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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Chase on March 5, 2000, at 17:29:45
Does any of you out there in babble land have trouble with feeling connected to the world. My problem is I feel very fuzzy(if that makes sense) and so does the world around me. Sometimes my vision even gets blurry. It's as if I'm on the outside looking in. As if I am looking at the world through the viewfinder of a camcorder. I have tried many different AD's and all of them seem to make this feature of my depression worse. I can not even take the benzo's without getting even more slowed down. I am at my wits end, since I need some relief from this debilitating illness. I just wonder if some of the medication experts have a hypothesis as to what may be causing this symptom increase when I try to take something to relieve the depression. When I first took Prozac, it worked great for my anxiety, but it never gave any relief from the depression. Now when I try to take it, my whole world becomes enveloped in this fog that I can not get through. Is that odd or what. Same thing with Zoloft, but no benefit at all. Also, I would be interested in knowing why some AD's make depression worse since they are supposed to "fix" the problem? Please share your knowledge with me, and if you don't know, I'm willing to take educated guesses. Thanks for any input.
Posted by Paul S. on March 6, 2000, at 1:52:32
In reply to Mental alertness, posted by Chase on March 5, 2000, at 17:29:45
For many years now I have not felt connected to the world. Being alive is a two-dimensional experience for me...like the world is a huge TV screen. Only occasionally (and for a few minutes at that) does the real, living, breathing world break through for me.
Many of the meds such as the tricyclics, MAOIs, depakote(?) and lithium caused this feeling to worsen for me. I have also tried most of the SSRIs and for some reason Paxil worked for awhile. Why it did I will never know but it was like the world re-opened for me and I was a part of it! Unfortunately it quit working so I am on the "hunt" for a solution or improvement again.
I have heard of so many people having such different responses to the same meds that I've come to believe we are all varied as far as our brain chemistry is concerned.
Your disconnectedness will probably improve when you find an effective med or treatment. All the best!
Posted by Chase on March 6, 2000, at 5:23:18
In reply to Re: Mental alertness, posted by Paul S. on March 6, 2000, at 1:52:32
You know sometimes the world around me comes in very clear as well. But like you, it is so rare. Thanks for your response. Sometimes I just need reassurance.
Posted by bob on March 6, 2000, at 19:30:03
In reply to Re: Mental alertness, posted by Chase on March 6, 2000, at 5:23:18
Chase, what you're describing to me sounds almost like some sort of distortion of sensory data more than mental alertness. I dunno -- I guess I've experienced being "disconnected" in a number of different ways in the past few years. On higher doses of SSRIs, it's been that foggy, wicked-bad-stuffed-up-head-cold sensation (minus the stuffed nose). Paxil was like being in Limbo -- the only emotion I had was a craving to have other emotions; to laugh, to cry, anything. My emotions were so plugged up it was like I was struck speechless ... nothing would come out, no matter how hard I tried or how bad I wanted it. I can't remember who (please step forward, if you're still here in Babbleland), but someone's doc calls this "emotional constipation."
(Hmmm ... has anyone tried Ex-lax, Senokot, or Metamucil for this? No thanks, I'm not going to volunteer....)
In terms of ADs making depression worse, I now know one reason why. I had some intellectual awareness of how my depression had partially frozen my connection to the world, but I was completely numb emotionally to it. I knew I should be upset about certain things, certain ways my life was or was not going ... I just did not, could not, care. After a little over a year on nortriptyline, a big part of that part of me finally came in from the cold.
Ever have frostbite, or close to it? Ever have that feeling of the blood returning to areas it hasn't been for minutes, hours, years? If you haven't, let me tell you -- it hurts like hell! December, January, and most of February were some of the most painful months of my entire life. Fortunately, I had just enough, hardly a shred, of perspective to recognize I was feeling things I haven't felt for years ... or may have never felt. If I had gotten lost in that pain, I wouldn't have been able to see how much better or how healthy I had to be before I could hurt that bad.
I guess my point is that noticing a disconnect -- in some cases; certainly not all -- may be a step forward and not a step back. It's something you need to ask yourself.
hang in there,
bob
Posted by Cindy W on March 6, 2000, at 21:14:37
In reply to different kinds of disconnects, posted by bob on March 6, 2000, at 19:30:03
> Chase, what you're describing to me sounds almost like some sort of distortion of sensory data more than mental alertness. I dunno -- I guess I've experienced being "disconnected" in a number of different ways in the past few years. On higher doses of SSRIs, it's been that foggy, wicked-bad-stuffed-up-head-cold sensation (minus the stuffed nose). Paxil was like being in Limbo -- the only emotion I had was a craving to have other emotions; to laugh, to cry, anything. My emotions were so plugged up it was like I was struck speechless ... nothing would come out, no matter how hard I tried or how bad I wanted it. I can't remember who (please step forward, if you're still here in Babbleland), but someone's doc calls this "emotional constipation."
>
> (Hmmm ... has anyone tried Ex-lax, Senokot, or Metamucil for this? No thanks, I'm not going to volunteer....)
>
> In terms of ADs making depression worse, I now know one reason why. I had some intellectual awareness of how my depression had partially frozen my connection to the world, but I was completely numb emotionally to it. I knew I should be upset about certain things, certain ways my life was or was not going ... I just did not, could not, care. After a little over a year on nortriptyline, a big part of that part of me finally came in from the cold.
>
> Ever have frostbite, or close to it? Ever have that feeling of the blood returning to areas it hasn't been for minutes, hours, years? If you haven't, let me tell you -- it hurts like hell! December, January, and most of February were some of the most painful months of my entire life. Fortunately, I had just enough, hardly a shred, of perspective to recognize I was feeling things I haven't felt for years ... or may have never felt. If I had gotten lost in that pain, I wouldn't have been able to see how much better or how healthy I had to be before I could hurt that bad.
>
> I guess my point is that noticing a disconnect -- in some cases; certainly not all -- may be a step forward and not a step back. It's something you need to ask yourself.
>
> hang in there,
> bobOn imipramine, when I first started it, the world looked bright and shiny. With Ludiomil, I did stupid things based on misperceptions (e.g., I went to the wrong house with my groceries and wondered why somebody else's car was in my driveway, until somebody else came to the front door!)With Sinequan, I never woke up long enough to be "connected" to anything. On Prozac, I felt emotional flattening and eventually total numbness.As far as I can tell, I didn't experience any sensory disconnects that I was aware of, with Luvox, or Zoloft. I experienced strange visual effects on Serzone. With Effexor-XR, I feel much more connected with what is "out there" and less with what's inside my head.People who have known me for 20 years have told me I seem "really here" when they talk to me now.--Cindy W
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