![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Guy on January 28, 2006, at 18:58:37
I know negative thoughts make me feel worse and exacerbate my constant anxiety and occasional panic attacks. However, I also sense that there is a fundamental imbalance in my brain, on an organic level, that lies at the root of my suffering. I live with constant headaches and other pain symptoms, especially in my spinal column. After nearly 10 years of this nightmare, I suspect that I am not getting enough (if any) stage 4 sleep, also known as deep sleep. I am starting to believe that the meds I take block this stage of sleep, and are therefore responsible for my chronic illness. Had I steered clear of meds, I might have recovered long ago! Sorry if this posting upsets some people...I'm just throwing this out for discussion.
Posted by fenix on January 28, 2006, at 19:15:27
In reply to Bad Thoughts vs. Bad Biology, posted by Guy on January 28, 2006, at 18:58:37
You are describing some kinds of pains. If you went to various doctors (such as neurologists) and they found nothing, then it is most likely psychosomatization which can be somewhat similar to CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome) except for a number of very notable differences:
CFS tends to wax and wane concerning the symptoms.
Psychosomatization seems to always be at the same levels of pain, never changing, and very despressing in itself.If you were ever diagnosed of suffering from psychosomatization, I would be wary of any doctors that suggest giving you SSRIs or neuroleptics for it, a quick read in the DSM-IV suggests that there is no drugs available that give significant relief of the pains of your concern. The only thing that I could think of that could give you relief are opiates, however, as psychosomatization tends to have fatigue as one of its more common ailments, opiates would kind of give you a trade off of less pain but more tiredness. And the key here is to help you to not be so disabled.
Stating your opinion on the negatives of the drugs concerned would only upset the extremists who have never taken any of these drugs before. Even people that have been helped by them know very well of there often times double-edged nature. Unfortunately for many, like myself, the bad edge of the sword won out. I believe it always will.
Posted by Phillipa on January 28, 2006, at 20:51:55
In reply to Bad Thoughts vs. Bad Biology, posted by Guy on January 28, 2006, at 18:58:37
Guy could you tell us which meds your on? Fondly, Phillipa
Posted by Guy on January 28, 2006, at 22:18:13
In reply to Bad Thoughts vs. Bad Biology, posted by Guy on January 28, 2006, at 18:58:37
I'm currently taking 10 mg Zyprexa and 1 mg clonazepam per day. Pain and anxiety are my constant companions...except when I lie down, close my eyes, and relax (ie., stop my mind from spinning). I don't really know what has gone wrong, but this horrible condition has robbed me of my life and left me with frequent suicidal ideation.
Posted by James K on January 29, 2006, at 0:39:58
In reply to Re: Bad Thoughts vs. Bad Biology, posted by Guy on January 28, 2006, at 22:18:13
Guy, If you can afford or get approved a sleep study, that would be very useful to find out if your theory about sleep stage is correct. Sleep deprivation can be devastating. Please hang in there. You sound to be really suffering.
Fenix, I haven't found CFS to be painful or like a psychosomatic disorder. There are however, some theories that suggest great stress combined with other factors such as a virus or genetics can bring this illness on. I am fortunate to not suffer from fibromyalgia though. Do you have it, or have some links to information, I am always looking for current info and am new to the net.
If you want to start a thread on Health or here, I'm interested.Thanks,
James K
Posted by deniseuk on January 30, 2006, at 12:12:35
In reply to Bad Thoughts vs. Bad Biology, posted by Guy on January 28, 2006, at 18:58:37
Hi Guy,
I had to respond because I've been sort of thinking about the same thing today. I was wondering how much of the way I feel has to do with the way I think and Vice versa and I sort of conclude that it's the biological feelings that come first.
But I would also say this when you talke about long term medication making things worse.
From about 17 to 24 I suffered from mild depression, which I initially experienced it thought was a serious illness, I had numerous checkups, blood tests done etc. It was only when I hit 24 and started to feel worse that I went back to the Doctor again thinking I had a serious illness. He put me on 75mg of Doxepin and I dramatically had an overnight recovery, all the vague aches and pains went, I felt more relaxed, more positive, more motivated than I ever had in my whole life.
Five years down the road and Prothiaden seemed to stop working so I came off it, when I came off it I expected to feel as bad as I had before going on it but strangely enough I didn't, I felt down but not as bad as I had at 24.
I next went onto Seroxat 20mg and within a couple of days I felt great. I stayed on that for 5 years and then decided to go it alone without drugs. For three years things were fine with the odd day here and there feeling low. But I never felt really bad.
Then when I hit the age of 35 all the feelings started to come back like an old friend, feelings of numbness, detachment, a lot of aches and pains in my spine (like you describe). This time nothing worked and the only Godsend for the really bad times was Zyprexa.I don't for one moment regret taking antidepressants and I don't blame them for the way I am today. They gave me 10 years of memories that I will always look back on fondly.
I never took antidepressants before I got depressed, I was always off them when really bad depression struck.
I have a lot of memorable dreams and this seems to be a sign that something is not right to me. So I sort of feel the way you do about something in my type of sleep that is causing it.
Kind Regards.....Denise
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Medication | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.