Posted by JudyN on June 9, 2003, at 7:51:25
Hi I'm new to this board. I've had lifelong severe bouts of major depression & have been on many different drugs and in & out of therapy for 20+ years, to the point that I really don't have much to talk about anymore and I find myself critiquing the therists skills :).
I have quite a bit of family Hx of depression & it appears to be a combination of high creativity/depression/ADD/hormone involvement that is common in women in my family. There is also an unusaul blood clotting disorder that runs in the family that has not yet been identified, (ie it does not fit the profile of any hereditary clotting disorders currently on the books)and it appears to be fibrinogin related. I mention this because it seems that all of the women that have the depression/creativity etc etc are also prone to very heavy menstrual periods and severe cramps and blood clotting. The blood clots are hormone related, caused the early deaths of my grandmother, mother and sister, as well as pulmonary embolism in another sister & niece. Even though I've figured out all of this, there is no simple answer to it and I'm still palgued with depression--it has claimed major portions of my life. Despite all this I've managed to be somewhat successful in life, raised 2 great daughters (one creative & depressive, the other not), earned a BS & MA part time and have accomplished good things in my career.
I have been in treatment again for the last eight years, depression has been impacted by both life situations (death of fahter & sister, divorce and working for an a**#@%*) and menopause. I've been on Lexapro, 20mg for nine months, together with Wellbutrin 200mg 2X/day. I've had fairly good results and have been functioning fairly well. However, I experienced stiffness & pain in my thumb early on with the Lexapro and now it has progressed to include both hands, wrist and toes. as well as stiffnes & pain in my neck. Has anyone else dealt with this? Does it pass? Is it dose related? Any other ideas? I would be happy to hear any feedback on any of the things I've said here. Thanks, Judy N.
poster:JudyN
thread:232573
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030609/msgs/232573.html