Can depression just come and go?

[Qwwwertyy]

For the last couple of years I have spent a good chunk of time either feeling very low or anxious. Sometimes both.

When I feel low I think it is classic depression. Everything seems pointless. Can't look forward to anything. I feel near to tears much of the time and just fantasise about running away and reinventing myself somewhere else. I have to force myself to make conversation with my lovely DH.

The anxiety is almost worse. I get pangs of dread and fear. I get nervous if on my own. I often wake early feeling very anxious and dreadung the day ahead. I can't bear loud noises or any kind of conflict or stress.

I am a totally different person to how I was before all this started 2 years ago. I'm not sure if anything triggered it except that life suddenly got very, very stressful and strained due to several factors.

But here is the very weird thing. Often all the depression and anxiety suddenly disappear for up to a week or 10 days at a time, and I feel 90% back to my old self.

Back at Easter all my symptoms disappeared for just over a month and I thought I had recovered until it all came back literally overnight.

I'm not sure what is going on. Can depression just appear and disappear like this?

That's totally normal. Mine comes and goes. One week I don't want to get out of bed, the next I'm planning to run a marathon.
I'd probably make an appointment with your GP.

Thank you for replying. I saw my GP last year and tried taking ADs for 7 months but my symptoms kept breaking through. I stopped taking them just under a year ago and felt back to normal for a couple of months before it all started up again.

AD's are wonderful things, HOWEVER, they rarely make symptoms totally go away. They just make things more controllable. I still have down and up periods, but I can easily live through them, they don't control my life.

If you found your moods weren't controllable, than those weren't the right AD's for you. Unfortunately finding the right meds can be a bit of a shot in the dark. You might get the right one right off the bat, or you might try 3 or 4 different ones till you get the right one and right dosage.

Don't give up.

Also, you can try and do things to help manage it AS WELL AS the meds, like exercise, or meditation.

It absolutely can - it's the nature of the beast for some of us. I can go to bed feeling fine and wake up feeling shit. These fluctuations have been on going for 5 years for me, but I'm old so that's the reason, so don't worry that will happen to you. I can change through the day - mornings are always bad on a bad day and I usually lift later in the day, and evenings are much better. Makes no sense.

I think a lot of us stop taking ADs thinking we are better (I've gone 3 months with no problems, only for them to return....) just something else to confuse us with this illness which is a torment.

I think you need to see the GP and get meds again but you mention this started after some stressful life events. Loss of some sort (not necessarily bereavement) is usually at the root of depression and then anxiety usually decides to get in on the act too. ADs treat the symptoms but not the underlying cause, and you have to get the right AD and that's all trial and error, but think you need to try them again and get therapy for the underlying issues.

Depression and anxiety are horrendous and no one can understand unless you've had first hand experience.