Posted by cgd092 on March 21, 2009, at 17:41:38
I asked my pdoc if she sees a lot of presentations quite like mine and she said not really. Here's what happens to me. Tell me if your depressive episodes are anything like mine:
With maybe only a day or two warning, I'll start feeling anxious. Usually precipitated by a life stressor like birth, pregnancy, moving, school starting, messing with my med dosage, interpersonal stressors, or illness like the flu.
Then, Ill have early morning wakening, marking the start of essentially a panic attack. Then within the day, I go straight into classic major depressive episode symptoms such as:
Extreme, inescapable sadness when there is nothing sad in my life, preoccupation with meaninglessness, exaggerated guilt, suicidal thoughts of escape, feeling like I cant cope with being alive if this is what I have to feel like, complete anhedonia, hard to make even simple decisions, early-morning wakening (4am wake with a panic every day), cant eat/have no appetite, and what feels like extreme anxiety and panic attacks about nothing.
It seems the average length of episode is a little over two weeks. It is acute for one week, and then starts sloooowly going away. I have been on antidepressants and do respond to medicines fairly well.
I think my presentation is unusual because of how quickly my episodes go down to suicidal thoughts and also how quickly I feel better (although at the time two or three weeks feels like forever).
When Im not in a depressive episode, I feel pretty darned normal. I dont feel dysthymic and I have never rated any mania or even hypomania symptoms.
Anyone else have a similar presentation? Thanks!
poster:cgd092
thread:886447
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090313/msgs/886447.html