Posted by bleauberry on December 13, 2007, at 17:32:10
In reply to Re: Would I react the same way to Wellbutrin SR? » bleauberry, posted by maxime on December 12, 2007, at 19:20:06
Awesome. Looks like you have checked a bunch of important things that usually do not get checked.
You barely eat anything. That is a problem. Without adequate food, it is hard to heal.
If you have heavy metals at all, mercury could have come from childhood vaccinations (they had mercury in them back then), or lead or arsenic from somewhere in your environment. This one is still a question mark for you at this time, but fits the clinical picture pretty well.
I am still curious though, what meds have you not tried. I realize the list of ones you have tried would be long. So just keep it short, just the ones you have not tried. Anything. Which TCAs, which MAOIs, which SSRIs, which mood stabilizers, which antipsychotics, which supplements (taurine, magnesium, chromium, selenium, CoQ10, inositol, zinc, etc), which brain boosting meds not tried, such as hydergine, piracetam, etc.
Yes, you have thought outside of the box and it excites me to see that. Not enough of that these days. You will have me thinking about this one. There is someting that's been missed, and I humbly admit at this time I do not know what it is. I certainly understand your frustrations, pains, discomforts and challenges.
> - I don't have a single filling in my mouth
> - I am hypothyroid (Hashimotos) and take T4 and T3
> - I barely eat anything, do I doubt it's food.
> - Tried Mirapex and it did nothing
> - I've had a 24 hour 4-sample saliva test for cortisol - normal
> - I take many supplements since I am anorexic
> - I've moved around so many times and my depression always follows. Unless I am carrying heavy metals with me, it's not that.
>
> I appreciate your input, but I have thought out of the box.
>
> Also, I live in Canada and we don't pay to see a psychiatrist ... it's covered under our universal health care system. Seeing a psychiatrist is not money out of my pocket.
>
> My system is now reacting differently to meds I took over 10 years ago. Maybe I will find an AD that works. Something. It can't hurt to try the Wellbutrin eventually.
>
> Maxime
>
> > My vote is to avoid wellbutrin. You've been there done that.
> >
> > You say you've tried everything. I don't know. What HAVENT you tried? There has to be an angle that has been overlooked or ignored because nobody felt it was relevent to your symptoms. How about a receptor helper, rather than a neurotransmitter booster, like maybe mirapex. Sure, it is for Parkinsons not depression, and it can make some people depressed, and it can worsen paranoia...that's exactly my point. In reality, it has helped people who responded poorly to all the other appropriate drugs. Hey, hyperactive kids calmed by a stimulant? Modafinil puts some people to sleep? Benzos make some people feel energetic? Maybe, just maybe, try something out of the box.
> >
> > I am convinced that when somehow has profound symptoms and a profound history like you, and me, there is a REASON for it. We can try our entire lives to reverse the symptoms, and never get better. The only CURATIVE approach is to find out where the symptoms are coming from.
> >
> > Ever had a 24 hour 4-sample saliva test for cortisol? Forget the cortisol challenge test done by endos. That is meaningless. It only says if your adrenals are alive or dead. It gives no indication how they are working. Very severe untreatable symptoms result from abnormal cortisol patterns, and this is largely overlooked or scoffed at, easily treated.
> >
> > Ever had a complete thyroid test? T3, free T3, T4, free T4, thyroid antibodies? In harmony with the adrenal gland and cortisol, they work as a conductor for the entire body and brain.
> >
> > Take a hair sample test specifically from Doctors Data labs, which includes all essential metals, toxic heavy metals, and a bunch of minor metals. The most toxic people often paradoxically show low mercury, low lead, low arsenic. Hair results need to be interpreted, not viewed at first glance, and this is expertly done in the book Amalgam Illness (whether you have/had amalgams or not, metal poisoning comes from a variety of sources). A Yahoo forum group specializing in this, as babble specializes in psychiatry, can interpret what your hair sample results mean. For all you know, you might be highly toxic for lead, mercury, or arsenic and have no clue. And thus the endless problems with psych meds. If that were the case, the only curative treatment for you is not a psych med, but chelation to get the metals out.
> >
> > Ever had an ELISA or RAST delayed intolerance allergy test? For all you know, symptoms as severe as yours, and even worse, can and are caused by reactions to the very foods we eat. And we don't even know it. I can send myself into a nasty period of heart racing panic type anxiety bordering on paranoia, followed by a deep suicidal totally exhausted depression by simply doing this....eat a pizza. You would not believe the scary chain of events that happens when a confused immune system sees a common ingredient as a foreign invader. You're talking about corrupted and contaminated serotonin molecules, corrupted and contaminated dopamine molecules, and an overwhelming flood on the opioid receptors from super toxins.
> >
> > Maybe instead of the money spent on the next couple pdoc visits, invest in your better future by testing these things. Hope is easily reachable. I doubt it is coming from the pdocs office any time soon. That would have already happened by now. There is something else going on.
> >
> > Just my opinions.
> >
> > For me, my history similar to yours, the whole thing started with amalgam fillings in the teeth, which slowly destroyed my intestinal wall, burned out the adrenals, changed me from a normal hyperthyroid to a hypothyroid, not to mention the untreatable depression that resulted from all those things. When do I feel best, and sometimes perfect? When do I feel 20 years younger, alive happy and vibrant? When I am on a round of DMSA removing mercury. The gut and hormonal probs will take time. But, as bad as I was, I no longer need psych meds and have improved. These results never would have come from a pdoc, as I had several of them and ECT over a 13 year period. All it took was a few lab tests to see what was going on.
> >
> > Do not underestimate the profound impact the body has on the nervous system. It is like a dump truck filled with lead bricks hitting a plaster wall. The brain is a fragile organ and highly vulnerable to outside forces.
> >
> > In the meantime, what to do. Tough situation. I went through my lab tests and stuff in worse shape than most people on a psych ward. But I can't expect everyone to have the same endurance to plow forward as I did. For now I would say think outside the box, try things you have not tried, things that probably don't make sense.
> >
> > Simple supplements can help a lot. A quick depression buster is 800mcg-1200mcg folate. Reduce paranoia with OTC anit-histamines. Beef up your magnesium and taurine intake to as much as you can handle for overall benefits in all departments. You've tried stuff to boost serotonin, but how about something to help the serotonin you have...inositol.
> >
> > Sorry this is so long. I get frustrated because I have seen the most profound worst possible cases nearly cured in a very short time with such simple targeted cheap things. The key is just finding out what you need, rather than blindly trying one drug after another.
> >
> >
>
>
poster:bleauberry
thread:800361
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20071213/msgs/800614.html