Posted by Ritch on May 14, 2002, at 10:05:22
In reply to Re: Thanks Lia and John for info » Ritch, posted by JohnX2 on May 13, 2002, at 23:30:50
>
> >My next major depressive episode is going to start kicking in sometime between 3-6 weeks from now and I have got to get prepared (batten down the hatches!). It will have to be TCA, Provigil, or a sustained release pstim it appears, in addition to Depakote/Neurontin, etc.
> >
>
> Mitch,
>
> Wow, I'd have better luck predicting the Dow Jones 3 weeks
> from now than my mood swing 3 hrs from now! :-)
>
> Is your mood cycle very chartable and predictable, even
> while taking medicines?
>
> John
Oh yeah! This is a phenomenon that I have noticed and charted for decades. The first recollection of a "major" depression was the early winter of either 1967 or 1968. I was just a little kid and I remember everything was blue/black/sleepy/weepy. My Dad was snoring on the couch with a football game on while my Mom was cooking and I didn't feel like going out to play I just wanted to ....sleep. In the spring I remember super exuberant times. I rounded up all of the kids on the block and asked them to bring their transistor radios and we would have a "party" on my Dad's flatbed truck. We would tune all of the radios to the same station at the same time (there weren't boomboxes back then). Yeah, I have had two major depressions a year, every year (varying intensity) as long as I can remember. The first one kicks in anywhere from the first week of November (start feeling fatigued) to being full blown by the 3rd week of Nov. It deepens rapidly to about the 2nd week of December and finally "breaks" (like a fever!) about the 2nd-3rd week of January. By the first of Feb. it usually is gone. Then I usually have one or two hypomanic spells in April/May (a few days each), then I start to grow a little tired (not a "crash" interestingly). That is where I am at now-I don't feel too up or down and I am sleeping fine. I even skipped Depakote yesterday and still slept fine. Then I just gradually start to notice some unusual fatigue (like the winter episode), usually the last week of May at the earliest sometimes not until 2nd or 3rd week of June. That gradually progresses until last week of June and then WHAM! I get early-morning awakenings, then I sleep every time I get a chance. Absolutely zero interest in going anywhere or doing anything at all. I can't focus or think and I get really super cranky. Then that one peaks pretty quick, but hangs in there through most of August. Usually, just before Labor Day I feel some lifting. But, the 2nd episode lifts more slowly and gradually. I do not get full remission from that one until 2nd week of September (usually when it starts to get noticeably cooler). Then, I usually will get *one* hypomanic episode (just a few days)in early-mid October. Then the creeping fatigue starts coming back (not a "crash"). The only time I had a complete remission of a major depression was the winter I tried Adderall. Prozac came close to abolishing one or two at higher doses-but it was nearly intolerable for me to take.Mitch
poster:Ritch
thread:106073
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020510/msgs/106323.html