Depression

[balla]

style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif Hi i have just had the nueropsycologist on the phone my tests shown i have depression.Well i don't seem to think i have but will have if i get more run round,He says my tests suggest depression,My daughter says there is differant types but i don't feel depressed.Although i do get ratty for nothing sometimes without knowing i am untill husband says what are you talking to me like that for.The doctor also said my phobea against crossing the road is due to me not being able to take in alot and to much going on in my head at once getting mixed up?And as for forgetting were i have put things this is also down to me trying to remember everything at once,Also forgetting to wipe myself after the toilet was due to to much going on in my head.Well i was just wondering does anybody have these problems and what does lupus fog mean what is the symptoms of this ?
Please help style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Thanx.gif susanx

[lupy lulu]

Hi Suzie,

Many people who have depression dont actually realise it , unfortunatly it is quite common in Lupus suffers.

Its difficult to describe Lupus fog but from my personal experiances i would say its as though you are going in slow motion and the rest of the world is speeding passed you, also my concentration is zilch i carnt even follow a film my words get mixed up and i carnt bare loud noises ... the smallest tasks become a challenge.

Hope this helps a little.

love lucy x

[halfpintfl]

style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wavey.gif Hi Suzie, I think most of us on this board have depression. Anytime
you have a chronic illness, you have chronic depression, it goes hand in hand.
And lupus fog is like; I , myself will head into the bedroom for something, and then
when I get there, I just stand there and try to figure out why I'm in there. Or, I
start to tell you something, and right in the middle of a sentence I forget what
I was saying. And we all do it, so don't feel stupid, feel like you're one of us!!!!


Be well and keep posting. style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cool.gif

[balla]

style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/shakehands.gif Hi just thought about what you are saying halfpint well you have just described me to a T i also forget what i'm doing as far as going to do something then standing there wondering what i'm there for.
Also my husband says about forgetting what i'm talking about i'm also always doing that.When i thought of depression my first thought was well i don't cry all the time and sit around and let world go over my head.
I do try my best when not in pain.
Thankyou for your posts. style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/foryou.gif
bye for now susanx

[balla]

style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Thanx.gif For all your posts,please can i ask you all when the doctors said to you that you were depressed did you all agree,and if not as it showed to be right as i don't even feel down and yes i have some bad problems in my life i have lost 2 babies they would be 21 now also my father in 2002.And i have come out of it ok, I know my loved one's are in a better place so some day will see them again.I don't have anything on my mind so don't feel depressed probably will after all this journey trying to find out if its M.S or Lupus.
thanx all susan style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/shakehands.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wavey.gif

[Lily]

Hi Susan,

Depression is such a hard thing to define and not at all like the stereotype image many of us have about it.
It was for that reason I did not really go along with it, especially prior to my diagnosis and during my investigations. I'd had times in my life as we all do where I was experiencing normal up and down moods , I'd also had traumatic things happen in my life that I'd manage to navigate and bounce back from eventually. The fact I had an undiagnosed, basically untreated illness that was relentless and throwing surprises at me all the time I figured I had every right to feel down sometimes, confused, anxious, and was not functioning as well as I used to on a mental level. I was wrong. If I'd known how much of a difference they would have made I would have made it just as much a priority to get that treated as I did the physical stuff. But thats the thing about depression, we are the last ones to recognise it and acknowledge it. The lines get blurred sometimes too, some depression symptoms can actually present like some of our physical symptoms.

The first time they offered them to me was at a low dose to try and help with pain. They helped me sleep and that in turn gave me some help, lack of sleep for us is often a trigger for a lousy day ahead, then those lousy days become more common and we tend to just evolve into the next day and the next day. They didnt help my pain though, but I coped a little better with that pain if that makes sense.

After I was diagnosed I would experience really severe depression at times often just prior to a flare up or worsening of my disease. So I figured that was part and parcel of it I could deal with it. Wrong, it crept up on me and after a while I didnt even notice any change but others did. They switched to a different type of anti-depressant, of course I read up about it like I do everything and read that its also given to stroke patients where it is common to suffer depression for up to a year after. I'd had a TIA during that flare, so with that, the fact I had brain lesions from previous episodes and the fact I was dealing with the roller coaster of chronic illness I gave it a go. Well............... after a settling in period I felt much more like my old mental self again! I got me back!

I stayed at a lowish dose and went well for ages. Then things started to get bad again, I didnt recognise it until my doc said I'm concerned because you've mentioned your depressed mood several times in your notes since I last saw you. And yes I had but hadnt sat back and thought hmm thats only a couple months and there are 4 mentions there. So we increased the dose and once again I am back on track. That time it took a little longer to see the positive affects because I flared for around a month during the increase in dosage, so it really had its work cut out for it to help.

I found early on the depression with chronic illness can be different, it was more subtle and sneaky and not at all something I recognised at the time. Often we are the last ones to recognise it.

Here's some good articles written specifically about Depression related to Lupus and chronic illness, they are worth reading and may give you a different perspective on it.

http://www.lupus.org/education/brochures/depress07.html

http://www.uklupus.co.uk/depmp.html

Hope this helps.

Sending hugs,

love
Lily

[balla]

style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Thanx.gif Hi lily i am starting to wonder now people keep saying what as happened to them,I have to admit i seem to talk to my loved ones in bad way some times my husband as said but yet i don't realise what i'm doing,I can be very nice one minute and very bad but yet i think i'm ok,I was going to lose my husband some weeks ago as he said i was speaking to him like s--t and i didn't realise i was.But must have been as my son said to my husband why is mam talkin like that to you and it had been going on for a few weeks.
I realy don't mean to hurt my husband he's the best,And my daughter also said you talk to me snappy some times there again i don't mean too.I love my family and i know they love me.There as only ever been my david he was my first love even though we split and ended up back together agai he as always been my loyal friend.you mention depression in stroke my dad had this as he had a stroke that left him severly disabled for 10 years before his last brainstem stroke that left him in a coma before he passed away.
There again he had the same problems as me with eyes etc but nothing was ever diagnoised long before he had his stroke.His dad (my grandad )also had the same symptoms before having brainstem stroke and passing away after being in a coma.I always thought my dads depression was because he knew his dad had gone the same way as he was going,But now i realise it must have been his illness.
I do tend to sleep alot my day starts early though i get up at 6am after getting up and down for loo about three times in night,Then i have a sleep about 10.30am for an hour,then lunch then another hour about 2pm then evening meal about 4.30pm then i fall asleep about 7pm on sofa then dave wakes me at 10-11pm to go to bed go to loo then bed then thats the night up and down to loo,Me and dave don't have much time to our selves,i have tried staying awake but it makes me ill the following day.So sleep is most what i do.

Thanks for all your help.susanx
style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/shakehands.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Thanx.gif

[balla]

hI WELL JUST GOT LETTER FROM NUERPSYCOLOGIST THIS IS WHAT IT SAYS :
AS I DISCRIBED ANXIETY ON CROSSING THE ROAD THEY HAVE SAID THIS COULD BE EITHER DEPRESSION OR CHRONIC FATIGUE.
VISUOSPATIAL DATA INDICATED THAT FASTER PERFORMACES WERE ACCOMPANIED BY SUBSTANCIAL LOSS OF ACCURACEY.
A LIKELY CAUSE OF THIS PROBLEM MAY BE VISION DIFFICULTIES WITH YOU EXPERIENCING SIMILAR PROBLEMS MAKING RAPID EYE MOVEMENTS/FOCUSING NECESSARY WHEN CROSSING ROADS.
THE RESULTS OF TESTS FOR MOOD INDICATE THAT YOUR HIGHEST FACTORS RELATE TO FATIGUE AND CONCENTRATION DIFFICULTIES.DUE TO THEIR CONNECTIONS OF BOTH FATIGUE AND DEPRESSION WE CANN'T EASILY DISSOCIATE THESE SYMPTOMS.
YOUR VISION PROBLEMS WOULD APPEAR TO PRODUCE DIFFICULTIES IN ABSORBING INFORMATION RAPIDLY.
NOW THEY WANT ME TO HAVE CBT TO HELP DEVELOP SYSTEMS TO MANAGE INFORMATION AND MAINTAIN SELECTIVE ATTENTION ON THE IMPORTANT PIECES OF INFORMATION IN MY ENVIROMENT.

WELL IT SAYS I AM DEPRESSED AND WANT ME TO HAVE SOMEONE TO COME AND TALK AND HELP ME WITH DEPRESSION THAT I DON'T SEEM TO THINK I HAVE.SO HOW CAN THEY HELP IF I DON'T SEEM TO THINK I HAVE IT ? I THINK THAT IS JUST A WASTE OF NHS TIME AND MONEY SENDING SOMEONE TO SEE ME IT SHOULD BE SPENT ON SOMEONE WHO REALY FEELS DEPRESSED.

WELL BYE FOR NOW SUSANX style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/foryou.gif

[lisade]

Hi, This past week my GP asked me was I depressed and I just broke down and cried. He said yep, I guess you are. We talked a few minutes and he certainly noted a change in me. He placed me on Lexapro. The next day when I saw my rhueumy he agreed and increased the dose of Lexapro. I really didn't think I was depressed, but when he began questioning me I guess I may have had some of the symptoms. I have not taken any of the Lexapro yet, but am trying to decide.

As far as the brain fog. I am like you in that I do have a problem with crowds, noise, etc. I can't seem to pick out things and it upsets me and makes me really anxious.

Hope this helps.

[balla]

As far as the brain fog. I am like you in that I do have a problem with crowds, noise, etc. I can't seem to pick out things and it upsets me and makes me really anxious.

HI JUST THOUGHT I WOULD ASK AS I AM UNSURE ABOUT THESE SYMPTOMS I HAVE YOU MENTION BRAIN FOG DOES THESE SYMPTOMS COME UNDER BRAIN FOG.I AM ALWAYS LOSEING MY WAY I HAVE IN THE PAST GONE INTO OUR TOWN WHICH IS ONLY SMALL CONSIDERING OTHER TOWNS,GOT OUT OF CAR AND MY HUSBAND HAS WAITED IN THE CAR FOR ME BUT THEN I FORGET WHERE THE CAR IS SOON END UP SITTING ON A BENCH HOPEING HE WILL COME AND FIND ME,AND HE DOES.WELL AT FIRST I USE TO LAUGH AT MYSELF BUT THAT SOON CHANGES TO PANIC THEN I END UP CRYING.
IS THIS RELATED TO "BRAIN FOG"
BYE FOR NOW SUSAN X

[andi04]

Hi susie

just thought I'd add my experience, I've been depressed most of my life..which makes it harder of course to get a real diagnosis of anything..style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif

anyway...My depression stemmed from learning that I first had fibromyalgia but doctors always insisting that something else was going on hence the Lupus diagnosis..but they would quit after the blood work was negative and after going through this for years I about gave up..

which sent me into a deeper depression I then developed agorophobia, fear of leaving the house because of all the pain I was in and refused to believe this was all in my head and wouldn't you know it ten or so years later I got real diagnosis...so not to say this cured my depression but it helped me figure some stuff out like why i was so snappy all the time...physical pain can make you be that way sometimes at least for me, I finally tried some anti depressants and had to go through a few before I found one that worked. I am just now starting to feel better but can't leave the house unless i'm with someone else..I'm under the care of a really great Psychiatrist and he helps tremendously...I was stubborn at first and would not see anybody, I did see a Psychologist for seven years before I saw the psychiatrist but I have to tell you the pyschiatrist made a world of difference to me...at least for now I like him anyway he believes that I am indeed a lupus patient and not a mental patient...

As for forgetting things, I'm the say way though not to your extent I would definetly ask your doctor about this...or find a new one who will listen to you write down everything that happens as it happens...and make sure your husband is there with you so he can tell them also what has been going on that might help...

I forgot my way home from work, on more then one occasion hence the no driving factor for me...I can't really explain Lupus fog its really hard to describe...

anyway I hope my experience is in anyway helpful I'm in a bit of a fog this morning since I had patchy sleep all week...getting up every two hours...:shrugs:....

hope you feel better soon if you ever want to chat PM me i'll meet you in the chat room...I honestly don't know much but hope my advice and experience did you help you in some way....

andi

[balla]

style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Thanx.gif hi andi i know how you feel about getting up evry two hours although i don't actualy know what time it is when i get up i am up and down all night going to the loo,
I have plenty of sleep though to much i think but i need it feel ill without my sleep is fall asleep at 7pm on sofa hubby wakes me for bed about 11pm then fall asleep again then up and down all night at least 3 times then get up at 6am as if i lie in bed to long all my body starts cramping then have mid morning nap about 10am then again in afternoon about 2pm for about an hour each time so i do sleep lots.
My husbands good as he cooks and cleans since standing for to long causes very bad pains and numbness in my legs.I cann't even get round a supermarket without having to stop due to pain.normally end up sitting on edge of freezers etc god knows what people are thinking.I do use a wheel chair when going on outings,
But don't like to as people treat you differant when your in one.
I have been seeing a psycologist thats who have said due to hours of tests i have chronic fatigue and depression and eye sight problems causing my memory problems.They are wanting me to have some cognetive theropy and learn how to remember things again.

well bye for now susan style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wavey.gif