriestly]

12. And if you are taking any drug and start to get hives, see your doctor. You may have

developed an allergy to the drug.
Happened with me and the drug was for my blood pressure.

Drugs should never be viewed as completely trustworthy.

[Dont call me Shirley]

25. And one can develop Lupus from any drug.

[safeinOhio]

13. About 8 years ago I developed tremors

went to my doctor and she said i have tremors and not much can be done for it. Went to a neurologist and he said the same thing.

A few months later I stopped taking welbutrin I was given for mild depression and the tremors went away. Neither doctor tied the two together.

[MadrasT]

35. Wellbutrin gave me such bad tremors, I couldn't eat soup.

My hand would shake so badly all the soup would splash off the spoon before it got to my mouth.

[postulater]

14. Doctors shouldn't tell people to make up stuff

Tha doctor should be reported.

[hunter]

15. A physician's first duty is to protect their patient's health.

Insurance companies shouldn't force physicians to play these silly games.

If anything, the health insurance companies ought to be nationalized, and many of the industry's wealthy CEO's ought to be doing hard prison time for fraud, practicing medicine without a license, mayhem, and manslaughter, and their personal wealth redistributed to the victims.

[merrily]

29. no comment

[Trillo]

19. I don't believe all forms of wellbutrin are the same.

I obtained some from another country to quit smoking, I can't say whether it was generic or brand-name licensed for domestic manufacture (domestic in that country). That was back in the 80s or early 90s sometime. It definitely made me quit smoking. Not only did I have no desire to smoke at all while taking it, I mean this literally, it made my buttocks subtly tingle. But, as has happened so many times, I started smoking again sometime later. So, sometime around the year 2000 or thereabouts, I obtained a prescription for it, and had a local (U.S.) pharmacy supply the generic. It did nothing. I had every bit as much desire to smoke, and it didn't make my buttocks tingle either.

While it's true I was older, and perhaps my body chemistry had changed, I suspect the drug was reformulated to remove "buttock tingling" molecules from it, whatever those may have been, or perhaps the U.S. version or the generic version was not exactly the same for some other reason.

[Dont call me Shirley]

21. Glad you made it home. Yes, investigate long and hard before starting any new drug.

My child had seizures from Prozac, never had one before in her life, no family history either side.

Oh yeah, my other child had psychotic episodes from Wellbutrin.

Rename it Notwellbutrin.

[Throd]

27. I thought I was going crazy. Then I was prescribed Haldol and found out what crazy really was.

[merrily]

28. Sone doctors treat their patients like children.

After I took one medication that I thought was making my hair fall out, my doc swapped it out for something else. As she discussed that with me, I asked her what the potential side effects were and she--wait for it--hitched up her shoulders and shook her head, as if to say, "No Clue."

The idea, I think, may be that, if they tell you the potential side effects, you may be suggestible enough to imagine you have them. Or ,that medications have so many side effects that, hearing them all, you'd never take any medication. One doctor did actually said to me, "If I told you all the potential side effects of aspirin, you'd never take another one."

Of course, that is not true at all because aspirin has such a long history and such widespread use, yet headlines are not blaring about the number of deaths it caused, I've never heard of an Aspirin Defense in a murder case or a suicide attributed to aspirin, etc.

As I said, a very paternalistic "less said to the patient, the better" approach. Of course, they also tell you that you have to be responsible for your health care, so it's a Catch 22.

Anyway, I am so sorry that happened to you. Glad the consequences were not worse. Thank you for sharing your takeaway with DU.

[DawgHouse]

31. Glad you survived such a horrible accident

and thank you for sharing your story. You are correct that one should always use caution when taking medications. Even "old" drugs can suddenly start causing a problem. My son took sulfa antibiotics with no trouble until he had a life threatening reaction at 25.