Have you been treated for depression?

BlackSpinner wrote: . . . this word thing . . .

Well, I won't argue, since that isn't my area of expertise. I just know that I have experienced the word-thing quite a bit too, and it got better slowly after PAP therapy, and I'm male, so I've never had a uter-thingy-watchamacallit-ectomy, myself.

jnk wrote:

BlackSpinner wrote: . . . this word thing . . .

Well, I won't argue, since that isn't my area of expertise. I just know that I have experienced the word-thing quite a bit too, and it got better slowly after PAP therapy, and I'm male, so I've never had a uter-thingy-watchamacallit-ectomy, myself.

Well like I said I also get it with the migraines. In fact it is one way I know I am getting one. The new migraines are now mostly pain free - just sparkly lights and funny speech and disorientation and muscle tension in the shoulder.

Wulfman wrote:If you should ever have feelings of depression coming on, read this......

http://www.tcnj.edu/~hofmann/Maxine/maxine.htm


Den

Thanks, Den....I needed that! Funny!

izzyb wrote: If the depression is causing the insomnia then I don't see any resolution in sight. I cannot take antidepressants due to my dry eyes, so that leaves me with my poor memory, lack of concentration, hopelessness, worthlessness, insomnia, irritability, etc. and most of these things are worsened by the Clonazepam. It is a catch 22. (Is that the right phrase?) Sometimes I feel brain dead. I am not sure of what I think I used to know.

My 18 daughter has manic-depression AKA Bi-polar disorder. She was recently in patient at a "behavioral hospital". The psychiatrist there suggested a light for her Seasonal Affective Disorder. The manufacturer claims it helps sleep disorders if used only in the morning. It does help her depression (mine too, as I use it while I'm eating breakfast). I have been sleeping longer than normal without waking.

I had heard of the light before, but until he explained how it works on the brain, I thought it was just like any other light. Here is the link in case you are interested:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000W8 ... ss_product

-Paula

Though 3 docs have listed depression in their notes, I was never willing to discuss it with them. I knew something was wrong and was afraid if they labeled me depressed they'd stop looking for answers. My depressionlike symptoms worsened the longer my sleep was bad, and improved with effective cpap treatment. However, I still am unmotivated and find few activities worth the energy it would take to participate. Not surprising since my sleep still sucks due to limb movements. I have to wonder, since dopamine is related to pleasure, and my limb movements are thought to be due to insufficient dopamine in the brain, does that translate into decreased pleasure/depression? Hmmmm.

IzzyB, I have word issues too. The worse my sleep, the harder to find words, but it is much better than it used to be. I think it is due to the poor sleep, not depression. I have read that sleep is to the brain what defragging is to a computer. It allows the brain to reorganize data for efficient retrieval. Were there any indications of limb movements in your studies? Have you ever been told you move or kick a lot in your sleep? If your sleep is still bad, I would think they would want to record you while using your machine and see what else is going on. It may require you telling them this is not the end of the diagnostic road, and that the machine is obviously just one piece of the puzzle.

YawnGirl wrote:My 18 daughter has manic-depression AKA Bi-polar disorder. She was recently in patient at a "behavioral hospital". The psychiatrist there suggested a light for her Seasonal Affective Disorder. The manufacturer claims it helps sleep disorders if used only in the morning. It does help her depression (mine too, as I use it while I'm eating breakfast). I have been sleeping longer than normal without waking.

I had heard of the light before, but until he explained how it works on the brain, I thought it was just like any other light. Here is the link in case you are interested:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000W8 ... ss_product

Thanks for that link, Paula.

Not-enough-sunshine isn't a problem where I live, but I have to limit my sun exposure due to skin photosensitivity (I'm on a diuretic and I have vitiligo). I have wondered if the light box would normalize the sleep cycle, so it's good to know that it's helped you in that regard. Also, it's fantastic that it has helped your daughter's depression -- and yours too! I hope that your daughter is able to even things out. I know that bipolar is difficult to live with, for everyone concerned.

As I recall, you have (or had) Vitamin D deficiency. Can this particular light help your body produce Vitamin D, in addition to benefiting you in the other ways?

~ DreamOn

"As I recall, you have (or had) Vitamin D deficiency. Can this particular light help your body produce Vitamin D, in addition to benefiting you in the other ways?~ DreamOn

Unfortunately, UV light is required to get vitamin D.

The good news is, I have managed to bring my vitamin D level up to normal in 3 months of taking the vitamin D3. My doc has now lowered my dose to 15000 IU per week.

Seems like a silly question. Depression is a normal human experience.

YawnGirl wrote:Unfortunately, UV light is required to get vitamin D.

That's what I thought, but I wasn't sure. I suppose if they added the UV spectrum to a light box, that wouldn't be a good thing since that's what causes the skin and eye damage. Bummer.

The good news is, I have managed to bring my vitamin D level up to normal in 3 months of taking the vitamin D3. My doc has now lowered my dose to 15000 IU per week.

So glad to hear that your vitamin D levels are now normal! Yay!

nobody wrote:Seems like a silly question. Depression is a normal human experience.

I don't think it's a silly subject at all, especially since there is a strong association between sleep disorders/deprivation and emotional/mental difficulties.

I have to both agree and disagree with your second statement.

I would characterize reactive depression -- caused by loss of something meaningful such as a job or the death of a loved one, or experiencing a traumatic event such as combat, flood or fire -- to be a normal part of the human experience. In this case, there is an identifiable trigger, and in most instances the feelings of loss and sadness will pass with time. In such cases, I believe that talk therapy can be very helpful.

But I believe that Major Depression is a different ballgame. That's caused by imbalances between neurochemicals in the brain and is a biological disorder. There is no specific trigger per se. To say that type of depression is "normal" minimizes the tremendous difficulties experienced by people who suffer from it.

I'm certainly no expert on the subject. That's just my opinion.

~ DreamOn

DreamOn wrote: That's caused by imbalances between neurochemicals in the brain and is a biological disorder.

No. It's what the pharmaceutical industry wants you to believe and boy have they made a killing marketing that idea.

nobody wrote:

DreamOn wrote: That's caused by imbalances between neurochemicals in the brain and is a biological disorder.

No. It's what the pharmaceutical industry wants you to believe and boy have they made a killing marketing that idea.

There is plenty of studies available done neurobiologists that this is actually what happens.
Commercials are commercials and anyone who self diagnosis by commercials is an idiot to begin with.

Go and read her books:http://www.mystrokeofinsight.com/

nobody wrote:

DreamOn wrote: That's caused by imbalances between neurochemicals in the brain and is a biological disorder.

No. It's what the pharmaceutical industry wants you to believe and boy have they made a killing marketing that idea.

Causation may be debatable, since consensus is lacking in the scientific community on that. But OP, as I read her, seems to have created a poll more specifically about treatment experiences among the SDB sufferers in this forum.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/depres ... ION=causes

BlackSpinner wrote:There is plenty of studies available done neurobiologists that this is actually what happens.

Again, no. No one has discovered what a normal balance of brain chemicals is supposed to be so there is no way to determine what is abnormal. I'm sure that there are chemical changes in the brain when people experience emotions. Again, that's a normal human experience and does not make it a disease or disorder.

jnk wrote:But OP, as I read her, seems to have created a poll more specifically about treatment experiences among the SDB sufferers in this forum.

She said in her first comment: "thought it would be interesting to know how many people with apnea suffer from depression." That's what I was responding too more so than the poll itself.