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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 8 of 8. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by woolav on December 1, 2004, at 9:10:12
I was reading some mental health info on webmd and they mentioned people can get double depression. Like those of us who have long term depression (years) can also have major depressive episodes too, which they are calling double depression. I think i have this. Wondering if anyone else has heard of this.
Thanks
Sandy
Posted by Bill LL on December 1, 2004, at 12:23:25
In reply to Double Depression anyone?, posted by woolav on December 1, 2004, at 9:10:12
I have heard of that term. Terms like "double depression" and "anhedonia" do have specific meanings. But when you try to apply these types of terms to individuals for treatment purposes, I don't think that it's very helpful in many cases.
> I was reading some mental health info on webmd and they mentioned people can get double depression. Like those of us who have long term depression (years) can also have major depressive episodes too, which they are calling double depression. I think i have this. Wondering if anyone else has heard of this.
> Thanks
> Sandy
Posted by smokeymadison on December 1, 2004, at 15:05:48
In reply to Re: Double Depression anyone?, posted by Bill LL on December 1, 2004, at 12:23:25
i was diagnosed with double depression in spring 2001. basically, i had a low grade depression for years and then went into major depression. it seems like my base-state is dysthymia, the low grade depression. then every couple of years i go into a major depression. it sucks, of course. the pdoc doesn't treat it any differently than "regular" depression, with the exception that you are told that you are going to need to be on meds for a much longer period of time and that it usually takes higher doses.
Posted by Noa on December 1, 2004, at 15:41:27
In reply to Double Depression anyone?, posted by woolav on December 1, 2004, at 9:10:12
Yes--it is a term that's been used for me, too. I have a recurrent form of major depression on top of dysthymia (chronic, less major depression).
Posted by Peddidle on December 1, 2004, at 18:19:34
In reply to Re: Double Depression anyone?, posted by smokeymadison on December 1, 2004, at 15:05:48
I have dysthymia as well (well, actually, that's a relatively recent diagnosis-- I was labeled as OCD for about 5 years), and I have been on zoloft for about 5 years. Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I had kind of a strange experience: there were a few days when I just felt like hanging around the house (I was home from school for the holiday), I didn't want to hang out with my friends even though I hadn't seen them in months, and I had crying spells....nothing like this has ever happened to me before. I thought this was all a reaction to a recent increase in strattera, because I felt better once I stopped taking it, but now I'm wondering if maybe it was the "double depression" that you're talking about.....it's a scary thing to consider.
Posted by alesta on December 5, 2004, at 0:34:50
In reply to Double Depression anyone?, posted by woolav on December 1, 2004, at 9:10:12
> I was reading some mental health info on webmd and they mentioned people can get double depression. Like those of us who have long term depression (years) can also have major depressive episodes too, which they are calling double depression. I think i have this. Wondering if anyone else has heard of this.
> Thanks
> Sandyhi, san, :)
greetings! long time no see! :) i was just wondering how the lamictal was working. the last post i read of yours, it sounded like you were pretty happy with it. you do seem happier in your posts. has the depression come back? if so, you may need to adjust your lamictal dosage. i read somewhere that you have to continually adjust it or something. (although i'm not sure if that's true or not.) i'll see if i can find that info on the net if you like. lamictal is such a mystery..
amy :)
Posted by alesta on December 5, 2004, at 0:53:43
In reply to did lamictal stop working? » woolav, posted by alesta on December 5, 2004, at 0:34:50
found the web site: http://www.crazymeds.org/lamictal.html
(i can't guarantee the validity of this info. )here is an exerpt on lamictal for depression:
"Depression - follow the guidelines for bipolar, but you may as well stop at 200mg a day. There's rarely a point in going above that amount. Again, as soon as you stop feeling depressed, hold at whatever dosage you're at. Even if it's just 25mg a day. You can wait to move up when symptoms return. A return of symptoms doesn't mean that the drug has stopped working. Hardly. You're always tweaking the dosage of anticonvulsants. That's the nature of them. You'll be going up and down on the dosage here and there all the time. This is way more complicated than rocket science."
aim
Posted by fires on December 6, 2004, at 14:57:06
In reply to Double Depression anyone?, posted by woolav on December 1, 2004, at 9:10:12
Dysthymia, MDD, and SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). Parnate helped. Now hoping that Effexor XR and Wellbutrin will. Maybe Cymbalta + Wellbutrin.
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