Why wont they treat the depression?

My depression consumes me daily. I do a lot of swinging/cycling. It is destroying my life. I am not taking any meds to the best of my knowledge that focus on the depression. The meds I take say that it/they treat, bipolar, psychotic issues and seizures. Yes, I deal with all of these but I think I really need something to treat the depression....it's consuming me whole.

Well, I don't know which meds you're on. Have you had a manic reaction to anti-depressants in the past? Could that be why your p-doc doesn't prescribe an AD for you?

Some meds are used for more than one condition. Also, treating one condition might improve another one. Be sure to talk to your doctor about it.

Have you taken med specifically for depression before?

I am currently taking: Lamictal, Trileptal and Seroquel. I am still learning all of the terminology, names for different phases or symptoms? of bipolar, psychosis and even simple complex seizures. I've taken cymbalta for about 6 months, abilify for a month and welbutrin (which I thought was helping) for about a year. The doctor never told me why he stopped the welbutrin, I do remember asking for a refill and got side tracked, forgetful and never mentioned it again, I ended up on lamictal by my neuro doc, pdoc only prescribed seroquel.

Yes, cymbalta, abilify and welbutrin. Pdoc has not prescribed any since the welbutrin, he only prescribed seroquel.

The best thing to do is talk to your doctor if you want to try another med. Most of these meds work slowly. I would give new meds, or new combo at least 2 months before I could truly say it's working or not.

Lamictal was my saving grace. paired with cymbalta and latuda though.

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it's been 3 years since doctors have started treating me for my mental illnesses, non have been consistant and yes, i've had more than one pdoc, each has prescribed different meds. Gettting kind of hopeless here. I wont see pdoc again until next month(october) maybe if I stress how bad things are, maybe he will make some changes,,,,,,,,maybe.

Olanza-what?, Lamictal and Seroquel are supposed to help with depression. In my experience, neither one does. In fact, it seems to me that Seroquel actually causes a slight depression.

You were feeling depressed enough to post here, and you sound like you really need some help. Please contact your doctor...don't wait until your October appointment. Take care, my friend.

I would like to and you're probably right, I should, but I can't afford but to see him once a month and my co-pay is too high also. I will call his office and see if he will call me and perhaps to allow me to give him some insight as to what is going on. I think phone counseling is only like $50. The problem with that is I have called him in the past, I get answering service, they say they will forward my message and he never calls back. But, it's worth a try.

Be persistent. You shouldn't have to pay for a quick telephone consult about a medication adjustment. You shouldn't have to suffer like you are.

Why not talk with the pharmacist, face to face? It's free---and he could call the PDoc for you (for free) regarding increasing or decreasing a dose---as it is, the Pharmacist is a doctor too.

But remember, depression is part of the suffering of bipolar disorder. Could it be that he's treating the wide swinging and now you sense the depression more because of that change???

I so agree. I did not call him either. I see him in 2 weeks. neuro-psychologist said I need some additional help to deal with the depression. She put it in her report that she thought I should seek all the help I could get, but no one is responding to that report and I am at my witts end....as a matter of fact.....I give up.

Not one of my doctors from pdoc, neuro doc or even the neuro-psych doc has sat me down and explained what I am going through. The neuro-psych doc is the only doc that did say that my issues (current issues that is) is a direct result from the ruptured aneurysm. To add insult to my injury...I have a very hard time grasping it. I have read all I can stand and can't make sense of it and I get the impression that they don't want me to know, I get the impression that they know it can't be treated so why bother.

Okay. You must speak with the neuro doc about exactly what you've posted here ^^^. Print it out if that would help. I think that we patients often forget that our doctors are working for us.

Thank you for this post, JD. I had no idea a pharmacist could be that proactive.

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Okay, I will copy and print, but which neuro doc....the epileptic neuro or neuro psychologist.

I see the epileptic doc at least 2x's a year and as a matter of fact I will see her this Wednesday. As for the neuro-pdoc, I only met with her after taking a neuro cognitive test. I don't know if I can see her again without a referal. I got the impression (probably mis-interpretation) from her findings that she was hands off and I should be directed elsewhere. I guess I could ask neuro doc on Wednesday how to go about seeing neuro-pdoc if I need to in case she can't help me .

Whichever doc you see first....the Wednesday one would be good, yeah.

Perhaps I am a bit more aware of the depression. I don't no either, but I am appreciative for your suggestions and insight. thank you JD.

You have bipolar disorder, and sometimes people with bipoloar get really manic on antidepressants. It's possible you had manic symptoms you weren't aware of. (In my experience, people rarely realize they're having mania.) If that was the case he should definitely have told you, though.

Keep calling his office. His nurse should at least be able to tell you why they stopped the Welbutrin if it was helping.

I am the last to know as usual. I often feel/think that my family/spouse are more aware of what is going on with me than I. I ask often if doctors have been communicating with them regarding me. I get the impression that the answer is yes, just based on their body reaction and facial expressions. I have a keen sense of intuity and I hate it.

I have had conversations with my family regarding my feelings or how I feel physically only to have it regurgitated by my pdoc on my next meeting and vice versa, family has treated me differently after I have met with the pdoc.

Of course this makes me crazy, but I can live with that and it is fine with me, but I'm not understanding if I am spiraling and on the edge of a cliff, why is no one (professionals) helping me? I feel so out of control sometimes. It takes a lot out of me to supress emotions and thoughts. I am often left embarred and confused after spilling my guts out to perfect strangers, telling them of my suicidal thoughts, of my depression and even talking about the ghost i see or have/seen. Once I come to myself and think why did I just do that it usually sets me off, depressing me beyond my own understanding. This is a visious cycle and often repeated sometimes 2 and 3 times a day.
Sometimes I am all alone and thoughts rage through my mind like a dam in my brain has broken....open the flood gates.

I see neuro-epileptic doc 2morrow, I'm not sure if she can help me, I'm not sure if I want to throw-up again or should I just ride this out, hope that time will bring some peace. I just don't know.

I'm not even sure I want to know the truth. I'm afraid that I can't handle it, I'm afraid of confirmation, even more so, I'm afraid I may not be able to live with it.

no, your doctor(s) would not see your family members without you knowing. They cannot even answer questions your family might have without your preauthorization.

so it must be coincidence when they/he seem to know something I discussed with the other....possible I guess. I am paranoid, I'll admit it, but when things like that happen what else am I suppose to think.

I know my family surmizes a lot of things for themselves.

oh, perhaps I have missed this above but I am bipolar and depression is something I cycle through every few years. Well I suffer it more often but it is about every 3 years it's bad enough I need a med change and have been hospitalized twice. While yes the bipolar medication should help with both moods (they are called mood-stabilizers), there are still times I painfully deal with it. I sometimes need that tweeked.