To ask if you’ve recovered from depression without ADs

[WhatelseotherthanADs]

How did you do it ?

I am depressed triggered by life events and have tried therapy (a few different ones), lots of different ads and different doses (I’m on the max of one currently) but it doesn’t seem to make much difference. For the people who use antidepressants and it takes away all those negative thoughts and feelings it sounds like a life saver and wish they worked like that for me. I just don’t enjoy anything or look forward to anything :(

is there anything else I could try rather than pharmaceuticals? That has worked for someone else ?

thanks

No amount of antidepressants worked for me. Maybe for some people they do. I'm so sick of being depressed. I'm almost 37 and have felt this way most of my life. I suffer from PMDD a week leading up to my period which makes everything ten million time worse, I'm tired 🙈

'People assume that reactive depression isn’t real depression, but looking back all my depression has been reactive and no less extreme for it.'

I think it's hard to compare reactive and endogenous depression unless you've experienced both. I have certainly had depressive episodes as a result of shitty life experiences/ bereavements/ illness, but I wouldn't say that these were 'real' mental illness or likely to be significantly improved by antidepressants. This was in my early 20s.

My more recent experiences of depression have been much more severe, not reactive at all, arriving out of nowhere, and at times very frightening. They have been accompanied by more other symptoms too, eg complete loss of appetite, difficulty sleeping, frightening dreams, depersonalisation and dissociation. This kind of depression benefits massively from medication (not SSRIs in my opinion), but it is a biological illness and it leaves sufferers desperate.

Ive always had difficult family

Most problems start in childhood - it's the time when we learn at a faster rate than any other time in our lives.

Have a look at your statements, each and every one is negative - that's absolutely not your fault but a result of the negative self image that was instilled into you as a child.

Have a look at Kain Ramsay's book "Responsibility Rebellion" as a starting point.

Exercise is the key imo.

It's also much harder to feel down on yourself when you know you look great.

I'd love to know this too. I'm happy to explore these types of options privately but never sure where to start, who I need so end up ignoring it.

I think that’s true but sadly at my age my looks are far from optimal :(

Thanks 🙏 I will take a look :)

Refined sugar ans gluten make me feel horribly depressed. Reducing those has helped massively. I find that my depression is largely chemical and I have to be careful to manage physical health conditions well or else depression appears very quickly alongside and before I know it I'm suicidal again.

Before you write off the meds, just to check, this may be obvious so sorry if it is! You have had/are having a specialist look after your antidepressant prescription?

GPs are limited in what they can prescribe and do their very best in very difficult situations including maxing out doses but sometimes you need a more nuanced approach and some fine tuning of medications that go well together. Think of it as pairing fine wines with particular foods. Psychiatrists can prescribe a fair few drugs that aren’t really prescribed in GP and they combine them in clever ways so you might have an AD with a mood stabiliser as an adjunct if you are very up and down.

Anyhow, if you already have this covered, defo losing weight if you need to and exercise helps as well as making some work friends even if only over teams. We have groups where we all decide which days we will go into the office on so we know we will see each other so no reason why you can’t do the same.

Much love OP xx

I just wanted to say to you I could have written more or less the same post. It’s good to know we are not alone. This has been such a helpful thread. Thank you 🙏

Honestly for me it seemed like luck and time.
I felt nothing to the point I didn't really feel alive at all- just like an empty nothingy person just drifting through life without feeling anything but cold and tired.
I gave up on the idea things would get better and stopped fighting. I was physically ill and had no energy to try.

Over time my circumstances got better through luck rather than effort and even though I didn't feel like that mattered at the time as I felt shit anyway I was living better.

Then I had one day, when a new chair I had bought to replace a broken one was delivered. It was pretty and it looked nice in my shitty little flat and I had this little flicker of happiness at the sight of it. It was the first 'happy' thing I had felt in so many years and I cried for 20 minutes overwhelmed with that little spark of a good feeling.
It took a few more years but I had more of those little flickers and sometimes they lasted longer and came more frequently. Felt like I was getting little glimpses of what emotions would feel like again and I wanted more of them.
I wouldn't do anything 'big' to try and trigger good emotions- scared that it wouldn't work and I would feel worse sitting like a corpse through what should have been a happy time. But I did little things that I could manage and had a tiny bit of hope that some of them would work. Silly things like growing some cress, because I used to like cress on sandwiches or painting my nails.

Its been 14 years since I got my happy chair and I think I feel almost normal now. The better circumstances definitely helped in the background, but it felt like I just had to wait and ride out until my brain let me have feelings again.

I’ve been severely depressed for years now, tried ads but not made any difference. My depression is definitely caused by my life situation and unless I can fix that, which I can’t, then I will stay depressed no matter what drugs I take or therapy I try.

This is such a helpful thread. I know for me it’s my life circumstances that I need to change, and I don’t think ADs will help me at all. I took one the other day with a view to starting but it made me feel dreadful. Perhaps that was all in my head.

Cut and paste from
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22572-serotonin

What problems are associated with low serotonin levels?

Low levels of serotonin may be associated with many health conditions including:

• Depression and other mood problems.
• Anxiety.
• Sleep problems.
• Digestive problems.
• Suicidal behavior.
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder.
• Post-traumatic stress disorder.
• Panic disorders.
• Schizophrenia.
• Phobias.

What can cause low serotonin levels?

A low serotonin level usually has more than one cause. Technically, serotonin levels are low because:

• Your body isn’t producing enough serotonin.
• Your body isn’t effectively using serotonin. This can happen if you don’t have enough serotonin receptors or the receptors aren’t working as they should.

What can I do to increase serotonin levels? Ways to increase serotonin levels include:

• Eating more tryptophan-containing foods.
• Getting more sunlight.
• Taking certain supplements.
• Getting more exercise and lowering your stress level.

Foods to increase serotonin levels

Many foods naturally contain tryptophan, the amino acid from which serotonin is made. You can try increasing your serotonin level by eating tryptophan-containing foods, such as:

• Salmon.
• Eggs.
• Cheese.
• Turkey.
• Tofu.
• Pineapples.
• Nuts, oats and seeds.

Eating foods high in tryptophan will not necessarily boost serotonin levels on its own. It’s a complex process. Your body needs carbohydrates to release insulin, which is needed to absorb amino acids. Then even if tryptophan does get into your blood it has to compete with other amino acids to get absorbed into your brain. Scientists are still studying how eating tryptophan-containing foods possibly boosts serotonin levels.

Sunlight

Not getting enough exposure to sunlight can lead to the mood disorder seasonal affective disorder in some people. Try to get 10 to 15 minutes of sunlight each day to boost not only serotonin levels but vitamin D levels too. If you live in an area where you can’t get natural sunlight, consider using light therapy to get that needed daily sunlight.

Supplements

Several dietary and herbal supplements also increase serotonin levels. These include:

• Dietary supplement: Tryptophan, probiotics and SAMe.
• Herbal supplements: These can include ginseng, St. John’s wort, Syrian rue and nutmeg.

ExerciseRegular exercise is known to increase serotonin levels. Thirty minutes of aerobic exercise five times a week plus two strength-training sessions per week can improve mood disorders and heart health.

Cut and paste from
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22572-serotonin

@WhatelseotherthanADs I think you’re lonely, not depressed. I know it’s so hard to get out of thought, especially when you’ve tried so many things and as you say, so much of life is digital.

@Cheesedoffandgrumpy The thing is, when someone is depressed it’s assumed that treating the “serotonin issue” will help, but no-one ever has the serotonin levels in their brain measured! It’s a “thought likely to work” treatment not a “we’ve diagnosed a deficiency so here’s a treatment for the deficiency” treatment.
SSRI ADs boost serotonin but really don’t work for some people with depression. So for those people, boosting serotonin in other ways doesn’t seem likely to help either.

@FictionalCharacter

Exactly. It’s really not that simplistic.

I did something drastic

I have up my job
Moved countries
Became active (walking , classes etc)
Took up painting

Started trying to only see the "good" in everything

So if it's pissing down smell the rain

Of someone is rude. Ask them are they ok. Etc etc.

It really helped me

Meditation, counselling, learning positive self talk and self-compassion.
Aggressive exercise.

What type of medication helps as I am going through this

Hello which meds please I’m desperate

Yes I did because anti depressants don't get rid of the issues making you depressed.

I found talking therapy 100% more beneficial than the time I tried anti depressants. No comparison hands down would never take an AD again.

Fix the issues in your life. 💐

@Smillsss
I'm very sorry that hear that you're feeling so bad. Can you push your GP for a referral to a psychiatrist?

Have you tried more than one SSRI? If so, I believe the NHS is meant to offer a trial of a slightly different type of AD. A lot of people have good results with venlafaxine (Effexor).

Personally I have had the best results with bupropion (no longer available!) augmented with low dose lithium. But there are lots of alternatives. Make sure you get an appointment with someone with real experience in prescribing.

CBT plus life changes did it for me (moved house, got a new job, eventually got a boyfriend). But CBT really kickstarted the change in thought habits and allowed me to dig myself out of the very dark hole so that I could start to make the other changes